Won’t pass headspace gauge

[The Knuckle]

Hey guys, I’m using a xl650 and set of LEE 224 Valkyrie factory dies, and I have the sizing/decaping die screwed all the way to the shelf plate and it will not bump the shoulder back at all to where it passes in a headspace gauge.
So there’s no more adjustment in the dye and it won’t go through headspace cage I’ll attach a picture for reference.
am I missing something obvious?

I haven’t annealed them yet, I guess this could be the problem but it would be nice to be able to control the shoulder bump a little more if needed.

 

[Doom]

I think the issue is the Lee die does not have enough threaded portion to seat low enough with the Lee lock nut on. I have heard of moving the lock nut to the underside with pistol dies. Might try that with the rifle die.

 

[Broncovan]

I think the issue is the Lee die does not have enough threaded portion to seat low enough with the Lee lock nut on. I have heard of moving the lock nut to the underside with pistol dies. Might try that with the rifle die.

FPNI
Lock ring under the press, set height and lock it down. It'll work just fine.

 

[The Knuckle]

interesting, never had to do that before. There is barely enough thread on top of the die for the lock not, probably catching one thread with the nut, and the press has to "Cam Over" more than i'd like to get it to pass a headspace gauge. Once the die hits the shell plate its probably another half turn so I don't want to bend the shell plate head of loosen it up over time.

I put it in my single stage and I have plenty of threads left but not so much on the xl650

 

[BobinNC]

Did you try and chamber it in your rifle?? The best chamber gauge is the one that comes with the rifle, and not the hand held one you buy in the store.

If it won't chamber or won't chamber easily in your rifle, then look to see if your local gun plumber can take a little off the die bottom.

If he ruins it, it's only a Lee die, and not something valuable .

 

[nn8734]

Hey guys, I’m using a xl650 and set of LEE 224 Valkyrie factory dies, and I have the sizing/decaping die screwed all the way to the shelf plate and it will not bump the shoulder back at all to where it passes in a headspace gauge.
So there’s no more adjustment in the dye and it won’t go through headspace cage I’ll attach a picture for reference.
am I missing something obvious?

I haven’t annealed them yet, I guess this could be the problem but it would be nice to be able to control the shoulder bump a little more if needed.

What is the case head to shoulder datum measurement for a fired case out of the rifle in question?

That's your 'gauge', not those checking cylinders...There's one company that makes a checking cylinder with a big slot cut out of it so you can a little more effectively see at a glance but neither it nor the one you have are proper tools for actually checking and adjusting case head to shoulder datum for purposes of bumping shoulders on fired cases.

Whatever that measurement is, set the die to bump the should back .002-.003 for bolt guns and .004-.005 for gas guns...A variance of .001 in either direction is ok.

 

[The Knuckle]

Thanks! These are the first rounds fired so just going off sammi since I can't find anything on which chamber Wilson used. I think it might be my shell plate because I just realized its the grendel shell plate so maybe there is some thickness differences and not just the head diameter.