Resizing 6.5 Grendel

[Bassfish1952]

I started with 21 once fired Hornady and 21 starline 6.5 Grendel  for my first shot at reloading.

Ran them thru my lee press with Hornady custom dies, had no problems. Used lee 6arc quick trim to trim to length and a Hornady deburring tool. 

Everything looked great till I tried them in my rifle. The Hornady Brass no problem , the starline won't chamber

Hornady sized to 1.47 Oal, 1.187 at shoulder and .265 at neck

Same die 6.5 sized to 1.47 Oal, 1.191 shoulder and .265 neck

What did I do wrong ?    Do I need different dies for resizing 6.5 Grendel ? Or?

There don't seem to be any adjustments on sizing or their quick trim die only once you get to seating 



Thanks for any help

[Trashy]

I started with 21 once fired Hornady and 21 starline 6.5 Grendel  for my first shot at reloading.

Ran them thru my lee press with Hornady custom dies, had no problems. Used lee 6arc quick trim to trim to length and a Hornady deburring tool. 

Everything looked great till I tried them in my rifle. The Hornady Brass no problem , the starline won't chamber

Hornady sized to 1.47 Oal, 1.187 at shoulder and .265 at neck

Same die 6.5 sized to 1.47 Oal, 1.191 shoulder and .265 neck

What did I do wrong ?    Do I need different dies for resizing 6.5 Grendel ? Or?

There don't seem to be any adjustments on sizing or their quick trim die only once you get to seating 



Thanks for any help

hi Bass, the most likely culprit will be not enough shoulder bump on the star line brass. If you have a headspace comparative tool, measure the headspace of the hornady and the starline and compare the numbers.  If the starline measures longer adjust your sizing die down a little further bumping the shoulder a little more. Bump the shoulder just enough so that it chambers. Unfortunately you will need to dismantle all the starline rounds, bump the shoulder then reassemble the rounds. Hope this helps

[grayfox]

^^^ what trashy said. Shoulder length for your chamber seems like it needs < 1.191. there are some tight 6Arc chambers out there. After resizing/bumping it down double check that the OAL is still < saami, 1.490. Probably would be but assume nothing.

[Bassfish1952]

Directions on the Lee press said

While holding handle against the stop , screw the die in until it touches the shell holder, then release pressure and screw the die in an additional 1//4 to 1/2 turn.

I did that and set at a little between 1/4 and 1/2.
I thought that meant there was no adjustment and have been beating my head against the wall thinking metal to metal meant maxed out.
As soon as I get my first stuck case out I will screw it in to the full half turn point and see what happens. I guess dealing with a few thousands can mean there is a little more give in what I thought was metal to metal.

Thanks

[grayfox]

you did lube the case first, right?
(Dumb question I know).
Lots of folks on grendel forum have had nothing but bad luck with Lee die/presses.

The ones I stuck - I forgot to lube the case.
Pain.

---

Edit to add, I'd not use more than the 1/4 turn past firm. The press action/ram should be able to "cam over" with the lever, at least my rcbs works that way.
Meaning when it goes flush to the bottom of the die, there is a slight "extra bump" like it goes over a small hill/ridge, then stops.

[Bassfish1952]

you did lube the case first, right?
(Dumb question I know).
Lots of folks on grendel forum have had nothing but bad luck with Lee die/presses.

The ones I stuck - I forgot to lube the case.
Pain.

---

Edit to add, I'd not use more than the 1/4 turn past firm.  The press action/ram should be able to "cam over" with the lever, at least my rcbs works that way.
Meaning when it goes flush to the bottom of the die, there is a slight "extra bump" like it goes over a small hill/ridge, then stops.

Well first I miss read the instructions and backed the die out 1/4 turn. Everything looked great BUT it didn't size the neck. Went back and ran it 1/4 turn down and Looked great but bolt on rifle didn't close. I should have started with the once fired Hornady brass but I didn't so I ran a group of them thru same thing, after sizing they were harder to close bolt  but it would close. So for me on this press 1/2 turn works , I locked it in and set the quick change die so I should be good
But yep long way to say 3rd time around I thought there was enough lube and stuck the last Grendel brass I was doing. 
At least I had not gotten to the powder yet. 
I learned and nothing got broken except 1 Grendel case. I'll take that as a win.
As for the Lee press, it has worked great for me long as I lube and the lee quick case trimmer make trimming easy.  I don't know if it is needed but on the Grendel brass I run it thru then turn the case and work the press again.

I measured my rifle and if I go factory OAL on finished rounds I will be .003 off my (is it lands?)

[popgun]

Have you shot any factory ammo? Did you check the shoulder length of fired brass? Are you using the #350 comparator adapter? Is your bolt closing easy now? It's not a good idea to run tight brass, it can gall your bolt. If your bottomed out with your die adjustment and still tight you might need to anneal the brass.
Personally I would start a little further off the lands, .010" But you should be fine if your not near max charge weight.
That's my 2 cents.

[Bassfish1952]

Have you shot any factory ammo? Did you check the shoulder length of fired brass? Are you using the #350 comparator adapter? Is your bolt closing easy now? It's not a good idea to run tight brass, it can gall your bolt. If your bottomed out with your die adjustment and still tight you might need to anneal the brass.
Personally I would start a little further off the lands, .010" But you should be fine if your not near max charge weight.
That's my 2 cents.

1.  Yes I bought 12 boxes of 103 hunter and am using those to get my brass for reloading
2.  Yes it is 1.188
3. yes the #350
4. Yes now that I have resized and trimmed bolt works great
5. I bought an OAL gauge Hornady straight , sent a once fired brass to Copper Creek and had it made to measure to lands with a 90gr Hornady GMX bullet which is what I am loading now. I am using Hornady reloading app. 
 The 6.5 brass is now 1.17 solder and 
 The once fired is also coming out 1.17 now and both are 1.47 trimmed

I am going to reload 12 6.5 converted with 90gr GMX and 12 once fired Hornady with. 90gr CX bullets starting with the lowest load of LR in the Hornady reloading app. 
4 rounds at each  28.4, 29.5 and 30.0 then depending on results I will step down to .3gr steps then down to less if needed till I get to where I want to be.

I am trying to copy the results Hornady has listed in their Bolt gun app. and have the same as Hornady lists in app.

Rifle  CZ527
Barrel 24' 1-7.5 twist
Case Hornady/6.5 Grendel converted
Max COL 2.26 for 90gr GMX and CX listed at 2.245

The rest I am using the Lee quick trim and trimming whatever it trims too

Any suggestions are welcome
and am waiting for my Magnetospeed Sporter to come in. After prior posts I decided I wanted better knowledge of what my rounds are doing since I am new to this and may not see overpressure signs as well as I should

[English Rifleman]

I was new to converting 6.5 Gren brass too.
and i will say that the best $20 i spent was on a case gauge. For me it took alot of guess work out.
And if you have a problem, it will show here too.

https://www.titanreloading.com/product/h...dge-gauge/

[Bassfish1952]

I was new to converting 6.5 Gren brass too.
and i will say that the best $20  i spent was on a case gauge.  For me it took alot of guess work out.
And if you have a problem, it will show here too.

https://www.titanreloading.com/product/h...dge-gauge/

I hadn't thought of it but it looks like less trouble than trying in my rifle each time.

Thanks, Ones on the way

[popgun]

If your fired brass measures 1.188" base to shoulder you should be sizing it down to around 1.186" for a bolt gun. 1.17" is way to short, if I'm reading your post correctly.

[Bassfish1952]

If your fired brass measures 1.188" base to shoulder you should be sizing it down to around 1.186" for a bolt gun. 1.17" is way to short, if I'm reading your post correctly.

My bad 1.182 I wrote to many notes on the same pad as I measured  way to many times trying to figure out what had gone wrong..

Anyway I have finished cartridges to be fired as soon as my magneto speed sporter gets here. I'll fire a couple of factory 103 rounds and check FPS on those then start low and work my way up. With the 90 GMX. Anything over 2900 FPS will give me the range and energy I want for a good kill on deer where I hunt.

We'll see what happens.

[popgun]

2900 fps should be pretty easy with 90gr bullets out of a 24" bolt gun. I'm getting 2847 out of a 22" gas gun using 29.8gr of Lever.

[Dino11]

If your sized brass is 1.191 and your fired brass is 1.188 you are .004 to long on the datum "B" using the 350 collet on your comperator.. You need to size it down to 1.183 to 1.185 to be on the safe side. this case should be good for both gas gun and bolt. If you are having difficulties sizing it down try annealing your brass before sizing it.

[rickt300]

To add I have had many tightly headspaced rifles that I had to grind or file the top of the shellholder off a bit. I have gone as far as turning .01 off the size die occasionally. I much prefer this to putting a strain on my press. I use 6mm ARC dies to size my 6mm Grendel brass and the extral .03 length of the 6 Grendel makes getting the shoulder in the just right position easy.