300 win mag resizing help

[dixie1]

My 300 win mag after the 2nd reload trimmed to length full length resize will chamber very hard. Where the case is marked up from rubbing is about 1 inch above the belt. The die is turn to almost touch the plate. The press is a 550B  Dillon. The first reload I neck  size the case with no problem. Don't want to scrape 50 pieces of brass but will if need be.

[badsection]

I`d suggest cleaning the die and make sure it`s adjusted per the die manufacturer.  My 2 cents worth!   

[zonie]

What brand of die are you using ?   I agree clean the die.  Dillons can get a little flex in the shell plate as do most semi or full rotary progressives of this type.   While this may or may not be the problem if the sizing die is not completely bottomed out it's something to keep in mind.  These are not the types of presses to be partially resizing on for this flex reason it's too inconsistent unless you really watch what you are doing,  imo.  Think of it this way how much flex is on the shell plate if you are not bottomed out,  compare that to  only one stationed being used at one time i.e strictly resizing.   How much flex on the shell plate with other operations going on at the same time, etc.   It doesn't take much play in the shell plate to cause not the most perfect sizing  with various stages left open or being used.    Single stages are a different animal and I don't think you should bottom out on sizing anyway on bottle neck cartridges,  just enough sizing to close the bolt easily without over sizing the cases every time.       After cleaning dies try again on the Dillon with the sizing  die bottomed out basically set it up to size only don't do any other operations on the press until you figure out the problem.    If that doesn't work size on a good single stage press,  if that doesn't work switch single stage shell holders,  if that doesn't work try another brand of dies.  If none of this works two other options you can try one of which you have to be careful with measuring and we can get to that later if the above fails to correct.  We are assuming cases are trimmed correctly and  I'd make sure the rifle chamber is very clean also.  My guess is the die is not down far enough and the first thing I would look at. 

[dixie1]

the press is used as a single stage when loading the 300 win mag and the other rifles calibers I load. The die is all the way down. and I don't have a problem with my 257 wby or the 300 wby I load for. I will try cleaning the die. The dies are RCBS as are the 257.

[zonie]

I've had belted mag  rcbs and redding dies that weren't cut correctly.  Some lee dies that scratched the cases so badly the dies were all but worthless.  I wish it weren't the case  not everything is built perfect every time.   You will figure it out. 

[dubyam]

Using the Dillon in single stage mode won't absolve the flexing issue with the shellplate. It's just not as solid as a single shellholder concentrically on top of a press ram. If you have a true single stage press, try working there. If not, I'd recommend gettig one. It will be money well spent.

As for the die adjustment, you're making conflicting statements. Either it's almost touching, as you said in the first post, or it's all the way down as you said in your second post. It cannot be both. I'd venture to guess you need to size the brass down more, and really need to set up a single stage press to cam-over during sizing. Your description of the case body being too large in diameter is a dead indicator for not sizing down far enough, and it sounds like your Dillon press is not well suited to sizing brass for tjis particular situation.

[dixie1]

I load single stage for rifle because I like to hand weigh the charges for the rifles. I don't shoot those enough to matter. I will look in to the single stage because of the force on my cam arm resizing. I did get the problem figured out now tumbling to get lube off after resizing. will trim them all when done.

[zonie]

What did you find as the cause ?    Nothing wrong with Dilllon they can do some things really well (speed).   Other operations where a person is weighing each and every powder charge you can go almost as fast with a single stage.   

[dmhiggz]

What dubyam said.

[dixie1]

It was not sized all the way had to pump the press several times to get it sized right, and the Dillon has over 600,000 rounds loaded through it. Sure don't want to do that on a single stage. But for the 300 the pressure needed to size it, I will have to get a single stage. Thankfully I don't shoot the rifles much!

[zonie]

let's call it what it is the Dillons are great for moderate speed,  but if you have to ensure absolute perfect  powder charge weights on a scale prior to loading,  you might as well load on a single stage. I do know a few guy's loading larger rifle cartridges on 550's,  and they use rcbs charge masters to drop powder in case/ loading blocks then they load one at a time on the 550's.   If you are dropping charges  via a Dillon powder scale especially the large stick powder weights are not exactly spot on.   600,000 rounds on a Dillon or any press needs to be meticulously maintained, cleaned and lubed and then you will still wear out parts eventually.   One of the reasons Dillon doesn't have a lifetime guarantee on the 1050's.  I like the larger case fed,  self indexing Dillons for certain thing's 600,000 rounds is not one of them.    That's why Ammo Load and Camdex are made.     

[dixie1]

I got friends with a whole lot more then that on 650's

[zonie]

If you take care of most any of the better presses you should expect many years of service.   Dillon's can and do wear out  parts I've taken them in personally to be rebuilt.  If you are going to reload that much ammo in the hundreds of thousands of rounds unless you just like pulling a handle there are better more efficient  better suited automatic presses available that do a better job,  that's from first hand experience,  but of course each one  also costs more than my first house.  If you think about it one stoke up and one stroke down on a Dillon and 600,000 rounds equates out to 1.2 million strokes, boy that many strokes that press better start  looking  like some super model and put a smile on my face that's a joke.   To put it another way if we pushed it to see how fast we could load 600 K,  it would take just under 2 day's running non stop  with the machines we had.  Boy am I glad I'm retired I wouldn't even want to think about trying that.