so i just got my rebarreled rifle back. ive only fired one shot through it so far, am not too sure if i want to keep shooting it at the moment.

anyway after i fire the rifle and eject the case (no problems there) i cant stick a projectile back into the case. it goes all the way down to where the neck and shoulder meet and stop there, cant force it down at all- by hand anyway. so i got the verniers out and there feels like there is a little lump on this inside of the neck at the bottom all the way around the case.

I'm wondering if perhaps the brass is a little long as it looks like the top of the neck is marked just slightly in a couple of places, the rest its black from soot. seems to chamber OK.

after chambering it several times the soot has dissapeared so assume this is the problem.

do you think this is all the problem is? i dont have a universal case trimmer and forget to get something to trim the cases with

What caliber is this? 243 Win perhaps? How many times have you reloaded the brass before?

You do need to make sure that the cases are not too long.

But as far as being able to get the bullet into a fired case I am not sure what to say. I dont think it really means anything. I have had 338 win mags that a bullet will drop into a fired case with no tention at all. But some 300 mags that I have had, a bullet will not go into the fired case at all, It will be as if I dont even need to resize the case.

its brand new nosler custom brass. its a 280 Ackley. its all brand new brass except that 1 shot that was fired.

the only thing ive heard about not being able to stick a bullet back into the case neck is when the neck is too thick and needs trimming. this rifle has a .314 neck, the fired round measures .310

So it is not a ridge at the inside bottom of the neck as is sometimes the case with several times loaded brass. Seat a bullet in an uncharged case and measure the neck diameter to see if it exceeds the chamber diameter. Turn the necks if it is over size with a bullet seated. Are the cases annealed? If not, it would be a good idea to do so after turning. They last a lot longer.

You're getting some brassflow forming the donut at the base of the neck. This is not abnormal, although a lighter load may reduce the tendency. Reaming or turning will reduce the condition. What concerns me is the soot. It could indicate a neck tension situation.

Usually the test for case length is the ability to chamber a bare case. However, a marginal condition may exist. Trim a case a few thousandths shorter and see if the problem goes away. If you want to measure, Sinclair has chamber length gauges that are used in conjunction with a shortened case: www.sinclairintl.com .

Don't overlook what Gerard has mentioned regarding neck diameter. With a custom chamber there could be interference with the brass you are using. You need at least a couple of thousandths clearance. Lack of space for proper expansion could cause both the brassflow (donut) and soot conditions. Fire-forming thinner brass may be cheaper and easier than turning Nosler brass if you have this situation.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul from nz:
its brand new nosler custom brass. its a 280 Ackley. its all brand new brass except that 1 shot that was fired.

the only thing ive heard about not being able to stick a bullet back into the case neck is when the neck is too thick and needs trimming. this rifle has a .314 neck, the fired round measures .310

Hey Paul

I have a custom 280AI with a .313" neck. After firing the outside diameter measures .313" exactly. It may be that your neck is not as advertised.

Anyway, I too use Nosler 280AI brass but I turn the necks down to .013" on each side which gives .284 + .013 +.013 = .310" outside neck diameter of a loaded round. I turn these necks before ever firing them.

The donut you describe is a very common occurrence and happens to all cases. The reason you are noticing it is because you have a tighter chamber than factory chambers. With factory chambers the neck expands far enough so that the bullet will slip by the donut even though it is there. K & M makes a neck turner with a "cutter mandrel" made especially for removing donuts. Even with most other neck turners they give instructions on how to turn the necks to reduce donuts.

I have a Forster hand held neck turner and like it fine. I have used a friend's K & M and it is a very good tool. My Forster has a wider cutting blade which I like better but the K & M has more adjustments and is the only one I know of with the cutter mandrel for donuts.

You do need some method of trimming though. Contrary to popular beliefs, 280AI brass needs to be trimmed the first few times also.

a fired round measures .310. a loaded round is between 310-311 mark that should be 3-4 thou clearance which should be enough? 2 thou a side sounds about right

If cartridges chamber and extract ok after firing, and the problem is with seating the new bullet, that is what needs solving. The soot is puzzling, as that usually happens with loads that are way under pressure or with chambers that are way oversize. The quick solution is to find someone who also has a 280AI and try to chamber one of your fired, unsized cases in his rifle. If it wont go, you chamber is bigger than his. Otherwise compare the diameters of a fired case with an unfired one at the shoulder and just ahead of the extractor groove. The difference should not be more than 0.060mm (0.0025"). Getting rid of the donut is a matter of reaming the neck inside but why is it happening if soot indicates low pressure? Strange.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul from nz:
a fired round measures .310. a loaded round is between 310-311 mark that should be 3-4 thou clearance which should be enough? 2 thou a side sounds about right

Hey Paul

If your fired round measures .310" outside diameter of neck and your loaded round measures .310" to .311" then you do not have clearance around the neck. You need to turn the neck thickness down to .012" which will give you .284"+.012"+.012"=.308" at the minimum and probably should turn them down to .0115" all the way around. I would be careful and not turn them lower than .010".

Personally I would not worry about the soot. An uneven line of soot going down the neck would indicate different neck thickness. I would not worry about it until the soot starts to get onto the shoulder. The soot rubbing off after chambering the case a few times is also an indication that the case neck is rubbing on the chamber neck. Not to be worried about on unsized necks as the neck should be the chamber neck size but if it happens after sizing then you need to neck turn to get more clearance.

it is advertised as a .314 neck it could be wrong but id hope it wasnt. need some way to measure it!

wouldnt the new brass spring back? like after it was fired it would expand out to the chambers size then shrink a little?

Paul, there will always be some spring-back. It does not sound as though you have a problem. You might want to lengthe trim the neck. You are concerned about the 'doh!-nut' and the soot. You did not mention any signs of excess pressure. From what you have said, the bolt opened fine, the case extracted fine, it re-chambers fine, the neck hasn't expanded much, the neck/shoulder junction has not expanded at all, there is sooting around the neck. I'm guessing the primer was not overly flattened (if not nice and rounded) and that the case body just above the web has not expanded visibly either. Was this a starting load? You might try reloading the case and see if it chambers freely. It was, after all, your first shot. If the reloaded round chambers OK and there were no signs of excess pressure to start off with, you should have no problem. It sounds like your load might be a little bit light (as a starting load should be).

Be cautious and good luck!

I wasnt concerned about the soot, i was concerned about the shiny marks that were left on the cases at the top of the neck, you know the bit you trim the metal away from and it runs perpendicular with the neck.

I went through all the cases and some of them have doughnuts on the inside. the cases come *ready to load* but a quick run through the full length sizer fixed the doughnuts- guess i should have done that from the start.

the load is 162gr A-Maxs federal 210 gold medal match primers and 61grs of VV N-560 in the Nosler cases.

It sure is a pretty round!

also in my haste and concern i cant have read it right because now fired rounds come out around .313thou however i stil think the cases need trimming back a few thou.



thanks for all your responses, i cant have been thinking quite clearly and must have pannicked.

cant wait to actually get a scope on this thing and do some proper load development!

Glad you got sorted Paul! Let us know how the gun performs with the scope.

I was considering trading my kimber 8400 in 300WSM + a leupold vx3 4.5-14x40 for a nightforce 5.5-22X56. im considering it...