Shot my 1st reloads today. All went well except two rounds would chamber smooth but the bolt wouldn't lock down or "rotate down". Once fired,necksized .223's from the same gun. I don't see anything wrong with them. Any ideas?

How did you size them?
Did you lube the necks if useing a sizer with a expander ball?

Some times the expander can drag and pull the shoulder foreward causing hard chambering. Some times too, full sizeing without bumping the shoulder back enought can cause the same problem. The shoulder moves up as the brass flows from the walls being squeezed down.

Set the die to hit the shell holder with the ram at TDC and turn it in 1/8-1/4 more. Lube the inside of the case mouths and see if this helps.

Did you get the rounds out? Look for marks on the bullet - bullets seated too long
Marks on the end of the case, case too long - trim to length.
Peter.

You can take an EMPTY UNPRIMED resized case and smoke it up with a lighter or a torch, chamber it and see where your case is contacting the chamber too hard. If it is the shoulder then you are either pulling the shoulder out w/ the expander ball or your cartidges were overloaded the time before and have stretched and you will need to Partial FL resize to bump the shoulders back.

If you are shooting a custom rifle then you may have to turn the necks.

If you're unloaded resized case slides in easy, it is your bullets that are seated out too far.

Sometimes hot loads will cause the brass to become a little too tight, but I've never heard of it in only one loading. Were the brass factory to start with, or were they loaded several times prior to your loading them?

I have also on occassion when I first started reloading did not get the primer seated flush. I now clean all my primer pockets as a matter of procedure. --- John303.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Did you get the rounds out? Look for marks on the bullet - bullets seated too long
Marks on the end of the case, case too long - trim to length.
Peter.

The rounds came out fine. There is a little scrape mark on the bullets. It appears to me that the case mouth ends are really out of square on these two cases. Maybe the bullets didn't seat staight.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Did you get the rounds out? Look for marks on the bullet - bullets seated too long
Marks on the end of the case, case too long - trim to length.
Peter.

One more thing. All my rounds oal were exactly the same, 2.2075

There should not be any marks on the bullets unless you are deliberately seating them into the lands, in which case you will feel resistance when you close the bolt. Put marker on the bullets and try chambering them again. Then run the rounds into the seating die, seating them deeper, then try chambering them again until you see no marks on the bullet, This will tell you if the the bullet seating is the problem. If not, them pull the bullet and powder and try chambering the empty case. This will tell you if the case is the problem.
Peter.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
There should not be any marks on the bullets unless you are deliberately seating them into the lands, in which case you will feel resistance when you close the bolt. Put marker on the bullets and try chambering them again. Then run the rounds into the seating die, seating them deeper, then try chambering them again until you see no marks on the bullet, This will tell you if the the bullet seating is the problem. If not, them pull the bullet and powder and try chambering the empty case. This will tell you if the case is the problem.
Peter.

Well Done!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
There should not be any marks on the bullets unless you are deliberately seating them into the lands, in which case you will feel resistance when you close the bolt. Put marker on the bullets and try chambering them again. Then run the rounds into the seating die, seating them deeper, then try chambering them again until you see no marks on the bullet, This will tell you if the the bullet seating is the problem. If not, them pull the bullet and powder and try chambering the empty case. This will tell you if the case is the problem.
Peter.

I did what you said and it makes a little scrape ,about 1/8" on just one spot on the bullet. I think when I'm pushing the bolt foward because the mark looks parallel to the bullet. Pulled bullet ,case works fine,reseated it deeper, saw no marks. But all my other ones chambered fine,although I didn't eject them and look. I went off the books min.o.a.l. which is 2.200 and went a little longer "2.2075" just to be safe I guess. Whats the easiest way to know if I'm seating them deep enough? Should I stay at the min.o.a.l.?