brass sticks in chamber

blueskies

I am reloading a 300 WM. The problem/concern is that it takes more force than usual to close the bolt on the reloaded shell. Additionally, opening the bolt is not as much a problem, but pulling the shell from the chamber takes a lot of pull on the bolt to extract it. This is the 4th time I have loaded this lot of brass and it is definitely harder to close and extract this time.

The brass is neck sized only. I originally thought when I sized this time I didn't over cam the press to ensure proper neck sizing so I pulled 20 bullets and resized. This seemed to help a little, but it still takes force to extract the brass.

Any thoughts as to this dilemma and concerns firing these rounds?

Thank you for the replies!

charliemeyer007

Not that it makes a lot of difference but is the W Winchester or Weatherby.

Case length comes to mind for your issues. Not every bolt gun can get away with neck sizing only.

Caming over your press is springing it out of alignment. When the shell holder and die meet, more pressure does nothing - steel doesn't compress much.

blueskies

Savage 300 Winchester Mag. 111 long range hunter

The neck sized case length is between 2.600 - 2.604. Layman states max length to be 2.620.

I chambered a previously fired casing that hadn't been re-sized yet but shot 3 times. It was very difficult to extract and its case length was 2.614.

Can the belt start to bulge? Do I need to do a full resize occasionally?

Thanks for the camming understanding.

Tailgunner1954

Sounds like you need to bump the shoulder back, slightly.

charliemeyer007

So have you really cleaned the chamber with a good solvent and a brush? I would inspect the bolt face for brass build up and other crud. Clean the receiver lugs zone too.

How does an empty fired case feel or act re-chambering? Getting any scratches (Shapie black helps). What happens when you just lift the bolt and then close it?

Perhaps right above the belt it's expanding - if the belt is expanding I'd say you are on the hot side. Maybe the bolt face isn't square to the bore - that could be felt as chambering resistance.

Careful measurement of the cases will help identify what its happening. I would full length say 5 or 10 cases, measure them in several places. Load and shoot, measure - rinse and repeat Indexing is worth a try.

7 to 10 loading then it's time to finish life as a cast bullet only loading in my 7 Rem Mag.

I fire form my new brass with cast bullets. I just engage the lands to center the case.

Yea you could need to full length size more often. Having loaded for 100's of rifles in over 50 years I don't keep bolt rifles that require FL every time.

How hot are you loading? What do your primers look like?

blueskies

I think you are right about the cleaning. Sharpied a fired case and fowling came out with the case on the neck! Didn't see this before and this has never happened with the other rifles I have shot over the years.

I have always been leery about brushing the chamber in fear of scratching - hence using a bore guide. I'll give it a thorough brushing and let you know.

charliemeyer007

Big charges of slow burning powder.

I like Shooters Choice. A 45 or 50 cal. bore brush in the chamber. JB Bore Paste on tight patch.

blueskies

Sometimes you feel like an idiot. Just needed to clean the chamber. What confused me was that factory loads still chambered smoothly. I didn't realize the difference between factory dimensions and fired.

Thank you again for the suggestions and cleaning/reloading advice.

charliemeyer007

Cool. Easy fix. A good close fit in the chamber is why fired formed neck sized cases generally produce better groups. What kind of groups are you getting?

I have a lot of respect for the 110E, in terms of strength. A buddy used H4895 instead of H4831, normally that mistake results in pieces.

blueskies

Nosler partition, 180 gr, H4831SC 74.5gr, OAL 3.484". Receiving 0.55" groups at 100 yds. Amazing how much tighter it got from using Federal Premium 180 gr Nolser Partition. Have shot at 300 yds and received the same (!), but have only had a few shots at this distance to prepare for elk season. I need to support this with 5 repetitive shots (and a clean chamber).[;)] I only had a few loads prepared for scope adjustment at this range.

I have also received the same grouping at 100 yds, same powder load using Barnes TSK BT 168 gr but with OAL of 3.515. I have had some difficulty with this at 300 yds, but I think that is because my scope was loose (different story).

I plan on working up a load with Nosler ballistic tip 180 gr with long cut instead of short cut. I heard the long cut gives better performances. My purpose is to find a round that not only be used for hunting, but also to ring metal at long distance. My preference is to not have two different loads due to load work-up time and burning out my barrel. Preference on an `all around' bullet - not to get into a large discussion here?

nononsense

blueskies,

quote: My purpose is to find a round that not only be used for hunting, but also to ring metal at long distance. My preference is to not have two different loads due to load work-up time and burning out my barrel. Preference on an `all around' bullet - not to get into a large discussion here?

The bolding is mine to emphasize your desire:

Berger .30 cal. 185 gr VLD Hunting #30513

This is a true Match Grade Hunting bullet. It will outperform every other manufacturer in it's weight category. This is the methodology used for getting a one bullet/one load for both pursuits.

You will want to test a couple of other powders though since you will see an improvement in both velocity and accuracy over the longer distances. I can suggest VVN-165 (cooler), Norma MRP (warmer) and then my favorites Ramshot Magnum and Alliant Re-25.

Best.

blueskies

Thank you very much!

243winxb

quote:Savage 300 Winchester Mag. 111 long range hunter
Nosler partition, 180 gr, H4831SC 74.5gr, OAL 3.484". For hunting, you need to full length size the brass. Your load seems to be on the hot side when looking at different load data. Hodgdon data shows a maximum of 71.8 gr, 73 gr. But with different bullets.

Does that OAL fit the gun magazine? SAAMI standard is 3.340" maximum.

blueskies

243winxb,

Thanks for questioning. Looking at Hodgdon website it does have a range of 66.8 - 71.8 gr dependent upon 180 gr bullet. Lyman 49th edition for 180 gr HPBT has a range of 70.0 - 76.0 gr with OAL of 3.340" which is what I used. Question: which is accurate/safe? Mid-point for Lyman exceeds max for Hodgdon. I also thought by increasing the OAL will reduce the pressure - thus `safer' load.

Yes, the 3.484 for Nosler fits but 3.515 for Barnes does not. Need to position Nosler exactly.

243winxb

Some of these pressure signs may apply.