G'day All
I Have been working up my first loads for 25/06, on the weekend i went out to my usual hunting property and shot off several different loads, starting @ 55grains of ADI Mulwex 2213sc with 90grn sierra hpbt,i loaded three different powder weights(54 grn minimum start 58grn max load),55,56,57 of which the 56's grouped the best but when i loaded the last round(57 grn powder) the bolt was stiff and i could not close the bolt( bit tight did not want to force it).this was one of the 57 powder weights and the first nine before it were fine as were the other twenty before them,i kept an eye on the primers and they showed no real signs of excessive presure, this case was the same as the rest (winchester) and it was its first time re-loaded, I full length sized all cases and only some needed to be trimmed, Which i de- burred, i seated them all with the same die at the same depth, why was this one case givin me trouble, I took it home and pulled the projectile but iam unsure what to do next, i know its not a good idea to push out unfired primers, should i just throw that case away, i tried to put it in the gun with no powder or projectile and fire of the primer but it was the same result,the bolt would not close, did i not resize it properly, surely after two firings it was not to long as i trimmed it like the rest, when i got home i ran a few other factory shells through it and they were fine.
How often should i full length re-size and when do you know your cases need trimmin.
I am knew to reloading and have only learned from a book,any help or ideas will be greatly appreciated.
The gun is a KM77vt ruger(no ruger bashin please).
Regards
Damien webb(Big Native).
ps: does any one have any pet loads of this aussie powder & projectile in the same rifle.

BigNative,

There can be a few different causes of your cartridge not chambering. Since I am unfamilier with this powder, I am not sure if this is a compressed load. Compressed loads in and of themselves are not a bad thing, but a couple things can happen if you have a heavily compressed load. Because the powder is compressed, it will push back against the bullet pushing the bullet slightly out of the case. When you went to chamber it, the bullet was contacting the rifling and giving resistence to chambering the round. Secondly, though not likely with the 25/06, is with a heavily compressed charge, the shoulder/neck area of the catridge may bulge slightly giving resistance to chambering.

I am sure there are a host of other things also, those are the one I would check first. Did you measure the overall cartridge length of the round that won't chamber? This would be important to do to determine if the bullet has backed out slightly.

With a bolt action, some small resistance to closing the bolt is OK. People who neck size the cases only, will always feel the resistance of the shoulder hitting the chamber wall upon loading. This is normal.

Since you are new to reloading, I think you did the right thing though, in checking the cartridge out and not firing it. By doing this you may come to understand why that round was slightly different.

Good luck in your reloading efforts,
BigBullet

I see that the max. case length for the 25-06 is 2.494". Check that again on that case. Either it's stopping on the case mouth the shoulder or the case has become out of round. Check the diameter of the rim also and it should be about .473". I have seen all sorts of stuff get shipped. Try to chamber that case one more time from the magazine if your ruger is a CRF (Mark11). Maybe the extractor is not jumping over that one.

If the length is ok then FL size it again. It's ok to decap live primers once in a while. Just wear glasses when you do it. Its best to find that still live primer and seat it in another case and fire it off rather than sending it off to the dump as it's still a live then.

Unless the cause becomes obvious throw that case out.

I FL size all of my rounds with one exception and that one may go the FL route someday. The only handloads that I would not FL size are very light ones with cast bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by BigNative:
... I took it home and pulled the projectile but iam unsure what to do next, i know its not a good idea to push out unfired primers, should i just throw that case away, i tried to put it in the gun with no powder or projectile and fire of the primer but it was the same result,the bolt would not close, did i not resize it properly, ...

Hey Big Native, Sounds like you "short stroked" the Press handle during the resizing operation on that one case, the Die had loosed a bit, or it could have been due to a problem during Seating. However, it was probably just a "short stroke".

No need to remove the Primer at all. Remove the Decapping Pin from your Expander, lube the case, squash it, wipe it clean and try it in your rifle outdoors since it has a live Primer in the case. If that didn't fix it, then the case needs trimming or the Resizing Die is not set up properly.

If it did fix it, return the Decapping Pin to the Expander, but leave the Expander loose in the Die so you know to reset it properly when you are ready to re-size some more cases.

Best of luck to you.

G"Day All
I Took the de-capping pin out of the sizing die and resized it, it must have been a "short stroke" as it loads in the gun and the bolt closes fine, sounds like hot core was on the money THANKS HEAPS,it just goes to show how valuable this site is to the learner,its one of my favourites,keep up the good work ALL.!!
Regards
Damien Webb ( Big Native).

Sometimes the neck sizing button can pull the shoulder forward a scosh. Use a Q-tip and apply a little case lube (Imperial die Wax is the best) at the inside junction of the shoulder with the neck. If there is any drag or sound when the button comes out you need lube.
Good luck!
P>S> There is little danger in decapping live primers.