Tight bolt close after FLR ( how to bump shoulder ).

[Nath__111]

Hi all, so I have a 243win Ruger M77 MK2.

I am just starting out reloading so wanted to check with you guys first for your thoughts on this ,I’m sure it’s been covered before so my apologies if it has.

All the brass I am reloading has been fired from my rifle already. Now with all the fired cases if I run them through the gun the cycle perfectly with no issues, bolt closes fine. After checking they cycle through the rifle I full length resize, clean lube off the case and them trim case to correct length and verify the case length with my calipers and everything is within spec. Now if I try to run the case through the rifle the bolt is extremely tight to the point of not closing.
I’m pretty sure the shoulder is going to be the issue causing the tight bolt and shoulder bump is going to be needed. I have a comparator gauge set ordered and on the way to confirm this.
I have is I have seen video’s on bumping the shoulder back where they screw the die down further and further into the shell holder. My question is if the shell holder and die make contact and you have metal to metal contact between the two wouldn’t screwing the die down ( after the shell holder and die have made contact) just load up and start putting stress on your press while doing nothing to your brass as it can’t go anywhere?
Just wanted to see and understand it a bit more, do I need to buy the Redding competition increment shell holders that bump the shoulder in increments with different heights in the shell holders ? Or am I doing something wrong that I’m not aware of ?

The press is a Redding big boss 2 and hornady 2 piece die set.
When setting up I followed the instructions to set up the de capper pin and then raise the ram and screw the die down until it touches the shell holder and the tighten the nut and the Allen key. The other thing is I’m using a #2 shell holder and the shell holder is a Lee holder. Will using the Lee shell holder with the Hornady dies make a difference?

As always any help is always greatly appreciated. Cheers Guys.

[No1Mk3]

Some presses have a little "give" in them, mostly due to variation in thread contact and manufacturing tolerances, which allow the die to be turned in appx 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn and the handle will then 'cam over" at the end on the stroke which will take another couple of thou out of the case. Some presses wont. Try turning in your die 1/8th after setting contact and see if it helps, if not you can take a little off the bottom of the die (flat plate and emery or see a local machine shop) to get that last couple of thou. Swapping holders, dies etc can also help as manufacturing tolerances do vary.

[niteowl]

If you cycle them after firing and they chamber freely, why do you full length size them? Just neck size them and leave them alone. There is no reason to work the brass any more than needed.
Years ago I ran a .243 and regardless of what all the on line experts say, a .243 is not a problem case and I never did FLR even after 10 / 12 full power loads.
Just buy Lee Collet die. Again there is NO sizing the neck too small then pulling a button back, working the neck AGAIN to give you neck ID you need. This works the brass twice rather than once with the collet die.

[Nath__111]

Cheers, thanks guys for the reply. Yeah I screwed the die in 1/8 of a turn and was heaps better then screwed it in a 1/4 of a turn got a bit of cam over and bingo bolt dropped straight down. Awesome thanks for that No1MK3 much appreciated mate, just wanted to check first before screwing the die in.
Yeah I tried neck sizing only last time as I had only a smaller press and had dramas with the bolt getting jammed on opening so I just went for the FLS, might have been an issue with the press or the dies I was using back then I know my powder charge was fine because I check and rechecked about 1000 times haha. Cheers thanks niteowl I might look into neck sizing again too.

Thanks heaps for the help guys really appreciate it. Cheers.