Reloding question..Im at a loss

telohf

I have reloaded ammuntion for the last 30+ years and I consider myself overly careful about the ammo I load and have had zero issues...until now.

My question to someone who knows is...can reloaded ammo expand after time?

The reason I ask is I loaded a bunch of 30-06 several years ago(both nickel and brass cased). I loaded 55grs of H414 behind a 165 grain Nosler Partition. At the time they all cycled through my rifle(a 1903-A3 Remington).

Today I tried to run those rounds through my 1903 AND my Remington 721 in 30-06 and NONE of them would fit the chamber. I pulled a couple bullets and re-ran them through the resizer and then reseated the bullet.

After this they fit and the bolt would close whereas before it would not. This is very strange to me and I have never heard of such a thing. I have used the same Lee Dies for years and never had any issues. Any advice or info on this matter would be great. thanks!

rufe-snow

Next time you might consider using a Lee factory crimp die. As long as you full length resized and seated the bullets to the proper depth in brass when you originally loaded them? Only other thing could have happened is that the were not seated tightly/ properly in the uncrimped cases?

dcs shooters

What did the powder look like when you pulled the bullets [?]
Did the ammo get hot at any time [?]

Mobuck

A few possible explanations but it is very unlikely the ammo swelled during storage. From responses on the forums and other experience, the most common cause of chambering problems seems to be a shoulder bulge created during bullet seating. I had an instance of this many years ago when I loaded some ammo for a 264 Win mag. I worked up the loads and then loaded several boxes of the selected load. Later, I found several rounds that wouldn't chamber. At the time, I had only one single stage press and in reinstalling the seating die, had set it sightly low and caused a bulge at the shoulder on a few cases that were just a little longer.

Ambrose

I've put in a few more years at the loading bench than you have. I have never known cartridge brass to grow from just sitting. Bullets, however, will sometimes gradually ease out of cases if the load is a compressed one. I don't think your load with H414/165 Nos. par. would be a compressed load. In your situation, I would mark up a cartridge, including the bullet, with a magic marker or some such and carefully insert the cartridge into the rifle chamber and close the bolt as much as you can. Inspect the cartridge to see where the interference is and go from there.

charliemeyer007

I have shot lots of 50+ year old ammo. Brass can corrode and grow so to speak to make it hard to chamber but it would be obvious. Do necksize only, how is the case length, got any dried oil buildup in the chamber?

v35

Crimping can bulge the shoulder.
Using magic marker will show tight spots where it's worn off.
I have some old internal primed 45LC copper cased ammo that swelled oversized and wont fit a Colt cylinder having original chamber dimensions.

Okie743

A guy called me awhile back with a similiar issue with his remington 700 rifle!

He still had some that shells that he had not resized when he called and I told him to see if he could use a bore light and look at the chamber area right at the should area to see if he could see a speck of anything unusual, like speck of rust or anything like a small frekle.

Then if he sees or don't see anything try a oversize oiled patch and rotate when it touchs the shoulder area, inserted from the bolt end, then if still no go take a oversize bore brush and rotate it slowly in direction that does not unscrew it from a shortened cleaning rod while the chamber is oiled at the shoulder area.

He called me back in couple hours and said that the oversized bore brush cleaning at the shoulder chamber area removed the issue. Piece of rust or foreign material was at the should area of the chamber!

beantownshootah

quote:Originally posted by telohf
I have reloaded ammuntion for the last 30+ years and I consider myself overly careful about the ammo I load and have had zero issues...until now.

My question to someone who knows is...can reloaded ammo expand after time?

The reason I ask is I loaded a bunch of 30-06 several years ago(both nickel and brass cased). I loaded 55grs of H414 behind a 165 grain Nosler Partition. At the time they all cycled through my rifle(a 1903-A3 Remington).

Today I tried to run those rounds through my 1903 AND my Remington 721 in 30-06 and NONE of them would fit the chamber. I pulled a couple bullets and re-ran them through the resizer and then reseated the bullet.

After this they fit and the bolt would close whereas before it would not. This is very strange to me and I have never heard of such a thing. I have used the same Lee Dies for years and never had any issues. Any advice or info on this matter would be great. thanks!


I think good advice has already been given.

Brass cases won't expand from simply sitting around, though over corrosion can make them harder to chamber. There are things that can make bullets move within cases, changing the overall length the overall length of the round (ie poor crimping combined with shaking/dropping, recoil within a guns magazine, or expansion of compressed powder charges, etc). There are also are things can that distort cases slightly, preventing them from seating properly.

Obviously, dirty chambers can prevent rounds from fully seating too, though if the same rounds won't chamber in more than one gun, yet other rounds will, I think this possibility has been effectively excluded.

Dirt on the OUTSIDE of cases (particularly around the neck) can, in some cases, also prevent them from chambering. If this is the case, it should be obvious from close inspection, though.

If you have any of the "bad rounds" left, one thing you might do is just mike the rounds in question for overall length. If they're longer than normal, you have your answer.

You can also try miking the cases themselves for OAL, if only to satisfy yourself that they're still in spec.