Have a Kimber Montana 270WSM that I am loading for, Originally I purchased 150 pieces of Norman brass and bypassed full length sizing and just loaded them up. I have gone thru the 150 and I am attempting to reload them but the brass will not go all the way into the Forester full length die The die is set up properly, the cases have been lubed properly but about 75 % of the way into the die the brass hangs up. I can force it the rest of the way but have never had to do this with other calibers I load for. When I say force I mean a butt load of force. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated

Fisch: I hate things like this.
I think I would "borrow" a full length sizing die of "another brand" (I use Redding dies for my 270 WSM) and see if that die works properly?
I hope your problem is something simple!
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

How hot were your loads?

What does a micrometer say?

How do the fired brass dimensions compare with book dimensions?

Is this a new Kimber or an older one. Didn't they have some issues with sloppy chamber dimensions some time back?

In the process of ordering Redding right now.

The three dimensions shown in the Nosler Book, .535, .538 and .314 are all dead nuts on the three I checked. I put a dummy round together using 2 pieces of the brass in question and there is no resistance at all when closing the bolt. I used 63 grains of RL 22 for the 130 grain AccuBond, 2 grains below book max and 60 grains for the 150 grain Partition, 1 grain below book max. No extractor marks or difficulty opening the bolt for either load.

Ok, 3/4 of the way up, that's our diagnostic clue.


On Forster dies, if the expander ball is not down far enough, you can experience the condition you are experiencing.

They this:

1. Run the expander ball stem all the way in.

2. Run the ram as far as you can.

3. Screw the exander ball up to where it just below the neck inside the case. It will take some adjustment, and feeling the interaction between the case new and the expander ball to find the optimum position for it.

Here's a picture to help envision how the Forster dies are different from common dies.

The expander ball sits high in the neck, and if it's not down far enough, there isn't enough room for the neck to clear it in the upper portion of the die:

I will give it a shot. Thanks

Any updates?

This is good to know i ever have that happen. I have Redding and RCBS dies.