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Is there a trick to this? I swear I'm banging my head against the wall trying to sort this out, Lee Dies, including FCD, new Star-Line brass, Hornady .355 170gr bullets. the brass gauges perfectly before loading with a Lyman case gauge....yet when I drop the powder, seat the bullet, and lightly crimp it, it fails the case gauge. I have tried adjusting my dies time and again....There is something I'm missing here...is it possible there is something unique to the .350 Legend in terms of loading?
It could be too much crimp, and it is buckling the front shoulder of the case.
I would try one in the gun itself, and see if they chamber.
If so, it could be just a tight case gauge, and you may have a bigger chamber.
The rifle runs perfect on factory loads...no issues, I am seeing a bit of a bulge in the case where the bullet is seated.
Just spent a little time with a set of calipers.....my reload versus a factory load, the only area I'm seeing any real measurable difference is at the base of the case, just above the head, I measured .485 for the factory load and .492 for the reload. rifle will not chamber the reload.
I use the same brass with RCBS dies and haven’t had any issues. I can’t speak to setting up Lee but I could do a video this weekend on how I set my dies up if you think that would help. Let me know.
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that would be helpful, thanks.
Cool I’ll do it this weekend. It’ll end up being something simple. I had same issues with 30.06 and it ended up being something simple.
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I guess you are seating and crimping in different steps with a FCD? Can you chamber a case in your gun just before you add powder? If the brass chambers nice then, it has to be something in the neck area that changes with seating and crimping.
After playing with it for a while....I've just come to the conclusion that a small base resizing die is probably what is going to solve this issue, anything I ran through the Lee die will not chamber.
That is strange. I load for the 350 Legend as well and use Lee dies. I have no issues with chambering. What gun are you using? I have the Ruger American bolt and it run fine.
It's an AR built on a Noreen 80% lower receiver and a Noreen upper, with a BCA 18" barrel, rifle is a known good shooter with commercial ammo.
double
Get a 9mm bulge buster or borrow a 9mm FCD and gut it so you can use it as a push through sizer . The BB is probably the best bet as the carbide inserts can be cracked if you need too much squeeze .
A 3rd option would be a .375 cast bullet sizer die and use it as a push through sizer die . It should get you about .380 dia . Assuming we're talking about the 350 basically blown straight 223 case and not some wildcat based on a way shortened 308/×57/06' case with a nominal .473 head and rim .......I can see where getting a .400+ in the chamber might be a problem . The Lee push through bullet sizer is readily lapped up if needed . I would think a 223 case would be just a thumb pressure slip fit through one .
I had a bunch of 45 ACP with the same issue . Stupid autos let the head swell just enough they wouldn't seat in my revolvers .
Your new brass will settle down after a cycle or 2 and you won't need a SB die .
I got a set of Lyman MSR dies...that seems to have corrected the issue, all shells will chamber now.