Hello all,

Just itchin for the weather to warm up so I can get my new 12 VLP .243 out to the range. Our local range in on the divide so snow is a bit of an issue

I am new to reloading and would like a little feed back. I have some old (45+ years) new and fired winchester cases. These were my dads and I do not know how many times the fired cases were reloaded. They were shot out of a winchester model 88 lever action. I took some measurement listed below:


.454 dia. at the shoulder out of the Hornady manual
.470 dia. at the base of the body

.447 dia. at the shoulder new factory round
.466 dia. at the base of the body

.448 dia. at the shoulder new case FL sized
.467 dia. at the base of the body

.451 dia. at the shoulder fired case FL sized
.469 dia. at the base of the body

The problem that I am having is that the fired case is VERY tight to close the bolt but yet the measurments are less than the standard for the .243 out of the manual. You ca see that there is a slight increase in size from factory round to new sized case to fired sized case. The measurement form the base of the case to the shoulder is the same for all three cases.

At first I thought that maybe my die was defective but the cases are all less than spec? I am wondering if it is the rifle, this is all new to me so any input would be great. Looking forward to learning here ar Savage Shooters.

Aaron