Butlers - Both the rifle and cut down are 1898 ALTHOUGH the bolt in the carbine is a 1896.  So it certainly could be a tighter headspace, although that would mean the 1898 bolt in the 1898 rifle is holding the shell rim further away from the chamber - as the 1898 closed easily and the 1896 met resistance.  Does that make sense?  I can try it sometime, but I resized all of my brass as I don't shoot the rifle very often at all (it's correct, and in wonderful condition).  Also, I don't know how the sizing die could be the cuplrit.  After annealing, the sizing die easily and quickly produced a case that fit right into the chamber with no additional effort when closing the bolt.  the other resizing I do is 223 to 300blk and although it's a smaller case, I'm generally familiar with resizing and the effort required.  This shoulder would. not. budge!  I appreciate your insight.  I will try to swap bolts at some point, and if that resolves it, I may change over to a 1898 bolt in the carbine if for no reason other than it will allow interchangability of brass.  Thank you for the idea.

Mavt - Thank you - it was beyond strange.  Just didn't make sense, until I read about chamber differences between Krags and other problems with sizing.  I'll stick to neck sizing from here on out when I can.

Para - Thank you.  I tried three different lubes to be sure.  Lee, Imperial Wax, and Hornady One Shot Case lube.  I've resized a TON of 223 to 300blk and have learned about using not too little, not too much case lube, so I altered my approach a bit here and there as I was having these issues.  Nothing made a difference.  The die was adjusted to touch, then ram lowered, then turned in another 1/3 to 1/2, so plenty of allowance for flex.  The shoulder just did not want to move.  It was bizarre.  Until I run into the issue again, I don't know that I'll be able to troubleshoot it more.