270 WSM sizing issues

[L Cazador]

Good news I have all three brands of shell holders and measured height. Lee and Redding are both .248" and RCBS is .244" so you should be able to acheive an additional .004" bump by buying the RCBS. You measure the flat that sits on top of the ram to the flat on top of the shellholder. Do not measure from the bottom of the groove that fits into the ram. Hope that helps.

[BeardownAZ]

47 minutes ago, L Cazador said:

Good news I have all three brands of shell holders and measured height. Lee and Redding are both .248" and RCBS is .244" so you should be able to acheive an additional .004" bump by buying the RCBS. You measure the flat that sits on top of the ram to the flat on top of the shellholder. Do not measure from the bottom of the groove that fits into the ram. Hope that helps.

Well I will give it a try. It’s an inexpensive attempt at worst. I appreciate your willingness to help out. This forum never disappoints…most of the time lol

[Azdiy]

As mentioned before a headspace gauge should be helpful. Wilson case gage also if made for 270 wsm. Measure the neck OD of your reloads and factory ammo. If you know anyone with a set up for 270 wsm have them size some cases for you and check them.

[dse]

Had this issue on several rifles in 270 wsm. Check the measurement across the web of the case. For some reason winchester brass ends up about .002 over after sizing. I've had a little success pushing it back with a redding body die, still a little tight but will chamber. Also switched from Winchester to Norma brass and never had that issue again.

[BeardownAZ]

21 hours ago, dse said:

Had this issue on several rifles in 270 wsm. Check the measurement across the web of the case. For some reason winchester brass ends up about .002 over after sizing. I've had a little success pushing it back with a redding body die, still a little tight but will chamber. Also switched from Winchester to Norma brass and never had that issue again.

i'll pick up some new brass and try. I will let everyone know what worked. rifle is getting bedded currently so won't have it for a week or 2 to mess around with.  My problem isn't as bad as others that I have read about so I don't think my solution is far off.   

[azsugarbear]

Most of the time when I have experienced this issue, it has come down to one of two areas:  1)  the brass just above the web has expanded too much; or 2)  the shoulder has been bumped back too much causing the shoulder bottom to bump/buldge out.  A small base die or thinner shellholder will solve the first problem.  Simply backing off the die a quarter to half turn should solve the second problem.

[BeardownAZ]

So got back after it. Tried RCBS shell holder to match the dies. It helped ever so slight but not by much. I pulled out some factory loads and started measuring cases. I measured fired cases and the fired and sized/deprimed cases. The factory loaded ammo are under specs and sized cases are just a hair under but about right on specs. Once fired unsized are over on legnth(expected) but not by much but are under the sized case specs so they chamber easier then sized cases. I think I may just have a really tight chamber as had been suggested by a gunsmith. I am going to try small base dies next. I tried the marker trick, no rub areas showed. 

[Hoofnit]

Man that thing is really putting you through the wringer! 
 

I would suggest you take it to a reliable gunsmith and have the headspace checked & at that point you could run a reamer in the barrel to clean it up… if you’re handy enough you can rent the headspace gauges and reamer + an extension for less than $100 all told from ch4d reamer rentals.

Hope this helps, Mark 

 

[BeardownAZ]

I don’t like giving up on things, but reading lots and lots of negative on the WSM calibers for reloading is making me think about just keeping it at factory loads only rifle. These issues I’m having are quite common it seems in these calibers. I really like the round and rifle. I’ll try a few more things then start making some decisions. Maybe something more common like a 7Mag etc, is in my future, lol. Got an 06 I can easily reload.  Another excuse to buy another gun

[L Cazador]

On 11/12/2024 at 8:56 PM, BeardownAZ said:

I don’t like giving up on things, but reading lots and lots of negative on the WSM calibers for reloading is making me think about just keeping it at factory loads only rifle. These issues I’m having are quite common it seems in these calibers. I really like the round and rifle. I’ll try a few more things then start making some decisions. Maybe something more common like a 7Mag etc, is in my future, lol. Got an 06 I can easily reload.  Another excuse to buy another gun

You may want to try new reloading brass instead of brass from factory ammo. Factory ammo is made shorter to fit all chambers and it's also loaded pretty hot. So firing a factory load can result in some distortion of the dimensions. For a while there was quite the shortage of reloading brass in the WSM calibers so many resorted to firing factory ammo and then reloading it. The availability of this brass has come back so you may want to try reloading brass. Start with a moderate load to fireform brass to your chamber and then progress carefully from there being careful not to over expand brass. I had this issue with a customer's rifle and remedied the whole issue with new brass. You can buy 270 WSM brass right now at Raven Rocks Precision in both Norma and ADG brands. Thanks for getting back to us on this issue.

[BeardownAZ]

At $2 per brass per round, it starts or is at almost loaded factory ammo prices after everything which kinda sucks but that’s just were it’s at. Availability is still not good but better, hit and miss, been watching for sometime. I’ll still likely try some new brass though to see were I’m at. No doubt the factory loaded it under specs to accommodate all rifles. Was there any particular powder that you saw the 270 wsm liked? Appreciate all the help

[BeardownAZ]

I’m also probably expecting to much price wise in brass so I’m gonna just get a few at the $2.00 a piece and see what works. 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

I would invest in measuring devices to print the case after sizing, you need to know if your in spec or not

[BeardownAZ]

2 hours ago, MULEPACKHUNTER said:

I would invest in measuring devices to print the case after sizing, you need to know if your in spec or not

There’s a certain point in which spending money on this rifle is gonna far out way the benefits over just sticking to factory ammo. Not saying your suggestion is wrong, it’s not. Just not sure how far I want to ride this out. The gun shoots good, it’s a hunting rifle, used when I get drawn, which is less and less often these days it seems. Reloading was meant to cut cost if possible, improve accuracy possibly, and keep a consistent load if specific factory rounds dry up as they do from time to time. 

[Couzer]

3 minutes ago, BeardownAZ said:

There’s a certain point in which spending money on this rifle is gonna far out way the benefits over just sticking to factory ammo. Not saying your suggestion is wrong, it’s not. Just not sure how far I want to ride this out. The gun shoots good, it’s a hunting rifle, used when I get drawn, which is less and less often these days it seems. Reloading was meant to cut cost if possible, improve accuracy possibly, and keep a consistent load if specific factory rounds dry up as they do from time to time. 

Welcome to the world of reloading. It's definitely not for everyone. At times I want to quit, but for some reason I keep spending my money on it. Lol. Good thread and good persistence on this rifle.