I have a new-to-me .257AI. I fireformed two boxes of Remington factory .257R ammo through the rifle and have a couple of issues that have me puzzled. Incidentally, the factory ammo fit very snuggly in the chamber, so there wasn't any movement during firing.
1) Using a Hornady Case Gage, I have a .010" spread in the length of the fired cases from shortest to longest, which is larger than I expected. This is the first cartridge that I have actually used the Hornady gage on. Is it typical to see this kind of variance in case length? If not what could have caused the runout?
2) I have a set of new Lee Pacesetter dies that came with the rifle. I set up and sized some of the brass and even with as many as three turns past contact with the shell holder, I am getting only about .0015" bump in the shoulder of the longest cases. I'm going to contact Lee, but does it sound like I have a faulty die or is something else amiss that I haven't thought of?
I appreciate any thoughts or ideas anyone might have.
