Can't get brass to resize properly for my Sako A7 30-06. Using RCBS FL sizing die. They are fitting very tight even without bullet seated. What is causing this, and how do I fix it?

Either not enough shoulder bump or it's not sizing your 200 line down enough on your brass. How much are you bumping your shoulder?

Don't really Know. I have the die set down hitting the shell holder.

What press are you using? Is it camming over a tad? are you lubing the cases? Have you trimmed to length before resizing? As 1bama said, its prolly that the shoulders are not being bumped back enough. Try screwing your die down a little. In custom actions, neck thickness would cause a tight fit but your problem is prolly either cases to long, (need trimming) or your shoulders need to pushed back more. Stoney point (now hornady makes a gauge that you can put on your calipers to measure shoulder bump and you can just measure the length with your calipers. good luck

You might be pulling the shoulder forward a bit when you withdraw the case from the die.. Take the expander ball out of the sizing die and size a case or 2 and see if it helps. If not, Redding makes s set of shell holders that are shorter incrementally for 6 shell holders but they aint cheap. Or...buy a rcbs #3 shell holder and face off the top with a bench grinder holding it flat on the side until it chambers. My 280 Ackley was build with a wildcat reamer and I had to do this to get brass to chamber after a couple of firings.

It is a Forster co ax press. Have it set where it hits shell holder then a little more. Cases are lubes with RCBS lube and pad. Using brush on inside of case. I checked the case length, they are near max, but trimming did not help. I will take a look at that gauge, that may help.

This may be what is causing it. Maybe not enough lube on inside of case?

I Have a forester coax also The original are better than those that are making them now. I have found that on some cases I need a harder bump on those sliding shell holders. Most of my dies are bushing and dont have an expanding ball, but for those dies that do, i use a little powder graphite on a q tip inside the neck. If your not using the standard Forster sliding shell holder then Murf s reply might help

One more recomendation. Measure the base of the shell just above the rim and compare with an unfired shell

Thanks for all the replies, ill let you know how it goes

99% chance you are not bumping the shoulder.

A fired .40 cal round can be used to measure shoulder bump if you don’t have a gauge. I had the same problem with some fired brass I had. I turned about a half a turn in on my sizing die and fixed em right up. I now have the shoulder gauges to measure with.

Disassemble and clean your dies
Reset to factory recommended specs in your press
Lube your brass a try again

Got it this time. I think it was lack of lube on the inside. Added some to my brush, swabbed them and ran them through the die again. Problem fixed.

Ditch the ball and get mandrels

Naw bud adding case lube didn't fix anything.
Sako and Tikka chambers run on small side of specs.probably why they shoot so well ..along with exceptional barrels anyway

If your trying to size brass fired out of another rifle brass may not be able to be sized small enough with standard die and small base die may be necessary but after that initial sizing of small base sizer go back to standard sizing dies for further reloads on that brass ...

It's extremely rare to have brass fired out of a rifle then it can't be sized again with full length sizers in same rifle or even tight in neck sized brass for at least 3 fittings before shoulder needs bumped back...

I'd also make sure what your calling tight isn't your jamming bullets into rifling causing tight closing bolt

Start with brand new brass and go from there is a newbie best bet .
Figure out your length to lands before starting any loading with each bullets your planning on using...
Generally you'll never need to bump a shoulder or size 200 line with new brass until 2-3 firings.again you'll need to learn what this means before starting but your full length sizing dies should be able to accomplish this.no problem

Been there done that loading everything from long huge chambered 303 British rifles to custom chambered rifles and semi automatic toys ..all kinds of crap can need to be addressed.


Anyways you'll fit into what I've mentioned most likely

Glad to see Marsha mudd excited and learning about bumping shoulders and making his own bump gauge/case lol at least your trying 👍

And a mandrel won't help you do anything with your problem someone blurted out lol

It's rare but I have one of those rifles. A custom 300 win mag that I tried three different sizers before I found one that would bump the shoulders enough to chamber. RCBS and Redding dies wouldn't do it but Forster would.

Hey I don't disclaim you one bit.you definitely have a handle on hand loading more than 99.9% folks


Reason I threw out the small base die.but I think your someone like me that would have harrels or whidden make us a die and know that's something we can do after trouble shooting

After three fire forming I'm sending mine out honestly with fired brass in that situation.would be best

These are not brass fired from another rifle. So not the problem.

Cases by themselves without bullet were tight. So seating depth also not the problem.

Also not a Newbie. I have loaded thousands of rounds using this same die for multiple rifles. Only a couple hundred from this rifle. First time this has become a problem.

Lubed them better ran them through the die again and now the problem is fixed.

Again if case lube is your answer your gonna have some horrible inconsistent brass if accuracy is your game.gonna be a headache in long run if you don't address situation.really soon it sounds like
Your gonna end up with brass that won't fit at some point and lube or extra sizing or dwell time can't fix.
I've fired some rifle brass 20 times.
As au338 said try different dies,or get small base die cheap easy fix,or order custom die.
You can grind some off shell holder but that's not something I fool with.
This will continue to be a problem for you if you don't do something different.. using case lube to smash brass isn't a good idea and another firing or so you'll probably be back to same situation the die can't overcome

Even bumping shoulders back slightly after 7-8 firings things can get tight again with some dies
Just trying to help I've dealt with all this before