reloading belted cases- 7mm rem mag.

huntertrucker1

Hey there- new to forum (please forgive rookie mistakes).
Need opinions on best way to size cases. Do you recommend
full length, neck size only, or using the collet to form
case above the belt (supposedly the weakest area prone to
failure?) Have (RCBS- RC) press and tools. Just looking to
sort out the conflicting information I'm reading on this cart.
Longevity you've been getting/problems you've had? Thanx

Tailgunner1954

Use a standard FL type die, BUT adjust it so that it "just barely" touches the shoulder of brass fired in your rifle. Lock it at that point.

The die your refering to is handy if your working with expensive/hard to find brass, and the only stuff you can get (at any price) has been fired in a chamber larger in diameter than yours. For "regular" cartridges/reloaders however, it's just another useless gimmik (personaly, before I'd waste my money one of those, I'd have my barrel set back and have the chamber recut properly).

huntertrucker1

thanks for the response TGnr'
how many reloads would you expect (per case)?
i'm told not too many with belts. (it seems like
any other cases if i just keep it simple like you suggest)
and use only in my weapon.

mrbruce

A standard full length sizing die will not reduce a belted case enough to rechamber it after 2-3 fired rounds of fairly hot loads.
The collet from L. Willis will do the job that nothing else will.......

Tailgunner1954

5-6 if you set your dies to hit the shell holder (generic setup) Partial head seperation will be the limiting factor (due to over sizing the brass).
10-12 is you set your dies like I mentioned. Neck splitting will be the limiting factor (from work hardening the brass).

Belts are not there to add strength, BTW, they were origionaly intended to ensure proper headspacing with long tapered shoulders, like the 300 & 375 H&H have, while still feeding reliably through a bolt action magazine. IOW the belt is nothing but a smaller/thicker rim. The down side is that with the headspace being (kinda) controled by the rim/belt, the other dimentions of the cartridge and chamber can let the tolerances realy open up, VS a rimless round that uses the shoulder to control headspace and requires that the shoulder locations be held fairly tight on both the round and the chamber. Setting up your dies to keep the shoulder where it is after the case is fireformed means your treating it just like you would a rimless case (IOW ignore the belt).

Odawgp

quote:Originally posted by Tailgunner1954
5-6 if you set your dies to hit the shell holder (generic setup) Partial head seperation will be the limiting factor (due to over sizing the brass).
10-12 is you set your dies like I mentioned. Neck splitting will be the limiting factor (from work hardening the brass).

Belts are not there to add strength, BTW, they were origionaly intended to ensure proper headspacing with long tapered shoulders, like the 300 & 375 H&H have, while still feeding reliably through a bolt action magazine. IOW the belt is nothing but a smaller/thicker rim. The down side is that with the headspace being (kinda) controled by the rim/belt, the other dimentions of the cartridge and chamber can let the tolerances realy open up, VS a rimless round that uses the shoulder to control headspace and requires that the shoulder locations be held fairly tight on both the round and the chamber. Setting up your dies to keep the shoulder where it is after the case is fireformed means your treating it just like you would a rimless case (IOW ignore the belt).



I have some 22-250 brass that has this head seperation problem.

they have only been resized maybe 3 times and I am seeing this ring you guys are talking about (actually had one separate 2-3 yrs ago)

Can you give me the play by play as to how to adjust my dies to avoid this.

thanks

skyfish

Yes, I'll be listening as well.

Tailgunner1954

2 different "old school" methiods:
Start with your sizing die backed up a couple turns
Lube the body of the case
Use a candle (or Bic lighter) to put some soot on the case neck (of brass fired in that rifle) and shoulders.
Run it into the die and back out
Look to see where the soot has been rubbed off the neck (at this point you shouldn't be anywhere close to the shoulder)
Lower the die slightly* and check again, once your seeing the soot being wiped off most of the neck, continue with smaller adjustments until your just touching the shoulder (you'll see the soot has been disturbed), and lock the die in place.
An easy way to lock in your die is once it's where you want it, remove the case and place a washer (or 2) on the shellholder and run it up into the die. While maintaining pressure on the handle, screw the lock ring down to the press.
That die is now set for that rifle

*7/8-14 dies "advance" .071/turn, .035/ half turn and .017 for a 1/4 turn. You can use these numbers to judge how far you can go in a single adjustment, before getting into the "fine tweeks".

Alt methiod
Starting with a fired case, and the die "up 2 turns", feel the resistance to bolt closure, and adjust your die down until there is a slight amount of resistance in the last 1/4-1/3 of bolt closure and lock the die there.

That's the old school way, and has been working for years.

New school is that you buy a special thingy to stick in your chamber to establish the boltface to shoulder distance, than use the same tool to set your die.

JustC

tp properly set them up, IMHO, you need a headspace tool. When you can get a measurement on the datum line (mid shoulder) from the case head, you know the basic headspace measurement for your chamber. You then start with the die backed off and bring it down little by little until the shoulder is pulled fwd by a few .001"s. What we call Partial Full Length sizing. Now, you can bring the die down even further, LITTLE by little until the shoulder is pushed back to the original measurement you had. At this point the die body has just been advanced down enough to compress the expansion ring and the die body shoulder has jusssst touched the shoulder and not pushed it back, and not oversized the case to the point where incipient case-head seperation will occur within a few rounds. You should get 10+ firings if not running them at max loads.

I don't use anything to stick in the chamber,..mine attaches to the calipers. It was originally called the stoney point head and shoulders guage,...but I think they have been purchased by Sinclair now. So that would be the name to look for.

Odawgp

thanks Tg1954, and JuctC