headspace problem!! need help!!

[stangfish]

Who made your dies?

[devildogandboy]

Do you have the top scope mount screws in place? I have seen where they are a bit too long and do not allow a bolt to close on a round.

no sir. everything is apart at this time. have unassembled and reassembled many time s today and the scope, mounts and screws are not mounted.

[stangfish]

I see you have a redding set. Contact redding and explain all the dimensions you have given us. They will know what to do.

[762frmafr]

the headspace to the datum line should be 1.746 and that is what i have. dies will not turn down any further to bump or shorten this dimensiion. the Go guage protrusion from the barrel is .129 and if you add .010 =.139
my case is still .011 longer than that figure.

Negative. The go gauge is protruding correctly. .118+.010=.128...you stated that the gauge is sticking out .129. Good to go. Your brass is ****ed.

[devildogandboy]

Who made your dies?

redding deluxe die set for 243 win imp 40*

[drybean]

just checked a spare 6br barrel
protrusion on my gauge is .160

[devildogandboy]

Negative. The go gauge is protruding correctly. .118+.010=.128...you stated that the gauge is sticking out .129. Good to go. Your brass is ****ed.

sorry about that, i have been working on this for awhile today and getting tired of it for now.
i made a mistake in my bolthead depth, it is .111
can you tell mme how this plays out. the go guage protrusion is the same, just checked it again .129
i see that as an .008 difference

[762frmafr]

sorry about that, i have been working on this for awhile today and getting tired of it for now.
i made a mistake in my bolthead depth, it is .111
can you tell mme how this plays out. the go guage protrusion is the same, just checked it again .129
i see that as an .008 difference

It still plays out as your brass is the problem.

[BobT]

i have the full length size die turned down as far as it will go, but the dimensions are fine! everything llooks good, just can't close bolt.
if i set barrel to resized case, everything works fine but i worry about the case hanging to far out of the chamber.

Your brass should be fireformed to your chamber, write that brass off as a loss and get new stuff. I have gotten to the point where I don't even use my own brass in 2 different chambers, let alone stuff that I have no idea of the history on. Every rifle has brass specific to it alone and I always start with new cases. It sounds like the stuff you have was fired in an oversize chamber, very common with "improved" rounds.

Good luck!

Bob

[devildogandboy]

Your brass should be fireformed to your chamber, write that brass off as a loss and get new stuff. I have gotten to the point where I don't even use my own brass in 2 different chambers, let alone stuff that I have no idea of the history on. Every rifle has brass specific to it alone and I always start with new cases. It sounds like the stuff you have was fired in an oversize chamber, very common with "improved" rounds.

Good luck!

Bob

i have a clearer and fresher mind this morning. needed a good rest after yesterday.
this morning i will go to Cabela's and get new brass to fireform to this cchamber. i will post how it turns out after i come back from shooting.
thanks to all who helped and replied to my post.

[Werewolf]

After reading the thread this is were I was about to go. If it is a true ackley chamber it is supposed to be able to shoot the parent case safely to fireform, that is one of the "points" of it being an ackley. Headspace the rifle wth the guage first, and then ( outside in a safe place!) see if a factory round will chamber. It should close with a slight "crush". You can then fire the factory round to fireform it and compare those measurements to your current brass and try it in your die. Also, I agree with the above statement that using a different bushing to get the measurements you are looking for is a mistake. You biased your measurements and wonder why it still won't fit. You gotta trust your tools.

[dwm]

I have the same Redding die set, except in 260AI , we had to turn down the full length die to get the full length die short enough to resize a case to fit in the chamber properly. Took all of 5 minutes on the lathe at the smiths shop ...

I have had this problem with several Redding full length sizer dies.

I still expect that this is the problem.

[devildogandboy]

I have the same Redding die set, except in 260AI , we had to turn down the full length die to get the full length die short enough to resize a case to fit in the chamber properly. Took all of 5 minutes on the lathe at the smiths shop ...

I have had this problem with several Redding full length sizer dies.

I still expect that this is the problem.

i'm still reading and after i fireform my cases i will see what needs to be done. many of the replies make sense and are things i have not thought about, such as having the dies turned down.
if that is the problem, do i send them to Redding?
this morning i set the barrel to the GO guage and got everything snugged up once again like many times trying to correct this problem. got a new bag of 100 Remington brass for the 243 and while going through it noticed one piece that had a deep groove all the way around it, about 3/4 inch from the head of the case. (called Remington and they said to discard it and they would send me replacement, it was packaged by Black Hills). i loaded up some 20 rounds just to see what happens and i'm off to find out tomorrow.
if the problem continues, i will go the same route as you.
thanks for the input!

[calib]

i don't know about er shaw, but i just got a mc gowan barrel that the neck was too tight, or chambered wrong, so i sent it in and got it back fine. i couldn't get a piece of the parent brass to even fit in the chamber

[dwm]

I took mine to the smith and he turned it down on the lathe while I stood there. Really only took a few minutes. I am sure Redding would fix it if that does turn out to be the problem. It may take a while to send it to them and get it back though. I was lucky and got it fixed fast.

I considered backing the barrel off a 1/4 to 1/2 turn to make it so the full length die would fit the chamber length, but after thinking about it that didn't seem like a good idea. I think the taper would get messed up and there would be issues fireforming new brass, etc. I don't know, maybe someone else could comment on that approach.

[Blue Avenger]

If it were my gun...If I could load a factory round with no trouble and all your numbers were good as they appear to be, I would make the die fit the job by taking some off the bottom.
Reloading custom rounds for a custom chamber, it would not bother me a bit!

[devildogandboy]

i got it all set up for tomorrow. some freshly loaded 243WIN loads waiting to be fireformed. let's see what happens!
will keep you posted!

[devildogandboy]

i got it all set up for tomorrow. some freshly loaded 243WIN loads waiting to be fireformed. let's see what happens!
will keep you posted!

have to wait one more day for results, i lost track of the days and range is closed Mon-Tues. will get back with everyone on Wed.

[devildogandboy]

okay, after a few set-backs i am still here. i went to Cabelas and bought new package of Remington 243 win brass. found a bad case in there that had a groove around it and called Remington. on and on, anyway i don't think i will use any of that lot and started to play around with my Redding die set and my go guages and everything seemed to come up okay! where i couldn't get the dies adjusted down far enough to get the case to chamber, now it chambers with just a bit of resistance, but no more than what i have had on some of my other rifles.
i tried the go guage and then the no-go guage(i use a 243 guage) and the cases chamber.
haven't made it to the range, been too windy, humid and just downright HOT!!! it's no fun when the temps are in the 114's and the humidity is up there.
will get out soon and still post how everything goes.

[Blue Avenger]

haven't made it to the range, been too windy, humid and just downright HOT!!! it's no fun when the temps are in the 114's and the humidity is up there.



Got out of my truck in AZ one day and thought I stepped to close to the camp fire. To hot for me around there!