Ok, I'm learning. I borrowed my buddies Redding dies. When full length sized, both the Hornady and Redding cases have slightly more pressure to close the bolt in my gun than the new brass with the Redding feeling the heaviest. The Hornady case looking like the shoulder was too long in the first picture was caused because the case I showed was one that didn't didn't have the neck sizing button run through it so it was 0.010" smaller in diameter than the new brass. I retook the picture with a case that had the neck-sizing button run through it so its only 0.002" smaller in diameter than the new case and you can see that the neck looks more normal. Also, in this blow-up you can see that both dies push the shoulder back more than the new case. Looks like I have room to move the die away from the ram if I desired. Also, my shooting buddy ran the brass resized with the Hornady dies through his .270 and he said they were fine. I know his chamber is smaller than mine because I can run his fired brass through my .270 without issue (I accidentally mixed his cases with mine one). I may be too sensitive about the pressure to close the bolt. Thank you all for your comments to help me think through this.

I won't be returning the Hornady dies. I've spent a lot of time looking at dies as part of the decision process. I didn't look at Hornady dies when I bought my .223 dies. IMO, Redding was much better made than the Lee or RCBS dies. However, I like this Hornady die set even better. The stop nut is a clamp vs a set screw. The bullet seating die has a collar that drops down to capture the bullet right at the start of the stroke. And most impressive, you don't have to send the die back to the factory if you get a stuck case - you can separate the decapping rod from the die and use it to push the case out. I just might go get a Hornady die set for my .223.

Your gun probably has a longer chamber than yours shooting buddy, thats why it is easier to chamber his shells in your gun. All dies are supposed to adhere to the minimum sammi specs in the US of A for any commercial cartridge.

great to hear that you have got it sorted. funny that your rifle was fine with neck sized only, mine just hates them!!
just like the fairer sex everyone is different.

Most dies need to be set about 1/4 turn below where it hits the shell holder so that the die "cams over" as in these RCBS instructions

www.rcbs.com/downloads...ctions.pdf

What happens is that when the die starts contacting the case at the pressure ring it will squeeze the case body and move the shoulder forward, much like squeezing a baloon. Once this happens you have to set the die low enough so that it contacts and pushes the shoulder back.

If your chamber is "short-shouldered" so that the die can not be adjusted low enough to push the shoulder back then that is the time you have to take some material off the shell holder or the bottom of the die. I have had to do this for a short-shouldered Remington 22-250 and it is not easy. A file would not do anything to the shell holder or die that I had. They were both hardened. Took it to a machinist and he took off some off the die and the problem was solved.

slimjim wrote:

Ok, I'm learning. Looks like I have room to move the die away from the ram if I desired. Also, my shooting buddy ran the brass resized with the Hornady dies through his .270 and he said they were fine. I know his chamber is smaller than mine because I can run his fired brass through my .270 without issue (I accidentally mixed his cases with mine one).

Think you found your problem. I generally adjust my dies (Hornady) to just "kiss" the shoulder on fired cases. This in effect neck-sizes the case and sizes the body enough for easy chambering while leaving the shoulder in position to be firmly held against the chamber shoulder. It works for my rifles, but each one is a law unto itself. You will probably have to experiment with yours to find what works best. Do expect a little more resistance when chambering than you would feel with factory rounds. Factory rounds are undersized enough to chamber in any chamber, so feel loose in most.