Anyone have any issues sizing rifle on a progressive?

[Jeff H]

A decent percentage of 300BO cases sized with Lee dies on a Hornady L-n-L don't drop into the Hornady case gauge without at least the rim sicking out. The sizing die is set so there is a fair amount of cam over. It is as far down as it can go.

I checked a batch of the worst ones and they all chambered in my gun so I'm not too worried, but it got me thinking that maybe the shell plate was thicker than the shell holder on a single stage. Possibly preventing the die from coming down as far as it would on a SS.

Moving into the new house, the progressive was the only press that came with me and I've not done a whole lot of rifle on a progressive so this may be totally normal, or not.

Or maybe it is time to get a SS to keep the L-n-L company.

 

[Walkalong]

I size all of my 300 BLK on my LNL with no issues. That said, I didn’t gauge each and every case.

 

[Blue68f100]

Check the rim for damage. See if the rim will fit into the gauge.

 

[Bcwitt]

I would suggest sizing on a single stage first.

 

[kcofohio]

A decent percentage of 300BO cases sized with Lee dies on a Hornady L-n-L don't drop into the Hornady case gauge without at least the rim sicking out. The sizing die is set so there is a fair amount of cam over. It is as far down as it can go.

I checked a batch of the worst ones and they all chambered in my gun so I'm not too worried, but it got me thinking that maybe the shell plate was thicker than the shell holder on a single stage. Possibly preventing the die from coming down as far as it would on a SS.

Moving into the new house, the progressive was the only press that came with me and I've not done a whole lot of rifle on a progressive so this may be totally normal, or not.

Or maybe it is time to get a SS to keep the L-n-L company.

Are any of the cases converted from 223/556 cases? Different headstamps? Check the mouth wall thickness, comparing the ones that fit the gauge, to the ones that don't.

 

[kcofohio]

Check the rim for damage. See if the rim will fit into the gauge.

This too. I also check the in the other end if I don't have any damage to the extractor groove and rim.

 

[cfullgraf]

I size rifle cases on a single stage even if I load them on a progressive. I like to clean, polish, trim and otherwise prep the cases before loading them so the single stage for sizing is a good option for me.

300 Blackout and 204 Ruger I load on my Pro2000 press. The latter because it is my prairie dog round and I need lots of rounds for each shooting session.

Sizing rifle cases on a progressive puts a fair amount of load on the shell plate. It requires some different adjustment of the die than one might use on a single stage press to get proper sizing of the case.

 

[Muddydogs]

Have you damaged the ram or shell plate by over camming? All over camming is doing is flexing the shell plate down. Even on a single stage press once the shell holder touches the die all the over camming in the world isn't going to cram the brass any further into the die considering it's steel on steel.once the shell holder touches the die bottom.
Doesn't matter how thick the shell plate is as the LNL plate is thinned out where it holds the shells and is thinner then a RCBS shell holder not to mention that sizing dies are beveled wider at the opening so the bottom 1/4" or so of a case doesn't get sized but this 1/4" inch consists of the case rim and case web that doesn't need sized.
First thing I would do is lay the shell plate upside down on a flat surface and see if it's still flat or bent from over camming.
I would then set the sizing die up like it's supposed to be set up for progressive press use. The die bottom should just be touching the shell plate when the ram is fully raised then turned down 1/4 turn or so. When the ram is raised you should see the shell plate flex down just a little when the ram is raise all the way up.

 

[luzyfuerza]

There is really no advantage to size rifle brass on a single stage press versus using a quality progressive machine that is set up properly.

I've converted scads of Lake City 5.56 brass to 300 blackout, all doing the initial cut on the Harbor Freight mini chop saw and then finishing using my Dillon 1050 with the older electric trimmer. If the case rims weren't damaged, then every case fit into a case gauge.

My guess is that your LNL and die setup may need to be tweaked. Perhaps you should go through the instructions for both your press and your die to double check that they are configured properly.

One other observation: most chamber check gauges only check the shoulder to base length; they are not machined to minimum chamber dimensions. If I'm reading this correctly, that your sized and trimmed cases

don't drop into the Hornady case gauge without at least the rim sicking out.

then I suspect that you may need to set your press and sizing die to push the shoulder back a bit more.

 

[lordpaxman]

I do .223 on a progressive and when running mixed range brass had to adjust it to accommodate all headstamps. Once that happens all brass gets resized so it fits the gauge. .300 isn’t that much different of a cartridge so I wouldn’t think it’s the press.
There is an outside chance your sizing die is out of spec. Is this the first time you’re using your dies?

 

[Jeff H]

Good ideas everyone. Looks like I need to look at my set up a little and tweak it as necessary. I do think I'll eventually get a single stage for sizing. I have a large pile of 308, 30-06 to size up later this year.

Are any of the cases converted from 223/556 cases? Different headstamps? Check the mouth wall thickness, comparing the ones that fit the gauge, to the ones that don't.

Interesting thought. I'll look at it. My brass is about 50% converted cases and 50% once fired (by me). Various headstamps. These are just blasting rounds so no care at all was taken with consistency of the brass.

 

[kcofohio]

Good ideas everyone. Looks like I need to look at my set up a little and tweak it as necessary. I do think I'll eventually get a single stage for sizing. I have a large pile of 308, 30-06 to size up later this year.



Interesting thought. I'll look at it. My brass is about 50% converted cases and 50% once fired (by me). Various headstamps. These are just blasting rounds so no care at all was taken with consistency of the brass.

I have found recently that LC brass converts the best. Followed by A USA, PSD, and Perfecta that may or may not be flush in the gauge. The wall thickness which becomes the neck area can vary by a few .001".

 

[243winxb]

it got me thinking that maybe the shell plate was thicker than the shell holder on a single stage.

Yes, it's possibly, Thicker or thinner. Think of each station being a different shell holder. Deck heights of shell holders is about .125"

 

[jmorris]

My 300 BO Lee size die will not form a .223/5.56 case to proper dimensions to pass a case gauge. My trim die does though, so I never bothered replacing the size die.

It will work for subsequent firings though, just sizing cases that were previously, properly formed.

Might check for this, if you have any properly sized cases or factory ammunition.

 

[garandsrus]

I have had to shorten a couple full length sizing dies so that the brass would be sized correctly. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened. A lathe or grinder will shorten the die pretty quickly. I never needed to take much off, maybe .050.

 

[JFrank]

A decent percentage of 300BO cases sized with Lee dies on a Hornady L-n-L don't drop into the Hornady case gauge without at least the rim sicking out.

The sizing die is set so there is a fair amount of cam over. It is as far down as it can go.

How many thousandths cam over is a fair amount ?

 

[DukeConnor]

It could be your dies, your case gauge, your chamber or a combo.

My homemade 300 bo fit a lyman case gauge but not the Sheridan. They cycle in a couple rifles.

300 black talk com has a list of headstamps that are good for converting.

 

[kcofohio]

It could be your dies, your case gauge, your chamber or a combo.

My homemade 300 bo fit a lyman case gauge but not the Sheridan. They cycle in a couple rifles.

300 black talk com has a list of headstamps that are good for converting.

https://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88599

I just found this a couple weeks ago.

 

[Chuck R.]

On my Dillon 550 I load: .300AAC, .223, and 7.62 without an issue. I am using RCBs dies for all 3.

For the .300AAC I am loading multiple headstamps. I've never gauged any of them, but they shoot fine in my Faxon barrel.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I had really bad sizing issue on my new Lee Pro 4000. Here what helped me:

Polish the die inside and pin with Flitz
Lube with cooking spay on a RBCS pad roll it

everything I already had in the house and reloading room. Now I’m sizing like Silk with no stuck cases

 

[243winxb]

Forming dies are different then FL sizing dies. Form dies size smaller. Annealing may help.

https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase

The full length sizing die included with the PaceSetter die set is not technically a case forming die. There is a certain amount of spring back in the brass case, and this spring back has to be taken into consideration when designing the die and its intended purpose.

Case forming dies usually need to be made to smaller internal dimensions to compensate for more spring back, because the case dimensions are being altered to a greater degree. Sometimes a full length sizing die will work as a case forming die, but it depends on a large number of variables, and is impossible to predict with any accuracy.

 

[jmorris]

^ That would explain my results using their 300 die.

I have also had to shorten their 458 socom die to work properly.

 

[Jeff H]

^ That would explain my results using their 300 die.

I have also had to shorten their 458 socom die to work properly.

This is interesting and quite possibly my issue as well. I didn't check to see if the problematic cases were formed from 223 or not.

Since they all chamber, I'm sending them all... Once they are fire-formed, they should be no different than any other 300BO 2x fired case. I think, So we'll see....

Other thing that crossed my mind is that maybe my 300BO case gauge is a little small. I'll check some resized cases in my 5.56 gauge and see if they fit or not.

 

[Jeff H]

Other thing that crossed my mind is that maybe my 300BO case gauge is a little small. I'll check some resized cases in my 5.56 gauge and see if they fit or not.

So I got home from work and decided to test this theory. I grabbed 10 random, sized and trimmed 300BO cases and tested them with my Hornady 223 gauge. Almost every single one either dropped in or was able to be slightly nudged until good. A couple were sticking up slightly but about 1/2 the thickness of the rim. I tried the worst ones in my 300 BO gauge and they were all a little worse, not too much, but noticeable. The entire rim on a few, and into the extractor groove on 1.

Seems my BO gauge is a little tighter tolerance than my 223 gauge.

So far, all of these chamber in my gun so I'm going to stop worrying about it.

Strange that when I was loading 300BO supers (all I've ever done before this batch), I never noticed this issue but this crept up on my first run of 300BO subs. Weird.

 

[kcofohio]

So I got home from work and decided to test this theory. I grabbed 10 random, sized and trimmed 300BO cases and tested them with my Hornady 223 gauge. Almost every single one either dropped in or was able to be slightly nudged until good. A couple were sticking up slightly but about 1/2 the thickness of the rim. I tried the worst ones in my 300 BO gauge and they were all a little worse, not too much, but noticeable. The entire rim on a few, and into the extractor groove on 1.

Seems my BO gauge is a little tighter tolerance than my 223 gauge.

So far, all of these chamber in my gun so I'm going to stop worrying about it.

Strange that when I was loading 300BO supers (all I've ever done before this batch), I never noticed this issue but this crept up on my first run of 300BO subs. Weird.

Interesting journey to say the least. I'm glad you arrived.