Thread: 270wsm rl26 145g eldx my experience

So I've hit a wee snag, I bought once fired factory Norma brass off a mate, I full length sized them then prepped them, primed them and loaded my ladder in them.
I noticed when I was at the range the bolt was very hard to close on them.
I thought maybe just tight cause they are in theory fire formed to someone else's chamber.
So when I went to do some more testing I thought I'd full length size them again and check case dimensions because even though it's only twice fired it's worth eliminating the easy stuff.
I checked with an empty full length sized case and nope still tight as fuck.
Measured the cases and they are well within spec, so I coloured one in with vivid to see if it marked anywhere when chambered, there is a small mark on the shoulder but not as much as I would expect given how tight it is to try and close the bolt.
I'm putting off any further load development until this is sorted.
I also checked the reloads that came with it when I bought it, most of the brass looks pretty well used and I won't be using it but they were a bit hit and miss some chambered easily/some didn't.
I found an older fired case and measured it up and it was below minimum case length and it chambered fine.
I have never tried any factory ammo in this rifle so can't comment on that, suffice to say its going to gunworks tomorrow to check head space.
I will also point out that the chamber was thoroughly cleaned in case there was grit or build up on the lugs and chamber.
Keen to hear any predictions on what caused this ???
It really seems like the chamber is too small.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the head space in my chamber has much tighter tolerance than the rifle this round was originally fired in and no matter how much I try and re size it, it's never gone be right in my chamber due to the cartridge springing back a little once it's been through the die ?
I can't otherwise see how my head space could have shrunk ?

Have just checked the width at the shoulder or "G" on the chart and it's 13.7mm could this mean my theory is correct and the rifle this cartridge was originally fired out of has fireformed this case bigger than what I can size it back to ?

Have you trimmed them at all @dannyb
That bottom pic measurement looks quite long compared to the trim length on the chart

Originally Posted by wsm junkie

Have you trimmed them at all @dannyb
That bottom pic measurement looks quite long compared to the trim length on the chart

No, I haven't. I would've thought once fired brass wouldn't need trimming straight off the bat, I can see what you mean though it's not far off maximum.
Could that seriously be all that's wrong ? Excuse my ignorance, I've not had to trim any brass yet even after 3 or 4 loads in mybold 270win.
Guess I'm buying a case trimmer tomorrow.
Out of interest could this be enough to skew my ladder test results ?

It's your sizing die setup

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

It's your sizing die setup

How so ? Honestly never had any issues resizing with Lee dies yet, what sm I doing wrong ?

Message ya later, on the road...

Got a big drive or something @Ryan_Songhurst?

You need to shoulder bump them. You might have to place a feel gauge under the case in the shell holder when you full length and cam over. This is the easiest way instead of buying shell holders with various heights, try 6 thou' and move up from there until a resized case closes correctly.

Standard seems to be to screw in til the die touches the shell plate, lower the ram and screw in another 1/4 turn. Otherwise, mechanical play and stacking of tolerances in the press and die threads means with a case in the mix, you might not be pushing the shoulders down at all. If the press and plate touch without a case, you'll likely see a small gap when there is a case in there.

I recommend taking the expander out until you've figured it out, else repeatedly sizing the neck is just going to work harden your brass.

Originally Posted by PommyMcPomFace

Standard seems to be to screw in til the die touches the shell plate, lower the ram and screw in another 1/4 turn. Otherwise, mechanical play and stacking of tolerances in the press and die threads means with a case in the mix, you might not be pushing the shoulders down at all. If the press and plate touch without a case, you'll likely see a small gap when there is a case in there.

I recommend taking the expander out until you've figured it out, else repeatedly sizing the neck is just going to work harden your brass.

This is exactly how I set my resizing die up, I go a half turn instead of a quarter (there's a bit of play in the cheapo lee press) but can confirm the shell holder is definitely touching the die at full extension, I think maybe first port of csl might be to buy trim die for my wuick trim and trim all the brass back to minimum trim length and check an empty case again before doing anything rash.
As has been pointed out even though only once fired it is very close to maximum length and I cant help wondering if maybe the neck is hitting the end of the chamber..... and if thst is the case (no pun intended) possibly also crimping my proectile in the process and scewing all my load testing.
Sigh......guess this kinda has turned into a cry for help

Does your mate have different loading dies for his rifle. If so maybe run those tight shells through his dies and see if they will resize them to fit your chamber. If you can find a RCBS trim/form die then it will solve the problem, run them through the die trim the excess that sticks out the top of the die and job done.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Does your mate have different loading dies for his rifle. If so maybe run those tight shells through his dies and see if they will resize them to fit your chamber. If you can find a RCBS trim/form die then it will solve the problem, run them through the die trim the excess that sticks out the top of the die and job done.

Mate lives way too far away for that......I'm gonna pop into gunworks and pick up a 270wsm trim die tomorrow and give that a whirl (see what I did there) it may or may not solve all my problems, although I now have the arduous task of depriming about 30 live primer cases so I can trim them

Originally Posted by dannyb

Mate lives way too far away for that......I'm gonna pop into gunworks and pick up a 270wsm trim die tomorrow and give that a whirl (see what I did there) it may or may not solve all my problems, although I now have the arduous task of depriming about 30 live primer cases so I can trim them

fit suppressor,fire them off...DO NOT decide to just poke end of barrel into your polar fleece vest instead to save time......somebody told me it burns/melts wee circles in the fabric.