Thread: Newby reloading question. Tight bolt cases

Originally Posted by Friwi

Hi Curtis , you could also apply the ink of a marker pen all along a case and on the neck, and carefully place it in the chamber by hand and try to close the bolt on it. Then care fully eject the case and see if you can notice any special makings along the body of the case or just on the shoulder or neck? Have all been trim to the right length as well?

Hi thanks for that I will try that aswell. They have all been trimmed after resizing with a Lee case trimmer in a drill. Then measured with vernier calipers after to check lengths and all within maximum length

Originally Posted by Curtis27

Would you know where I could get a RCBS Trim/Form die from for 338? Cheers

You could get your local sports store to see if any are available in NZ but don't think they would have one in 338 Lapua but you never know.
I got my 300 Win Mag one direct from RCBS in the USA.

This is the e-mail address Of the lady I dealt with and she was very good.

Dora.Paul@VistaOutdoor.com

Try what FRIWI said as I had a similar issue & the cause of it was that the shoulder wasn’t bumped enough during the resizing step.

I ran the cases through the resizing die properly & problem sorted.

What dies are you using for sizing?

Originally Posted by Seventenths

Try what FRIWI said as I had a similar issue & the cause of it was that the shoulder wasn’t bumped enough during the resizing step.

I ran the cases through the resizing die properly & problem sorted.

What dies are you using for sizing?

Hi thanks will try that again. I have a set of Lee Pacesetter dies.

The standard way to check whether you're sizing enough is to use a cartridge headspace gauge. Sounds a mouthful but it's essentially a 2 piece gizmo with a hollow tube and then a collar that goes on the end which bears on the shoulder at a specific diameter and you use calipers to measure the "cartridge headspace dimension". Most people use one made by hornady.

Once you measure how much its sizing before and after (should decrease by .003 to .005" approx) you can sometimes see strange stuff like the case actually squeezing out like toothpaste and getting longer after you size it ! Even a strong press will flex when you size a case in it. I was surprised I had to tighten mine up so the die was contacting the press then an extra 1/8 turn shorter than that. Cases would gradually get longer after 3 or 4 firings and get a bit hard to close the bolt on. Some people file the end of the die off the fix this but I wouldn't..

See if you can beg or borrow another brand of 338 FLR die and try the hard to close cases in it.