tight reloads?

12 March 2007, 21:36

Maxx

tight reloads?

I have never had this happen before,

- i am working on loads for a friends rifle, 7mm-08 ( using 140 accubond)

- the loads are tight to chamber, more force than neccesary to close the bolt

- I have FL sized, and trimmed the brass, these are 1st time reload brass,

any idea's?

thanks

12 March 2007, 21:51

SST

You might try coloring a sized case with a black magic marker, including the front of the case mouth. Chamber it gently to see where the black rubs or is scraped off. That will tell you what's up.

12 March 2007, 21:53

Doubless

A couple of questions: Did the brass come from his rifle? Is his rifle custom, i.e. maybe a tight chamber? And will his rifle accept a re-sized case that has not been reloaded? If so, the problem is with your overall length. If not, your sizer die may not be screwed down into the press far enough to be pushing the shoulder back.

I have never heard of a "bad" sizer die, but I guess one could get past the quality checks...

12 March 2007, 22:07

Maxx

thanks guys

- i will try the black marker trick

- The brass did come from this rifle ( model 70 featherweight). The sizer die was set so that at with the shell holder in the press pushed up, the die was about the width of a quarter away from the shell holder. this is how I normally set the dies.

thoughts?

thanks

12 March 2007, 22:21

pointblank

Thoughts...all chambers are different(except the ones I chamber

) and your method of setting up a sizing die doesn't nessecarily size the fired case at all. The best way to do it IMO is to have the rifle close and chamber the case after you size it. If it's still a tight feel, screw the die down 1/8th of a turn, resize and chamber again. Keep going until it will just chamber without resistance. Lock the die ring in place. Now you are sizing the cases perfectly every time.

12 March 2007, 23:53

kraky

+1 to Pointblank....setting all dies to the width of a quarter gap is not a good way to do it. I'm surprised doing this hasn't gotten the same results in the past.

13 March 2007, 00:10

Maxx

Thanks for the thoughts,

- tried the black felt trick, there are some staraight lines at the should being "scratched" into the case- but this is the same for a case that chamber well, and the case that fits "tight",

- going back to basic's, I measured with the Stoney Point headspace gauge , I measured a fireformed case to be 1.626 ,and a re-sized case that I did to be 1.628 ( one measured 1.631)

Pointblank- you are correct I think. I need to bump the shoulder to 1.625, right?

13 March 2007, 00:55

kraky

I'd advise going another .001" to 1.624". All it takes is a shell with a bit more springback or a slight dragging of an expander ball and you have tension while closing the bolt...and this can easily cause a point of impact change.
Also consider if this is hunting ammo that dust, snow, ice, whatever can get on casings and into actions during cycling.
.002 headspace is almost nothing....just "crack your caliper open to .002" and take a look at how little it really is.....this is all the headspace you have from the bottom of the case to the shoulder....almost nothing.

13 March 2007, 01:32

Maxx

thanks, I will push she should back to 1.624, and give it a try-

13 March 2007, 04:18

pointblank

quote:
Originally posted by kraky:
I'd advise going another .001" to 1.624". All it takes is a shell with a bit more springback or a slight dragging of an expander ball and you have tension while closing the bolt...and this can easily cause a point of impact change.
Also consider if this is hunting ammo that dust, snow, ice, whatever can get on casings and into actions during cycling.
.002 headspace is almost nothing....just "crack your caliper open to .002" and take a look at how little it really is.....this is all the headspace you have from the bottom of the case to the shoulder....almost nothing.

Very good point..I'm so used to loading for competition rifles that I sometimes forget that a little more clearance isn't a bad thing in a hunting rifle.

15 March 2007, 12:09

seafire/B17G

YOu either didn't have the shoulder pushed all the way back ( die not set down enough) or you had it set too far down and were bulging the shoulder slightly.. both will cause the case not to chamber...

it is always wise to size a case and then chamber it to see how it fits, and then adjust the die if needed before going and resizing a big batch of them, and reloading them only to find you have to dismantle them and resize the case...

like Homer

here did when he started reloading...