Henry 243 long ranger load data needed

[bdbrown66]

One last question… can you just neck size when you use a lever gun like mine?

Read two articles and one said no and one said yes

I would recommend against it. A lever or semi action needs a little more tolerance for smooth feeding and lockup than a bolt gun does. I would full length resize if it were me, just like I do for my AR.

 

[jerbearyukon44]

Just thought I would ask

 

[jerbearyukon44]

I even bought new dies and wax

Here goes nothin

 

[bdbrown66]

I even bought new dies and wax

Here goes nothin

FWIW, I think that One Shot stuff is garbage. I tried it a few times, then went back to the RCBS lube and pad.

 

[JD338]

Imperial Sizing Wax works very well for me.
FWIW, I had a Remington 742 Carbine in 30-06. I used RCBS small base dies to ensure reliable feeding and never had a problem.

JD338

 

[jerbearyukon44]

with wax do you lightly lube the dies?

Do you do the outside of the case only or necks too.

Any on the neck sizer part of the die

Sorry just trying cover all the bases because I haven’t used wax before ( I know a little goes a long way) or so I have heard

Thanks again to everyone who has shared their knowledge on this journey.

Jer

 

[JD338]

Imperial Sizing Wax is used in the case. A little goes a long ways.

JD338

 

[bdbrown66]

I will say, I had something similar happen to me, back when I first started loading for .243, as well. I had always used RCBS dies, but this time I had bought a set of Hornady dies. No matter what I did, I could not get those dies adjusted to where they would resize the brass enough to make it chamber smoothly. I even sent them back to Hornady, and they took some material off the bottom of the die, so I could screw them in a little further. Still didn't work. Gave up on them and bought a set of RCBS dies, and that solved the problem. Hope you can get this resolved.

 

[GregoryB.]

If you take a black sharpie and completely cover the bullet and case it may show you where your issue is when you chamber the round. Shiney spot would be where your issue is.

 

[desertcj]

I’m sure by now that you realize something is seriously wrong. It’s not supposed to be this difficult. As for removing the expander button from the die….that’s pretty common but if you do that, you’re going to have to expand the necks in a separate operation with an expander mandrel. You can’t just seat a bullet. I have another suggestion for you and that’s to get a Lyman case length headspace gauge. I don’t think the problem is the brand of brass.

 

[jerbearyukon44]

Well I just opened the Hornady Brass box - I have a headspace comparator tool.

I zeroed it and they are pretty consistant.

I tried loading the first 3 cartridges and they all allow me to close the lever easily.....

Stay tuned, but it looks promising so far

 

[jerbearyukon44]

I’m sure by now that you realize something is seriously wrong. It’s not supposed to be this difficult. As for removing the expander button from the die….that’s pretty common but if you do that, you’re going to have to expand the necks in a separate operation with an expander mandrel. You can’t just seat a bullet. I have another suggestion for you and that’s to get a Lyman case length headspace gauge. I don’t think the problem is the brand of brass.

I would run the full length die initially with the expander in to make sure the neck is centered and round BUT NO BUMP. I will use the Hornady Headspace Comparator gauge to check and then try in rifle before doing ANYTHING ELSE.

Thanks

 

[jerbearyukon44]

If you take a black sharpie and completely cover the bullet and case it may show you where your issue is when you chamber the round. Shiney spot would be where your issue is.

Waiting to dry so I can finish marking the rest

 

[jerbearyukon44]

So I used the headspace gauge on 3 ( right out of the box Hornady’s that chamber) and they were within .0001 of the original.

Then the new Starline is .00065 more

The one on the left is the Starline case straight out of the bag.

 

[jerbearyukon44]

Just chambered all 50 rounds of Hornady and they all worked smooth as butter.

Wondering if I got a real bad batch of Starline brass

Will contact them tomorrow

 

[jerbearyukon44]

This was the group of 50… it’s a lot of levering but thought I would start with the basics

Can you chamber the NEW BRASS

 

[jerbearyukon44]

Sorry but now I am really losing it.

Feels like I have never loaded a case in my life but this has got me spooked so I am questioning everything now.

So I measured the C.L. ( case length ) of all the Hornady brass BEFORE I run them through the sizing die. SEE PIC

Most are around 2.039 and 2.040 and the shortest is 2.037.

So do you cut them all to the shortest length after they are sized to the shortest length afterwards.

Just want some consistency of course

 

[bdbrown66]

Just trim to the minimum trim length, per the spec. The ones that are a little too short will stretch after firing.

 

[jerbearyukon44]

Sorry when you lose your confidence and don’t know why things are happening this way it’s a problem getting it back.

Just want this to work this time

Cost me another 170 bucks for new brass and die set just because of what’s happened in the last batch.

Plus wasted materials

 

[desertcj]

I at least check the headspace on new brass and neck size them. If you plan on full length sizing then yeah you should size new brass.