Bolt close tension

[Hotolds442]

I was talking about setting up reloading dies which are 14 tpi.
Just clarifying the barrel thread/headspace relationship. No worries.

[jonesturf]

When was the last time you cleaned and greased your bolt lugs? Can't hurt. If dry it feels a lot worse than it is.

[Randyc]

Yes only when there is brass in the chamber, ran a piece of brass through the FL sizing die and still does same thing, it's not really tight but about twice the resistance of the empty chamber.

[Randyc]

What is max headspace distance that is acceptable?
i thought the .004 would be plenty, .......

[Randyc]

Just so I'm clear, the Hornady headspace gauge is different than the OAL comparator?

[Randyc]

Houston, disregard that last statement, I now see my error in thinking.....ha ha
sort of the same as comparator, but entirely different.

[Randyc]

On another thought,
is it acceptable to set headspace off a factory round and be ok?
and measure cases before and after firing to check growth?

[Randyc]

Ok guys,
i went back to the reloading press, started very slowly bumping the shoulder back until the bolt will close easily. Ended up one half turn past contact with the press arbor. Contact plus half turn down. All seems to be good if I do that on the virgin brass.

[Randyc]

Will get a set of caliper headspace gauges tomorrow, to be continued.......

[Robinhood]

1/2 turn ??? Are you using a lee press?

[adammiddagh]

Reading the last few posts, thinking to myself that that sounds like my first experience on my lee press. Then I read Robinhoods post. Gave me a chuckle.


1/2 turn ??? Are you using a lee press?

I now have a CoAx press, but still end up setting my lee dies to cam over with tension with no brass. Luckily I have not ran across a die that bumps the shoulder too far on that press. If I did have a die that bumped the shoulder to much, I would be backing them off from being tight.

[Robinhood]

How many times has that brass been fired?

You may see that sanding .001 or .002 off of your shell holder would allow you to back off the 1/2 turn if it is not the brass springing back.

[Randyc]

Yes, lee press, but after reading all posts again, i decided to wait and check headspace with Hornady caliper gauge. The factory round should be SAMMI spec. And if it is not closing easily on that, it would look like a headspace issue. Bumping shoulder back will work, but not the fix for the problem, that is simply treating a symptom. IMO.

[Randyc]

Hornady virgin brass Robinhood

[earl39]

If you have to bump the shoulder of virgin brass then the head space is most likely set to tight/short.

[Randyc]

After resetting headspace all is well,
thank each and every one of you for the help.
I am starting to thing the Forster gauge really is bad.

[Robinhood]

I think your case head space is off. There is a mod to help your lee press work better. You have to disassemble it and grind the stops off of the links. That way the press cams over and provide more consistent sizing. The only shortcoming of the classic cast press.

P.S. If you try this be very careful. You can pinch or hurt your fingers very easily.