I've had to rechamber my old Kreighoff 7X57 Mauser because of excessive headspace. The problem I now have is at the range the other day I couldn't get some of the rounds to chamber. They would go all the way in but the bolt handle would only go half way down. I rechecked the cases to make sure I hadn't inadvertently gotten the wrong cases somehow. I measured the overall length, neck size, and case bottom but did not find anything amiss (or different from those that would chamber fine). Some of, or most of the reloads chamber fine but I'm wondering if I need to screw my resizing die down a half or three quarters of a turn? I've never come acoss this problem in reloading before. And yes, I'm using the same bullets in all loads. Does it sound like I have a super tight chamber? Again, all help appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Yeah, I would disassemble those rounds and like in the RCBS manual, turn the die all the way down and then give it an 1/8 to 1/4 turn so that it has a camming effect.

It is always wise to chamber a round in the gun after you resize it, just to make sure that you have not overdone it, or underdone it.

I like to check every 5th to 10th round just for the hell of it.

If they were fired in the rifle before the rechambering and then reloaded....

Are you crimping the bullets in?? Have you checked the case length after resizing?? Kinda sounds like shoulder bulge to me. Varying length in the resized cartridge could be the reason some chamber and some don't. Check the shoulder width of the ones that won't chamber against a sammi drawing or against one that will chamber.

Just got back into town this evening. Will try to get the cases checked/die screwed down etc. on my return from my NEXT and almost immediate return out of town. Appreciate the feedback and will post my findings and hopefully the remedies too. Thanks again, Mike

Almost forgot, yes the bullets were fired from the gun in question. Later, Mike

Mystro, drum roll please.........and Winner of the the "Help Mikey Once Again" prize is... Seafire/B17G! As he suggested I screwed the die all the way down until I had the camming action and Bingo, the rounds now chamber just fine. Is this an indication of a tight/new chamber? Thanks again for the correct answer to the problem, Mike

Most rifle builders like to make the chambers to the minimum headspace and so they'll tend to be this way compared to a sloppy job of chambering. It's normally helps with accuracy, and actually makes it a lot easier to load for.

Mike,

Glad it worked out. The credit goes to a tech at RCBS that let me in on that tip when I had the same problem when I started reloading four years ago.

That is the reason for me visiting this forum; to pass on or receive information from other shooters and reloaders.

Good luck this fall hunting season.

This forum stands to be commended and the people who moderate it also have my praises. I would venture to say that many limbs, eyes, and lives have been saved by information passed along here. It's wonderful to be a part of something that's both enjoyable and a benefit to the shooters of the World. There is a common bond shared here on the forum that needs no words to describe but I will just say, "Thanks again and good shooting", Mike

I had the same thing with my Savage. I took off the barrel (just to see if I could). I then reassembled it so that the bolt would just close on a go headspace gauge. I had to full length resize most of the brass that had been neck sized after being fired in the gun with the factory headspace. The only exception was brass that has been fired with Hodgdon's "youth" loads. That brass was still small enough to chamber with only neck sizing.

Now the gun is tight enough that full length sizing will not work the brass' shoulder very much.

Four Tails,
If you were only partially sizing or neck sizing only then it is likely the new chamber is just a bit smaller than your old one. It does not mean that the chamber on the new barrel is too tight. I dont know how much brass you have but if it was me, I would get new. Brass has a tendency to want to to go the shape of the chamber that it was first fired in in it's virgin state. Soemthing the bench rest guys have learned. This is also one of the nit pcking things that bench rest guys do so the excerside may not be worh the expense. BTW, I also have an old Kreighoff rifle in 7x57. Mine is an old mauser with double set triggers. It is one I intend to restock one of these days. Was the barrel on your rifle a round barrel or half round/half octagon?