That's fine. But I'm at a place where with a single stoke of the ram, the bolt won't close on an empty case. That can't be right.
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I have a case form problem ??
- Thread starter DaveTN
- Start date
I'm a gauge person.
I understand a gauge can be wrong. But I have no reason to believe there is anything wrong with this gauge, every factory case I have plops right in it and is flush. The gun is not a gauge. I don't know anything about reloading, but I know I can't see how that case fits in the chamber and I don't believe the fact that the bolt will close means it is right.
I'd be very leery about shooting factory ammo then. 
Have you reached out to any one of the numerous people in this thread, specifically those that are close to you that could come by and check it out.
And yes, the gun most definitely can be used as a gauge.
And yes, the gun most definitely can be used as a gauge.
mr.big
Well-Known Member
If the bolt will close without force it's rightI'm a gauge person.
And could even potentially be a little short for your chamber dimensions. That's why you measure the shoulder dimensions to get just a couple of thousandths clearance from shoulder of your case to the chamber shoulder, so that there is minimal brass stretch for each firing.
Omega
Well-Known Member
Not very hard to understand really. SAAMI has a tolerance, so a minimum and a maximum. When they cut the chambers in a rifle, the cherry starts off at just under max, but as it wears the chambers get smaller and smaller until it reaches minimum and gets replaced. Also, a chamber can get worn over time and the chamber grows a bit. Gauges are usually minimum spec or close to, so if it fits a gauge it will fit a chamber, but when you resize with Lee dies, it does not get them back to SAAMI minimum so if your chamber is minimum then the Lee dies may not size them down enough. It is a rare occurrence, but it does happen, but I have never seen it be that out of spec. What I have seen is that a die, Lee, RCBS or Hornady, will resize the case enough to fit in your chamber, but still not fit in a gauge. If your particular rifle has a minimum chamber, then you may be the rare person that needs the small base dies, which are closer to minimum SAAMI or send Lee a case and they will make a custom die for it.I'm a gauge person.
Just for giggles, size one piece of brass then turn it 90 degrees, lube it, and size again. Make sure you are sizing it from two different positions. See if that one drops in your gauge. Like others have said though, your rifle chamber will be your true case gauge. It is a very common practice in pistols to drop rounds in the barrel to hear them "plunk" and show that they fit.
There's bound to be some way to tell which rifle a case was fired in. I would think the DPMS would abuse brass more so look for extractor marks or cases dinged on the neck or body. Get a case that doesn't have a marred head because you need to "feel" it chambering. Set your die about one thread off of the shellholder and size the case. Keep lowering the die about a quarter turn at a time until the case will chamber in the 700 without forcing it. If it will chamber in the 700 and the case length is good check it in the Hornady gauge. It may be adviseable to remove the decapping pin from the sizing die when you're doing this so you won't get any interference from it.
Since you're having trouble sizing the last bit of the case and the decapping pin is getting pushed up in the collet you might have the decapping pin set too low and the head of the case is pushing the decapping pin up. Set the decapping pin so that it pushes the spent primer out on the last bit of the sizing stroke. I've used Lee dies for many years and have had no problems attributable to the dies, however, I have made some adjustment errors.
For a bolt action it's often not necessary to screw the FL die down until the press "bumps over". The above method avoids oversizing the case (i.e., pushing the shoulder back too far) and usually avoids case separations near the head when a case is repeatedly sized too short. After you solve the problem using the 700 see if the sized cases will chamber in the DPMS. I'm generalizing and guessing the DPMS may have a bit larger chamber.
Keep working with the dies you have before you buy small base dies. I've never needed them for semiautos in .223, .308, or .30/06.
Since you're having trouble sizing the last bit of the case and the decapping pin is getting pushed up in the collet you might have the decapping pin set too low and the head of the case is pushing the decapping pin up. Set the decapping pin so that it pushes the spent primer out on the last bit of the sizing stroke. I've used Lee dies for many years and have had no problems attributable to the dies, however, I have made some adjustment errors.
For a bolt action it's often not necessary to screw the FL die down until the press "bumps over". The above method avoids oversizing the case (i.e., pushing the shoulder back too far) and usually avoids case separations near the head when a case is repeatedly sized too short. After you solve the problem using the 700 see if the sized cases will chamber in the DPMS. I'm generalizing and guessing the DPMS may have a bit larger chamber.
Keep working with the dies you have before you buy small base dies. I've never needed them for semiautos in .223, .308, or .30/06.
Bought a new Die Set….Problem solved
