When I reloaded my last batch of reloads for my 700 classic in 6.5x55 the rounds load hard. I am not sure why as I have checked the length of them and they are no longer than a factory round which loads easily. Also I loaded the empy brass into the chamber and the bolt closed easily. But after loading with bullet the bolt closes hard. What do I need to check that I haven't?

More detail - how are you sizing the brass (full-length, nec, etc.), how have you adjusted the die, how many times has the brass been reloaded,l and other details.

Jaywalker

Well the brass is once fired brass from the same gun. It was original factory loads with saved brass. I did not full length size these as I had a collet sizer. I think thats right. After sizing I loaded the empty brass into the rifle and it went in smoothly. One other thing, all the brass was trimmed to length as well per a Lee caliber trimmer.

The first thing that comes to mind is a different ogive on the handloads; if the new bullets have a short ogive the bearing surface may be jamming the lands even though COL may be the same. Try seating one deeper and see if the problem goes away. The only other option is too thick in the neck after loading or primers seated proud (when resized brass chambers easily, indicating adequate shoulder relief).

Thanks, I will try to seat a little deeper and see how it turns out.

I am sure that it is not seating depth of the bullet... I bet that you have too much cartridge length... YOu need to full size it again...

Best way to tell is to take a sized case and chamber it, with no bullet or powder.. If it chambers with resistance... you either need to set the shoulder back somemore or you have too much cartridge length and it needs to be trimmed....

I always chamber a freshly sized case in the rifle just to make sure I have it set up right... takes a few minutes and eliminates a lot of problems later on... if it was not sized right to begin with...

cheers
seafire

Sounds like an ogive length issue to me, too. What bullet and what OAL did you use?

Jaywalker

if sized cases fit easy and loaded rounds do not,..I would look for rifling scars on the bullet. if they are present, you need to seat deeper.

I am having the same problem with three different bullets. I don't have the overall length information handy but they are all shorter than factory loads I can stand them side by side and get the problem. I don't have a lot loaded but tried three different bullets to see if it is the problem of bullet. I have a 140 grain Remington, 120 grain Nosler, and 77 Grain Norma. All load tightly. I followed the instructions I had in the loading manual and even had help from a person who has loaded thousands of rounds help me get started. I just don't have a clue as to why they are loading so tightly. I can get the bolt closed and they fire fine, but just concerns me that they are so tight.

I also should have probably posted this in the reloading forum. Sorry guys.

Well, some things that can cause constriction are headspace, ogive, and neck. The empty case goes in okay, so it's likely not headspace. (Some full-length dies can move the shoulder forward under some circumstances, but you said you haven't used one.) Ogive appears to be okay, as it's shorter than factory rounds.

That leaves the neck. Try measuring the neck diameter, both before and after seating a bullet, and see if it exceeds max, 0.297".

Jaywalker

Thanks

Ditto on Jaywalker

I almost hurt myself, years ago, Hornady 25/06 and 270 reformed brass, blew case head, imprinted stampings on bolt face-96 mauser, and cracked the threads on the bolt where the firing pin screws on-also blew primer.

Discovered loaded neck was .310 and I was CRIMPING the bullet more or less.

People who reform brass need to watch that neck OD, measure them.

Well it appears that the neck diameter is slightly larger than a factory load but not significantly. I measeured with a caliper because I don't have a micrometer. However the measeurements were .27 something and .28 something. I just need to get a micrometer to better measure the diameters properly. I will get back with you later.

Ted

Once you've verified the neck, I can see two approaches.

First, you can mark the cases, maybe, with magic marker or something, and insert the tight case to see if you can determine where the constriction occurs.

Second, locate the lands, rather than concerning yourself with the cartridge OAL. There are several tools and procedures you can find with a search of this site to determine this, and ensure the bullet is not touching them. The simplest is to create a dummy round, paint the bullet with a magic market or other, and chamber the round. Do you see land marks at the ogive?

Third, if you have no lands marks, go back and verify what you've said previously. I'm particularly interested that the case feeds well into the chamber without a bullet, then feeds tightly with a bullet. Neck-sized cases will chamber tightly, which is why I asked how many times you've fired them. (FWIW, I gave up neck-sizing because the cases were hard to chamber. If you think about it, a bolt that's hard to turn in chambering is wearing away either the bolt lug or the bolt lug recesses, generating a (possibly future) headspace problem.)

Do one case that works well and try to create the problem. Neck-size a case, verify it chambers well, then seat a bullet. If it chambers hard, then the problem is (somewhere) in the bullet-seating. If you can't create the error, then that's not it.

Jaywalker

Well Jaywalker,

I went back to the last batch of brass I had neck sized and the first two chambered easy the next two did not. I then marked up on of the reloads with a sharpie and loaded it hard into the rifle. The only place with missing marker was the primer area of the brass. The primer was still marked up but the butt of the brass was pretty clean. What is this telling me and how do I correct it?

Ted

quote:

Originally posted by TexMav:
The only place with missing marker was the primer area of the brass. The primer was still marked up but the butt of the brass was pretty clean. What is this telling me and how do I correct it?

Ted

It's telling you that someting in the chamber is restricting the cartridge from rotating and the bolt rotation is removing the ink. roger

quote:

I went back to the last batch of brass I had neck sized and the first two chambered easy the next two did not.

Was this brass only, or with a bullet? That's key, remember, because you want to learn whether it's the bullet-seating process that's causing the problem. If some of the empty brass are hard to seat, then it is not the bullet-seating. If that's the situation, I suspect it's just a basic neck-sizing problem.

When you fire a cartridge, the case expands. Cases aren't perfectly regular, and some expand more than others. Neck-sizing, by definition, does not size the body or move the shoulder back, so some will be harder to chamber. Successive neck-sizings allow others to fill the chamber and become harder to chamber.

If that's the case, the fix is simple - reduce the use of the neck-sizer to every other time, or never. I chose never, and move the shoulder back each time - no more hard chambering.

Jaywalker

It was brass only in reference to the quote. That explains a lot. The first batch I did with a friend who has reloaded thousands of rounds we used a full length sizer die and I had the problem with that one as well. I subsequently purchased a second reloading die set as the original ones came with the rifle when I bought it. I will use the full length resizing die from the new set and see if I am still having problems. I hope I never quit learning new things as they make life interesting.

Ted

quote:

Originally posted by Jaywalker:

quote:

I went back to the last batch of brass I had neck sized and the first two chambered easy the next two did not.

Was this brass only, or with a bullet? That's key, remember, because you want to learn whether it's the bullet-seating process that's causing the problem. If some of the empty brass are hard to seat, then it is not the bullet-seating. If that's the situation, I suspect it's just a basic neck-sizing problem.

When you fire a cartridge, the case expands. Cases aren't perfectly regular, and some expand more than others. Neck-sizing, by definition, does not size the body or move the shoulder back, so some will be harder to chamber. Successive neck-sizings allow others to fill the chamber and become harder to chamber.

If that's the case, the fix is simple - reduce the use of the neck-sizer to every other time, or never. I chose never, and move the shoulder back each time - no more hard chambering.

Jaywalker

Best advise JW... I don't care for neck sizer only....I hardly ever do it!

Well guess what Jaywalker. I used the full length sizer dies on some additional brass of the same type and lo and behold it fed smoothly into the chamber. All rounds resized fed smoothly, whereas only a sample of the neck sized fed smoothly. I guess I learned a great lesson here. Thanks for the assistance.

Ted