The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading reload won't chamberGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| reload won't chamber | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
HI guys, I made a few 110 gr .308 rounds to start testing for accuracy but the only 1 of 12 rounds would chamber. It's obvious the shoulder is too long since I can see a slight ring mark at the top of the shoulder after trying to chamber a round. So the question is: is the big locking ring too high on the die when it's in the press or is the threaded rod on the deprimer too high? I guess I don't know which part reshapes the case shoulder and I've never run into this problem before. Thanks, Barry | ||
|
| one of us |
Most likely cause is that the SEATER die is set wrong IE the crimping ridge is hitting the case mouth and forcing a bulge in the shoulder. | |||
|
new member |
Lee's website has videos on how to set your dies that might help you out a bit. You maybe could check that out. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Lube inside the case at the neck shoulder with a Q-Tip lightly coated with imperial die wax, sometimes the expander will pull the shoulder out a tad if it lacks lube. good luck! | |||
|
One of Us |
 If I understand what you say and it is fact, If you have an 8x57 die or a .358 die pull the expander and run the case( loaded ) into the die until it removes the bulge.  Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Bartsche, aside from that I would need to pull the bullets, dump the powder, etc. yes? Barry
| |||
|
One of Us |
 "Earth First, we'll mine the other planets later" "Strip mining prevents forest fires" | |||
|
One of Us |
I did that with my 358 Win & Hornady dies when trying to crimp the rounds. Finally I got a Lee crimping die and solved the problem. I would suggest that you check the shoulder diameter with a vernier. Also place the round on a flt surface & see if you can see a small gap under the rounds - a sure sign of buckled shoulder. I also get a Hornady case length gauge & OAL length gauge that you attache to a calipers. This has helped me be more consistent in case sizing & bullet seating on a regular basis with no more problems in chambering reloads. "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
|
| One of Us |
Also you can break the seating/crimping into two steps. Good luck! | |||
|
| one of us |
Do the empty resized cases go in before seating the bullet? If so then you know you have a seating problem. If not, then you have a resizing problem. Also check case length. Remember, forgivness is easier to get than permission. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Now that is good advice right there.
PA Bear Hunter, NRA Benefactor | |||
|
one of us |
This would have been my first question too. Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | |||
|
one of us |
Can't close bolt on rifle First make sure the the sizing die is adjusted so that the shell holder contacts the base of the die when the ram is at the top of its stroke when resizing a case. This ensures that the sizing die is bumping the shoulder back as well as reducing the diameter of the case. If the shell holder does not contact the base of the die, the diameter of the case is squeezed down, making the case (and distance to the shoulder) longer. | |||
|
| one of us |
I didn't read that you were trying to crimp. I suspect it is one of two things, one--since you said you see a mark on the shoulder when trying to chamber a round, I suspect it is as simple as you are not pushing the shoulder back enough (or at all) when sizing. You can actually cause the shoulder to move FORWARD when sizing if the die is not screwed far enough into the press. I think all you need do is pull your expander/decapping assembly out of the die, screw it (the die) further into the press by a half turn at a time, and size these rounds until they chamber properly. I have done this with loaded rounds, but frankly, no MFG would EVER recommend this, you should pull bullets, dump powder and then try, in fact they would suggest popping the primers somehow, but that is gonna be a PITA when they won't chamber in your rig. I'd just size em myself, I bet that is your issue. I would certainly check case length on these rounds. A case that is a few thousandth's longer than YOUR chamber in THAT rifle, can be VERY dangerous. So check that, but I really bet you just need to screw your die in a little bit further into the press, til you bump the shoulder back, and you'll be good to go. One other thing, if you have any cases of the same batch, i.e. once fired brass or whatever these rounds were prior to your reloading them, size one without adjusting the die, and see if it will chamber, and if it is tough to chamber like your loaded rounds, you can bet it is the die not screwed in sufficiently. Good luck | |||
|
| One of Us |
I am having the same problem reloading a 22-250. A friend ask me to reload his 22-250 empties fired from his Savage. I ordered a set of Hornady dies. I trimed all the cases. I loaded about 7 rounds for testing. Three would not chamber and the others fit snug. I tried some of the remaining 50 cases that I had sized but not loaded and many would not chamber. I screwed the die down beyond touching the shell holder (I think sheld holder is a Lee #2 and cases fit loose in holder but my 284 Win cases fit snug). I resized the cases again (some more than once) to get them to fit. Some still fit snug like match ammo. I put so much pressure on the cases I finally broke a piece of the cast bracket holding the press arm to the press. Good news he got one hole groups using 36.1 grains of Varget and 55grain Sierra bullets. I have not called Hornady as I just did this two days ago. What do you guys think about this? | |||
|
One of Us |
You have a slight mis match between the chamber length and the sizing length and need to size the cases shorter at the shoulder which you tried to do be FORCING the case in harder to the die. There are simple solution to most problems. In this case I would gradually dress the top of the shell holder untill you get easy chambering of the sized case. It is not at all unusual to have to modify a shell holder in this manner to get good chambering, in the same manner that some may have a few thou clearance between the shell holder and the bottom of the die for best chamber fit without over working the brass. Von Gruff. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Von Gruff. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I find a black sharpie works great in figuring out why a round won't chamber. it just might be hard to see if it is contacting at the front edge of the throat, but usually you can tell where it sticks on the case or bullet if you draw one line base to throat and maybe coat the bullet looking for rifling contact. | |||
|
| One of Us |
The locking ring has nothing to do with the die adjustment. It is simply used to lock the die in place after it has been properly adjusted. When you screw your resizing die into the press, raise the ram and screw the die in until the bottom of the die touches the shell holder. Then lower the ram and screw the die in slightly further. Then attempt to raise the ram to the top again. If the ram still goes all the way to the top, continue to screw the die in until the ram refuses to go all the way up, then back off until it does. At that point, you can tighten down the locking ring. This procedure removes the slack from the press and compensates for the slight give every press, even the most massive, has. Unless you do this, you are not assured that the shell holder is actually meeting the die when there is a cartridge case being resized. The depriming rod should be backed out until the depriming pin fails to deprime the case, then screwed in until it does so. If it is screwed in to far, it can prevent the case from going all the way into the die, or, more likely, be bent by your attempt to force the case into the die. You should champfer your case mouths to prevent their being distorted by seating a flat based bullet like the 110 grain bullet you mention. | |||
|
| One of Us |
BarryG: you never said what state the cases were in. Are they new-had been fired in your gun -pickups-fired in another gun? If new, did you try them in your gun unloaded? If they fit then the OAL of the cartridge is to long(bullet sticking too far out ) or the case is going into the seater too far. There is a small shoulder above the neck part of the seater die that crimps the bullet and if the case is going in to far it is buckeling the shoulder. To make sure that this is not happening just take the seater die out(losen lock ring and run up die) and run a case up into the press to its highest point and hold it there. Then run the seater die down into the press till you feel the top of the neck contact the crimp shoulder and then back the die out one turn. A this point run the lock ring down and to top of press and lock onto die body. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia