reloading 243/ lee dies

[rp85]

hello;

there was a trick i had to do when sizing 243 brass for reloading.  had to spin the case @+90 and run the case back into the die.  wrote it off as a problem with the handie  rifle.

just purchased a howa and the same problem was happening, has to spin the case.  purchase another set of sizing dies, hornady/pacific, and the problem went away.  lee has offered to check the sizing die and made needed adjustments. 

so.... if you are having a problem with sicking cases in your handie, might try different sizing dies, if you are using lee dies.  by the was i have 6 different sets of lee dies and never had a problem before.

rp

[wncchester]

rp, I don't understand why you had to spin your cases 90 degrees.  What was or wasn't happening that required you to rotate your cases a quarter turn and resize?   And how did that quarter turn affect the end results?

I have several sets of Lee dies that work flawlessly so your experience puzzles me.

[rp85]

hello;

had trouble with re-sized cases not going into the chamber of my new england arm's single shot.  blamed the rifle.  sold rifle.

purchased a howa.   @25% of cases sized with the lee die would not go into the rifles chamber, i.e. could not closed the bolt.  the bolt was hard close on the rest.  problem was semi-solved by turning case +90 deg. and running the case back into the sizing die.

purchased a set of pacific/hornady dies and the problem went away.  the lee sizing die is not round but oval?!?!  sent die back to lee and they said the would adjust the dies to fit the howa's chamber.

rp

[handirifle]

I read somewhere the other day, that someone else had the same issues with Lee dies.  I had similar issues with my 30-06 but never figured out why.  The other forum I read, said the lock nut is the culprit.  It allows a small amount of tilt in the die under full load and cause incomplete resizing.  Their solution was an RCBS locknut.  Problem fixed.  I have yet to test my Lee dies, but if I get the same issues, I'll go back to RCBS for good.

Besides, I just sent back and RCBS resizing die for my 30-06 (cases sticking) and got a brand new die as replacement.  No questions asked.  I have gotten free parts for 30+ year old equipment from RCBS.  They do honor their lifetime warranty.

[Casull]

Are you using the Lee collet neck sizing dies?  If so, the instructions that come with the dies indicate that you should size, rotate the case and push into the sizer again.  I'm not sure why, but that is how I reload with the collet dies (.223, .243, 30'06 and .338), and the accuracy I'm getting is very good.  I seldom reload more than fifty rounds of centerfire rifle cartridges at a time, so its no big deal.