FL Sizing Question

The Perferator

The Perferator

New member
I've just acquired a FL sizing die (RCBS) for my .270win cases from a friend. To this point I've just been using the Lee collet neck sizing die.

My question is concerning the oversizing of brass that has been brought up on another thread here. I dont have the instructions for initial setup. Can I get those off an RCBS website? How will I know not to "oversize" to the point of overworking the brass? I just want to have a smoother fit when working the bolt.

On the past 2 loadings for this lot of brass they have been needing to be firmly sized with the bolt. Not tight coming out, just a bit too tight going in.
 
My suggestion would be to full length size once and then neck size until the same problem is happening again. then full length size again.

The initial setup instructions are very easy. Lower your handle without a case. Thread in the die until it touches the shell holder. Raise your handle and thread die a half of a turn more and lock it down. Check to make sure you get good seat rod against die. lube and size like you would a neck size die.

About over working the brass, watch for split necks, discoloration, dented cases and such. RCBS also has the instructions on their website.
 
Quote:
The initial setup instructions are very easy. Lower your handle without a case. Thread in the die until it touches the shell holder. Raise your handle and thread die a half of a turn more and lock it down. Check to make sure you get good seat rod against die. lube and size like you would a neck size die.



Good information. The only other thing that I would suggest is that you might possibly want to get an RCBS Mic from Midway and measure your chamber so you'll be able to get the exact headspace/shoulder setting for your particular rifle. That will help to keep you from resizing more/less than your rifle needs. Cheap and precise.

Check here: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=198327
 
The .270, 30-06, 25-06, .220 Swift, and other rounds with gentle shoulders are prone to stretch... It is the nature of the case design. The good part is that the gentle shoulders allow these cartridges to feed as slick as owl poop!

That stretching comes in front of the head, and it will lead to a case head separation - not dangerous, but a real PITA if you are out hunting, and don't have a tool to remove the front of the case which will be stuck in the chamber.

Most head separations are caused by poor adjustment of the FL die.

-

Take some cases that are chambering with difficulty, and back the die off 1 turn, and tighten the lock ring.

Size one and try it. If it still chambers with difficulty (which it probably will), turn the die down 1/16th of a turn, tighten the lock ring, and run it through again.

Keep doing this (and remember to tighten the lock ring each time) until the bolt closes easily.

Then QUIT!!

DO NOT completely full size the case every few firings... this is what causes head separations.

You want to just touch the shoulder the least amount possible.

.
 
FL size a case and then chamber the empty case in your gun. If it is still tight to close turn the die down just a bit more and chamber again. Repeat until it closes nicely and your there. After that neck size the next fired cases. When bolt closes hard after a few firings use your FL size and go back to the neck size.

Remember to trim and keep an eye out for neck splitting and case head seperation signs.
 
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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Looks like you guys were typing the same thing at the same time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

So....with two exacting sets of instructions...how can a guy go wrong? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I'd sure think about annealing your brass about every fifth firing. This brings the brass back to dead soft and really helps when using that Lee Collet die.

It's really simple. Stand your brass up in a shallow pan with about half inch of water in it. Using a small propane torch heat the necks to just red and tip them over using a screwdriver.
 
Quote:
I'd sure think about annealing your brass about every fifth firing. This brings the brass back to dead soft and really helps when using that Lee Collet die.



Annealing brass is NOT what you want to do if you are trying to control headspace - that "dead soft brass" will flow and you will quickly have headspace problems. On a case like the 270, you cannot soften the neck, without softening the shoulders.

.
 
Great info.

CatShooter, all my cases are loading hard. I've been putting off the FL sizing too long. My friend felt bad for me and gave me the die /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
RCBS wil send you the instruction sheet or the Spper loading manual has compleat instructions in the first part of it Olin owned Speer and RCBS
 
270 brass is cheap and readilly available
why not just load(4-5 times) and throw away get more load throw away... ect.....
you can also make 270 out of alot of different cases 30-06, 280 ect.....
you may not have your die down far enough and are not setting the shoulder back enough for your chamber it may still have your buddies chamber in mind
 
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Quote:
270 brass is cheap and readilly available
why not just load(4-5 times) and throw away get more load throw away... ect.....
you can also make 270 out of alot of different cases 30-06, 280 ect.....
you may not have your die down far enough and are not setting the shoulder back enough for your chamber it may still have your buddies chamber in mind


I dont throw away good brass. If I even guessed at how many times these cases have been reloaded without FL sizing I'd get flamed out of here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


The only dies I've had for the .270 are the Lee Collet for neck sizing only. Been darned accurate I might add. Nearest place to buy brass is an hour from home and when it comes time to visit the shop I always have something else to spend the money on.

Sometime this week I'll start experimenting with the fit of the RCBS FL dies. If I crush a few or overwork a few....hey, it's old brass /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Quote:
RCBS wil send you the instruction sheet or the Spper loading manual has compleat instructions in the first part of it Olin owned Speer and RCBS



Olin NEVER owned or had anything to do with Speer or RCBS.

RCBS was a privately owned company that was started by Fred Huntington, who sold it to Blount, Int.

Speer was a privately owned company started by Vernon Speer. It was also bought up by Blount.

Blount was a holding investment company that really damaged RCBS's reputation by cutting quality.

In 2001, Blount sold RCBS to ATK, a large ammunition making company - they own it, but have no involvement in it's day to day operations, or product design.

Quote:
"...you can also make 270 out of alot of different cases 30-06, 280 ect....."



The .270 Win case is substantially LONGER than the 30-06 and the others. Making .270 cases out of 30-06 will result in burning the neck part of the chamber, and prevent use of full sized .270 cases in the future.

You should NOT give advice about things that you have no knowledge of /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

.
 
Quote:
The .270, 30-06, 25-06, .220 Swift, and other rounds with gentle shoulders are prone to stretch... It is the nature of the case design. The good part is that the gentle shoulders allow these cartridges to feed as slick as owl poop!

That stretching comes in front of the head, and it will lead to a case head separation - not dangerous, but a real PITA if you are out hunting, and don't have a tool to remove the front of the case which will be stuck in the chamber.

Most head separations are caused by poor adjustment of the FL die.
-

Take some cases that are chambering with difficulty, and back the die off 1 turn, and tighten the lock ring.

Size one and try it. If it still chambers with difficulty (which it probably will), turn the die down 1/16th of a turn, tighten the lock ring, and run it through again.

Keep doing this (and remember to tighten the lock ring each time) until the bolt closes easily.

Then QUIT!!

DO NOT completely full size the case every few firings... this is what causes head separations.

You want to just touch the shoulder the least amount possible.

.



That's the way I do it, with one addition. After I have the die set for proper sizing of that first case, I size and try several other cases in the gun. I often find that if I use the same case in the process of adjusting the die, the die setting won't quite be enough to fully size another case, which has not been previously run through the sizing die. It might take 1 or 2 more 16ths of a turn to get the die to the final adjustment point. But the procedures are exactly the same, otherwise.

-
 
[]

The .270 Win case is substantially LONGER than the 30-06 and the others. Making .270 cases out of 30-06 will result in burning the neck part of the chamber, and prevent use of full sized .270 cases in the future.

You should NOT give advice about things that you have no knowledge of /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

.


cat
Do you have any idea what you are saying /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
I think not /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
The 30-06 is the parent case for alot of cartridges it is quite obvious that you have very little handloading experience
Not only can you make a 270 out of a 30-06 but you can make an awfull lot of others if you know how to do it
May as well take your own advice here about doleing out advice
 
Quote:
[]

The .270 Win case is substantially LONGER than the 30-06 and the others. Making .270 cases out of 30-06 will result in burning the neck part of the chamber, and prevent use of full sized .270 cases in the future.

You should NOT give advice about things that you have no knowledge of /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

.


cat
Do you have any idea what you are saying /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
I think not /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
The 30-06 is the parent case for alot of cartridges it is quite obvious that you have very little handloading experience
Not only can you make a 270 out of a 30-06 but you can make an awfull lot of others if you know how to do it
May as well take your own advice here about doleing out advice




HA!...

Gimme a friggin' break!!

The Max case length of the .270 Win is 2.540"

The Max case length of the 30-06 is... (Ta ta) 2.494"

That 50 thou gets eroded when shorter cases are fired in the longer chamber.

As to my reloading experence... I run three commercial loading machines, a Dillon 1000, and two Dillon 1050's, plus a Dillon 550, two Hornady progressives, a CH Champion single station, a Hornady 50 BMG single station, and a Ponsness Warren shot shell machine.

I load for 47 calibers, from 17 FireBall, 221 FireBall, the Hornet... through (the .270 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )... all the way up to 50 BMG.
I'm currently loading 450 pounds of 50 BMG brass... which, when loaded will make up a half of a TON of ammo for it

I have been loading since before you lusted for your first tricycle, and I designed one fairly lame and unsuccessful wildcat (the .222 Loooongneck).

I keep about 300 pounds of powder on the premises, and 30k of primers.

I load over 40k rounds a year, in a good year.

And your loading experence is... ??

Meow... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

.
 
I had to sell my dtech ar and ended up buying varmint in .204 and I absolutly love it. Very accurate and I think it handles well. Set trigger is addictive, I did have sand out the barrel channel so the barrel was free floated. I will be getting the kevlar stock as soon as I can but I will buying another CZ.
 
If you want a really elegant solution to the problem, you might want to look at the Forster Precision Plus Bushing Bump Neck Sizing Die for the .270 Win. With the proper adjustment you can control the exact headspace each time you neck size your cases. Rather than letting the cases stretch each loading until it's hard to close the bolt, you get a shoulder bump, if needed, to maintain consistant, easy bolt closure. The die comes with three collets to control bullet tension should the neck start to thin or vary between brands and lots. Hornady makes the same thing in a few calibers but Forster has more calibers to choose from. Accuracy and case life are great with no full length resizing for the life of the case. A properly adjusted full length die will control headspace in the same manner but it will resize the body at the same time. Remember ounce the die is set, this will be a dedicated die for that rifle only if you use the shoulder bump feature.
 
Quote:
If you want a really elegant solution to the problem, you might want to look at the Forster Precision Plus Bushing Bump Neck Sizing Die for the .270 Win. With the proper adjustment you can control the exact headspace each time you neck size your cases. Rather than letting the cases stretch each loading until it's hard to close the bolt, you get a shoulder bump, if needed, to maintain consistant, easy bolt closure. The die comes with three collets to control bullet tension should the neck start to thin or vary between brands and lots. Hornady makes the same thing in a few calibers but Forster has more calibers to choose from. Accuracy and case life are great with no full length resizing for the life of the case. A properly adjusted full length die will control headspace in the same manner but it will resize the body at the same time. Remember ounce the die is set, this will be a dedicated die for that rifle only if you use the shoulder bump feature.


That sounds like something worth checking into. Thanx for the tip!
 


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