243 problem

[GOPHER SLAYER]

About two years ago I bought a friends gun collection from his daughter after he had passed away. I only wanted a 40-65 Rolling Block but she would not sell them separately. I have since realized I like the others also. One of them is an unfinished project with a barreled Mauser action and a semi finished stock. I have attached pictures. The rifle is in 243 Winchester. Now for my problem. Evan though I can't shoot the rifle yet I thought I would load some rounds just to see how the action functioned. Now I have three sets of 243 reloading dies and one set of 6mm Rem.which uses the same size bullet. I started by sizing the fired cases and without loading any powder or primers I tried to seat a J bullet. I was using what I thought was sufficient force but the bullet would not enter the case mouth. Rather than cruse the case I took the sizing die apart and measured the expander. I only measured 241. I checked the other two and one is 241 but the other is only 238. I checked the 6mm Rem. and it was also 241. My question is this. If you reload for this cartridge what expander do you use. Once again the forum will not let me post two pictures. I will try to load it on another post.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Second picture, I hope.

[Hickory]

A 241 expander sounds right.
You might want to chamfer the inside of the case mouth a little.

[engineer401]

I never had a problem seating bullets with my RCBS set. I have since purchased an M flaring die from CH4D. I haven't used it yet but it is 0.2425". A lot of people swear by the Lyman M die. They may be worth looking into.

[Mike Kerr]

Hmmm!
That "taking apart and measuring" frequently gets me in trouble. I have never measured my 243 set (Lee) but I have not encountered a problem loading "J" bullets. Of course I have to give some a firm push for seating.

BTW is that stock a Richards Microfit. Sure looks like one I used on a 7x57 Mauser project back in the day.

[Outer Rondacker]

What he said. I also use a pair of needle nose pliers and just give them a slight push and twist in the case mouth while watching TV. This helps for loading spliters and Lead bullets. Hope this helps.

WOW in the one min it took me to type this there is two new post.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Thanks guys for your input. I mentioned that I had a 6mm Rem. I loaded a box of ammo for it years ago but never got around to shooting them. I don't remember having trouble loading them. What I failed to mention in my thread was that I wanted to load cast bullets in my 243. I learned long ago that they have to have a little room to enter the case or you get shaved lead. I did load a box of 6mm Rem years ago but I don't remember having any trouble seating the J bullets. With the 243 it felt like I was going to crush the case. As for the stock, I don't know for sure who made it but I think it is a Richards. I never asked my friend about the stock when he was putting the rifle together. I was with him at a gun show when he bought the magazine and trigger guard. It has a fantastic set trigger. I think I will ask Buckshot to make me an larger expander. Thanks again.

[MT Chambers]

If loading cast, I would go the M-die route......cast or jacketed you still need sufficient case neck tension, the specs of yours sound just right.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

A little follow up. today I loaded a 73 grain hollow point J bullet in a reformed 308 case without powder or primer and it went without trouble. It also cycled fine thru the rifle. I will add that there is no way a cast bullet would have gone into that case. I have got to get an M die.

[Lloyd Smale]

my 257 wby will do it every time if I don't champer the inside of the case neck