Problem with my cases

[dalharmil1]

So I am new to reloading after having wanted to do it for years. I am very happy with my setup. I am using a Forster Co-Ax and RCBS precision dies. Right now I am sticking to reloading my .30-06 and have been enjoying it tremendously.
Here comes the problem...
I have been doing a full resize on my cases after cleaning them and lubing to make sure everything measures correctly. My rifle has no problem chambering the rounds. I have a friend who I decided to do some reloads for and when he tried to chamber them they got stuck. The rounds are not to long, they are too wide. On closer examination I am seeing the tiniest little warping in the bottom 3rd of the case. It seems his older .30-06 has tighter tolerances than mine does. I am thinking I am doing something wrong when I am resizing my cases.

My order of events are as follows:
1. Lube the cases
2. De-prime and full resize
3. Clean the cases
4. Measure case and trim and de-burr if necessary
5. Prime
6. Powder
7. Seat Bullet

I am thinking my issue is in the resize or the bullet seating...has anyone run into something like this before and do you have any advice?
Thanks for your help!

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[Eveskcige28]

When you set the dies up on your press are you making it have a little cam over? Where the die contacts the shell holder just before the top of the stroke?

 

[xtratoy]

Try chambering a resized case without a bullet seated. Eliminate one possibility of his gun having a short throat.

 

[Member 5605]

Nice.

You sized enough for your rifles chamber but not enough for his.

I have two rifles that can't share brass. One will shoot the others but the other won't chamber. One tight chamber and one loose chamber.

 

[ageingstudent]

Try chambering a resized case without a bullet seated. Eliminate one possibility of his gun having a short throat.

I would take it a step further and have him bring his rifle over and just start from zero like it's a new rifle you never loaded for because it is. Customize to that chamber one step at a time.

 

[ageingstudent]

So I am new to reloading after having wanted to do it for years. I am very happy with my setup. I am using a Forster Co-Ax and RCBS precision dies. Right now I am sticking to reloading my .30-06 and have been enjoying it tremendously.
Here comes the problem...
I have been doing a full resize on my cases after cleaning them and lubing to make sure everything measures correctly. My rifle has no problem chambering the rounds. I have a friend who I decided to do some reloads for and when he tried to chamber them they got stuck. The rounds are not to long, they are too wide. On closer examination I am seeing the tiniest little warping in the bottom 3rd of the case. It seems his older .30-06 has tighter tolerances than mine does. I am thinking I am doing something wrong when I am resizing my cases.

My order of events are as follows:
1. Lube the cases
2. De-prime and full resize
3. Clean the cases
4. Measure case and trim and de-burr if necessary
5. Prime
6. Powder
7. Seat Bullet

I am thinking my issue is in the resize or the bullet seating...has anyone run into something like this before and do you have any advice?
Thanks for your help!

You can color a dummy round with a sharpie and carefully chamber it. Where the sharpie rubs off can give you an idea where things are too tight.

 

[P7M13]

Really depends where the round doesn't chamber in his gun.

• If it gets almost all the way but he can't close the bolt, look at case length before priming/charging/seating.
• If it doesn't even get in all the way, look at your sizing technique.
  

  On closer examination I am seeing the tiniest little warping in the bottom 3rd of the case.

  This would be the sizing step. If your seating was hitting the shoulders or the neck was too thick, you would see warping or rippling of the brass up by the shoulder.
• Like @Eveskcige28 suggested, are you setting your press up correctly? Or, are you doing just a shoulder bump.

In my own experience with "cartridges that do not fit", the throat has always been the biggest problem. My Ruger 7mm-08 has a tight, short throat - it will not tolerate brass any longer than SAAMI casing OAL, and I often have to turn the necks of military 7.62 brass that I've necked down to 7mm because the webbing is too thick by ~2 mils. My AR10 in 7mm-08 is sloppy by comparison - it eats anything I feed it.

Recommend you take a once-fired case from your gun and one from his that was from a factory load, and measure everything about the brass. Then compare your reloads to factory or SAAMI dimensions. Because different manufacturers do use different brass material, some casings will "spring" back more from a resizing than others.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

If you are FL sizing and trimming to specified trim length, it should fit in ALL saami spec chambers. Sorry, but that's the cold hard facts. How far off the lands is the bullet (of your loaded ammo) in your buddies rifle?

 

[DizzyJ]

I agree with the person who said measure a fired factory case from his gun and duplicate it minus .001"-.002" shoulder bump.

Also as mentioned, make sure the bullet isn't protruding too far into the lands.

 

[Spitpatch]

"In my own experience with "cartridges that do not fit", the throat has always been the biggest problem."

My colleague quoted here might also agree with me on a pointed omission from the reloading procedure list: No notation of recommended "trim-to" length (quoted from a book) to actual length of the brass in a cartridge expected to chamber in ANY gun.

Yes, upon rare occasion, a factory gun may be chambered outside the parameters. Yes, some factory guns may chamber only brass at the bottom of the acceptable scale.

Allow your case length (and tedious trimming) criteria to rest at the "trim-to" (lower) end of the case length allowances. At the very least, always avoid approaching "maximum length".

I have never known a factory gun to disallow a full-length sized brass to chamber due to diameter. Never even in an automatic of any kind. Small base dies (those that size at a diameter to battlefield rattle into a chamber) have their place. I have never seen the need.

If you remain convinced that this is a diameter problem you can not only prove yourself right but solve the problem merely by flat-grinding (with a kickass precision grinder) a thin buff off the top of your shell holder. This puts your case further in the die, and is in every respect a "small base die" but only when mated with your custom shell holder for the tempermental chamber you have. Your die set remains unchanged.

 

[Mikej]

Tag...I've not loaded for shouldered cartridges, yet. When I do it will be 6.5 X 55 Swede. I'm somewhat apprehensive about it and a thread like this is helpful. Straight wall cases are a breeeeze.

 

[orygun]

My hunch would have been shoulder or neck issues. Like P7id10T's rifle, my wife's 7mm-08 Ruger is very particular to cartridge length. I performed a similar Mod as Spitpatch, but I trimmed the bottom of the die.
A common problem is squishing the shoulder a bit during bullet seating or crimping. Kind of hard to see, but you can usually feel the bump at the shoulder with your fingers.

 

[P7M13]

If you are FL sizing and trimming to specified trim length, it should fit in ALL saami spec chambers. Sorry, but that's the cold hard facts. How far off the lands is the bullet (of your loaded ammo) in your buddies rifle?

SAAMI spec chamber is the key word here. My brother's Tikka T3 shoots all OTS ammo except one box of Nosler bullets. The case is within SAAMMI spec, but without taking a chamber cast, my suspicion is there is zero freebore in the throat, and we all know that 4 mils means the difference between go and no-go.
When I load for him, I have all my 308 brass trimmed to minimum SAAMI length (or checked), then proceed to load.
The other aspect is bullet shape. The metplat and ogive on a PSP is very different than a VLD, which is why using COAL of 2.800 is sometimes a mistake.

 

[Member 5605]

"Headspace"

 

[Tankjr]

Had an 03A3 that wouldn't take my Garand loads. Bu mped the shoulder back ever so slightly, no problems afterwards.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

need to have cam over when FL sizing

 

[ma96782]

BTW, did you see this thread?

Case length/head space gauges

Aloha, Mark

 

[pharmseller]

Are they both bolt guns, or is your buddy's rifle an autoloader?





P

 

[pharmseller]

need to have cam over when FL sizing

What is cam over? I've never understood that term.




P

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

What is cam over? I've never understood that term.




P

with your shell holder in the press and the press handle all the way down(so the ram is all the way up) thread your decapping/sizing die into the press until it touches the shell holder.

lower the shell holder and turn the die CLOCKWISE 1/8-1/4 of a turn or so(its more of a "feel" depending on the press) then set your lock ring. now, everytime you run the shell holder up, it will touch the die and the handle will stop. if you press just a little bit harder you'll feel a "bump" in the handle. this is cam over.