Well to me this sounds like a minimum dimention chamber without any more info. First I'd say measure a round that chambers easily. Take various measurements at the neck, shoulder, case head, ect. Then fire this round and repeat these same measurements. Then size it, and measure the sized case in the same places. The sizing die may not be bringing the case down far enough for the chamber. If the chamber was cut to min dimensions and the dies are nominal or on the large side, you may not have sized the case enough to fit.

It's hard to examine things over the internet!

I have a 300 Win with a Shillen stainless steel barrel.

If I fire Federal,Pmp or any normal ammo in it it is okay, but after I have shot and reload the cases it gets very dificult to close the bold, even before a resise just to put the fired case back in the chamber sometimes is dificult en sometimes even get stuck, same with handloads.

If I realy make a tight full length resize it is okay I can chamber the case, but when I seet a bullet it get stiff again, some I can't even close the gun. Does it have a very tight bore or what, the pressure is okay according to the primers. I have tried seating the bullets deaper but still no luck.

This happens even with 1st reload or or many times reloaded ammo

It is on a M98 action

Help please

Your chamber is probably of minimum spec., which would not be too uncommon for a custom chamber. Although inducive to accuracy, it can be frustrating unless you know how much to size. I had a similar issue with a 223 recently, and my FL die would not "quite" size fired brass back enough.

If your die will not readily size the brass back to the dimension you need, most of the major die manufacturers will adjust your die for you (grind off a few thousanths) for free. However, I would have someone measure the headspace to determine if this is the problem, and then contact your die manufacturer (if you know who barreled the rifle, it is likely they will have this info). They will need to know your headspace in order to adjust the die properly.

good luck

There may be a couple things going on here. First, I think it is normal for a fired case to be pretty tight or even stick in the chamber when re-inserted. I wouldn't expect it to stick to the point where you can't extract it, but stickier than unfired would seem normal. Second, you may be collapsing the case shoulder slightly when you are seating the bullet. Are you crimping the bullet? If so, try seating one with no crimp & see if the loaded round chambers easily. Also try chambering an unloaded, full-length resized case & see if it chambers easily. If the resized case doesn't fit easily it may be that the shoulder isnt being set back enough. I am assuming the headspace is OK since factory ammo works fine for you. It is possible that your rifle's chamber is on the small side & your resizing die is leaving the cases a tad large. Do you have a mic or calipers? You could measure the critical dimensions (length, case head dia., neck dia. etc) of factory ammo, fired cases, & resized cases & you should get closer to the problem. Are you trimming the cases? They do get longer when you resize them. It could also be something as simple as a dirty chamber. Just some thoughts to get you going. Good luck.
--JJK

JJk

It will be normal to be a little sticky but the 300 is real sticky, much more than in any of my other rifles, 270,30-06,338 Win or 9.3x62

No I don't crimp, when I put a resised case into the rifle it works okay, closes nice and all is well, But as soon as I seat a bullet it goes all pearshape, I have used 2 different seater and 2 difirent resise dies.

The gun shoots 11 mm groups with factory ammo, of the loads I have been able to shoot I have even got as small as 5 mm.

I sometimes have to use a cleaning stick to get the cases out again, I have used a finier to try and see but the dimentions is so small that I can't see much of a difference

Flip,..you say a fired case fits OK into the chamber but a loaded round binds-up,..correct???

If I interpreted your answer correctly,..then I think JJK may have hit it on the head. Back the BODY of your seating die away from the shell holder a turn or two,...then adjust the SEATING assembly down toward the shell holder to obtain the OAL you were using before this adjustment. If that works,..then you are slightly bulging your shoulders with the seating die. I have done this and learned the hard way.

If that isn't it,..then be sure to check the shoulder dimension right at the neck junction BEFORE resizing,..then check it's dimension AFTER resizing. If that shoulder dimension GROWS while being resized,..then same advice applies,....back the die body off a bit and come down with the decapping rod.

thrid and final thing to check,..measure the neck of a fired case,..then measure the neck after it has been resized. If the neck GROWS after resizing,..you need to turn a few .001"s off your expander ball due to the chamber neck being tighter than the tolerances which the die was manufactured for. Turn down the expander on a drill with some 600grit,..and try it again.

Hope any of this will help.

"goes all pear shaped"?
You mean the case body becomes deformed & swells?
Does your sizing die have a neck expander? If you don't expand the neck it can get sized down & the shoulder can collapse when you seat a bullet. I think your problem is the case deforming in the seating process. You didn't mention if you're trimming the brass. Brass that is overly long can stick up too far in the seating die & collapse the shoulder.
--JJK

Flip,



As to a loaded round chambering hard. Make sure the chambers neck is not too tight. This could be a safety problem. Just try to put a bullet into a fired case neck. If it goes in with your fingers then it's ok.



An out of round chamber might cause fired cases to stick as well. Mike the bodies of fired cases. Of course bullets seated out too far will chamber hard.

I mean that after I have fired Factory ammo the case is sticky, if I full length resice it fits okay but as soon as I stick a bullet in the case it Get sticky again. I have trimmed cases shorter than they should be to see but no diffirence. I am using RCBS dies normal ones not compitition or something like that.

This thing is breaking my head thanks for all the help guys

Flip,
Try measuring your bullets and make sure they are .308 and not .311. It may be an oversize batch of bullets causing the problem.
Ralph

I had a similar problem with a 7 mm Rem Magnum in a mauser action. What I found was that all new cases would chamber just fine. Resized cases without bullets would not. I tried a second set of dies-- same problem. I tried "small" base dies-- same problem. I finally used Prussian Blue on the sized case and there it was. The dies were not reducing the case ahead of the belt enough. The chamber was too small or the dies did not due their job. Either way the barrel needs a chamber reamer run through it to clean it up.

In your case you said that when you seated a bullet the cartridge would not chamber. Your neck may be too thick. In any event try what I did. Or if you don't have access to the Prussioan Blue that machinist use all the time, simply use a wax candle to blacken the surface of the Unprimed and No-poweder dummy round to see what's going on.

There may well be something wrong with the dies or the chamber. Using the blue or carbon black coating will show you the tight spot and enable you to figure out what's happening. Good luck!

Sounds like you have a "tight neck". Maybe you need to try reaming the inside of the necks to thin them down.

Back to my first reply, take some measurements with dial calipers even, if a micrometer isn't handy. Measure the neck, shoulder, and base of the cases that fit, the ones that are"sticky", and the ones that won't chamber. The numbers will tell a lot. If they appear to indicate the chamber is fine then it may have a high spot like a burr or something. You can cast the chamber with Cerro-safe and get the chamber measurements as well.

Flip,
Finding out where the problem is should be first on the agenda.

Measure the neck of an unfired factory cartridge, and compare that measurement to the neck measurement of one that you've loaded up. If the one you loaded is thicker with a bullet seated, either the bullet has a greater diameter or the brass is thicker at the neck.