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I recently bought a new set of Hornady 243 dies from a member here (I have deleted the PM).
I am having problems with a full-length resizer as the case will not fully engage into the die. They are clearly marked 243 Winchester and I have mixed headstamps of brass and none will fully seat the cases. I did clean the dies and lubed the cases before attempting to resize the cases.the brass is from a newer Ruger American rifle with less than 60 rounds down the pipe.
Did I miss something here?o_O

20170310_160801.jpg 20170310_162037.jpg
 
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I recently bought a new set of Hornady 243 dies from a member here (I have deleted the PM).
I am having problems with a full-length resizer as the bullet will not fully engage the die. They are clearly marked 243 Winchester and I have mixed headstamps of brass and none will fully seat the cases. I did clean the dies and lubed the cases before attempting to resize the cases.the brass is from a newer Ruger American rifle with less than 60 rounds down the pipe.
Did I miss something here?o_O

View attachment 349004 View attachment 349014
If you are re-sizing, there should be no bullet in the equation until the "bullet seating" step, using the seating die.

<broken link removed>
 
If you are re-sizing, there should be no bullet in the equation until the "bullet seating" step, using the seating die.

<broken link removed>
Are you trying to seat and size at the same time?

If not, are you applying enough lubrication to the body and neck of the brass?
 
This is going to sound bad. That case won't go into that die without a reloading press. o_O

What press are you using, and can you provide a picture of the die installed in the press?

Where do you live? Many folks would be more than willing to have you come over for a bit of instruction.
 
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Press mount it.

Same shell holder as a .308 case if you don't have one already.

Are you saying that even on the press you cannot get the case inside of the die?
 
This is going to sound bad. That case won't go into that die without a reloading press. o_O

What press are you using, and can you provide a picture of the die installed in the press?

Where do you live? Many folks would be more than willing to have you come over for a bit of instruction.

Did you read my reply about the wrong terminology? I edited the OP to reflect it was a case with no boolits.....
 
How far down was the expander button screwed? Don't have it screwed down too far.
Are you lubing the inside of the case mouth?
But also don't have it screwed in too little. The expander should pass through the neck BEFORE the neck gets into the neck portion of the die. If the expander is in the neck when the neck goes into the neck portion of the die it is not pretty. You can probably guess how I know that.:eek:
If the expander is too far in it will bottom in the case before the case is all the way into the die.
 
Is it possible that someone converted that brass to something else. For example 6.5 Creedmoor, etc?

If it all came out of your rifle, then check the markings on that barrel real close. Make sure it is really a .243. Maybe it got reamed for a .308 by mistake

This would be totally crazy though..
 
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Completely remove the decapping stem. No expander, nothing. Then try again.

Well I was afraid of getting the case stuck so I figured if it did get stuck I'd send it in for the factory to deal with.
I tried it without the decapping stem. I had to really reef on it & it took 10 tries to get it all the way in. Jebus, is that normal?
I must not have cleaned it well enough I suppose, now I know to not rush the cleaning process...

Thanks for the help guys!!!!;)
 
So the photo is of the case in the die as far as it would go on the press? You say you didn't want to force it, and I guess I am not sure what that means. Even a properly lubed case is going to take some force to push it into the die... you shouldn't have to stand on the handle to get it to go, but it is going to take a bit of oomph to size the case... I know you probably don't have a way of measuring force, but even with the mechanical advantage of the press lever, you should feel resistance to the down stroke on the handle.... Aye you just not pushing hard enough? It's so hard without being there to know what you're dealing with :mad:
 
@Caveman Jim
Look up SAAMI specs for the case and measure your post sized case.

Could you guys imagine how large of a chamber it would have to be to make a .243 hard to size?
 
Either the brass is too big, or those dies are too small. :confused:

Well I was beginning to wonder if that was the case as I don't know why the brass would be too big or the diesame being too small.
I used a little more CLP (ok a bunch more) and then Powder Blast to rinse it out thoroughly. So far so good but much more force is needed than 223 cases.:eek:
 
Is it possible that someone converted that brass to something else. For example 6.5 Creedmoor, etc?

If it all came out of your rifle, then check the markings on that barrel real close. Make sure it is really a .243. Maybe it got reamed for a .308 by mistake

This would be totally crazy though..

.243 and .308 are same body, I've converted .243 to .308
 
Well I was afraid of getting the case stuck so I figured if it did get stuck I'd send it in for the factory to deal with.
I tried it without the decapping stem. I had to really reef on it & it took 10 tries to get it all the way in. Jebus, is that normal?
I must not have cleaned it well enough I suppose, now I know to not rush the cleaning process...

Thanks for the help guys!!!!;)
Jim, do you have a good sturdy bench and is your press mounted well to it? The reason people use compound leverage presses such as yours and mount them very securely to very strong benches is that a good amount of force/muscle is required to jam that case on up in there (giggity) and back out again.
 

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