7 PRC brass life and chamber/die issues

[jmad_81]

I've been shooting a 7 PRC that I built with a 22" Bartlein carbon barrel. The thing shoots lights out and I absolutely love it. I noticed after my initial firing that the cases seemed to go into the sizing die fairly hard right at the last 1/4" of the press stroke. It was noticeable between the 1st and 2nd shot, but yesterday when I was loading between the 2nd and 3rd firings I stuck 5 out of 25 cases in the die and had a lot of others that were hard enough to pull out that I bent the rim. I'm using plenty of lube, the dies are clean, and I'm completely baffled. I've never had this much trouble with a cartridge before.

I've been reading a bunch about how the Saami 7 PRC is a very tight chamber and is causing people to have case extraction issues or "clickers". Apparently, Alex Wheeler has come out with a reamer that fixes this by taking an additional .003" out of the chamber at the .200 mark. I've read a bunch about this, and his reamer seems to be very successful in solving the chamber issue.

I want to do this to my rifle, but I'm thinking that if I'm not having much of a chamber extraction issue and having a fairly major resizing issue with the die after 2 firings. Does it make sense that expanding my rifle chamber dimensions to solve the "clicker" issue would create a larger issue with my Saami specked sizing die? Would I need to "fix" the chamber AND get a new die to account for the new chamber dimensions?

 

[SJB358]

From what I’ve gathered Wheelers reamers clear up that clicker stuff. Just a case where they didn’t provide any room for expansion/contraction which isn’t a problem with factory ammo but if you reload you will run into the problem in only a matter of time.

 

[xphunter]

I've been shooting a 7 PRC that I built with a 22" Bartlein carbon barrel. The thing shoots lights out and I absolutely love it. I noticed after my initial firing that the cases seemed to go into the sizing die fairly hard right at the last 1/4" of the press stroke. It was noticeable between the 1st and 2nd shot, but yesterday when I was loading between the 2nd and 3rd firings I stuck 5 out of 25 cases in the die and had a lot of others that were hard enough to pull out that I bent the rim. I'm using plenty of lube, the dies are clean, and I'm completely baffled. I've never had this much trouble with a cartridge before.

I've been reading a bunch about how the Saami 7 PRC is a very tight chamber and is causing people to have case extraction issues or "clickers". Apparently, Alex Wheeler has come out with a reamer that fixes this by taking an additional .003" out of the chamber at the .200 mark. I've read a bunch about this, and his reamer seems to be very successful in solving the chamber issue.

I want to do this to my rifle, but I'm thinking that if I'm not having much of a chamber extraction issue and having a fairly major resizing issue with the die after 2 firings. Does it make sense that expanding my rifle chamber dimensions to solve the "clicker" issue would create a larger issue with my Saami specked sizing die? Would I need to "fix" the chamber AND get a new die to account for the new chamber dimensions?

In your research, I would look up and find the dies that best work with Wheeler's reamer.
I have my smith use a Wheeler spec'd reamer for my 6.5 PRC

 

[IdahoCTD]

It almost seems like the clearance between the end of the barrel and the bolt is excessive or the chamber was cut overly large at the back. Effectively you have a much larger chamber then your die spec.

 

[jmad_81]

It almost seems like the clearance between the end of the barrel and the bolt is excessive or the chamber was cut overly large at the back. Effectively you have a much larger chamber then your die spec.

I think this makes the most sense in my head given what I'm seeing and fighting. Maybe I'll see if I can find a die for the Wheeler reamer first and see if that fixes things. Or knock the action off and see if things are going into the chamber as much as they should be.

 

[TackDriver284]

Measure the base of a few cases that you have sized and compare them to the fired cases, if any ? I would measure the base of virgin brass and see how much expansion was created at the base after firing. Just a thought

 

[IdahoCTD]

If there is too much of the case unsupported, too much clearance between the bolt and barrel, it usually leaves a bulge that can be felt or seen. I would do as Mark suggested and measure a new case, a fired case, and a sized case to try and figure out what the issue is.

 

[sako2]

This seems to be a issue with all the prc's. Do a search for 6.5 prc click.

 

[sako2]

This may help you.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Send some fired brass and the dies back to the manufacturer along with a detailed letter. Chances are that they will fix the problem for free. I had a similar problem with a Redding die and they fixed it promptly. Occasionally, a sizing die just needs a good polishing. Using a good lube, like Imperial Sizing Wax, will be a big help if you are currently using a spray lube which tends to work better on smaller cases.

 

[jmad_81]

It almost seems like the clearance between the end of the barrel and the bolt is excessive or the chamber was cut overly large at the back. Effectively you have a much larger chamber then your die spec.

I had some time yesterday to get the bore scope out. I ran it down the barrel from the muzzle, the bolt appears to be pretty tight up against the barrel.

I also took the firing pin and ejector out of the bolt and tried to chamber a piece of resized brass. It chambered a bit harder than I would have liked so I adjusted the die down a bit more. This may have been part of my problem from the start, but I'm leaning towards the chamber being a touch larger than the die spec, or having a die that isn't quite to spec.

Send some fired brass and the dies back to the manufacturer along with a detailed letter. Chances are that they will fix the problem for free. I had a similar problem with a Redding die and they fixed it promptly. Occasionally, a sizing die just needs a good polishing. Using a good lube, like Imperial Sizing Wax, will be a big help if you are currently using a spray lube which tends to work better on smaller cases.

I'm running the same Hornaday lock and load lube that I always have. Would a different lube make that big of a difference?

 

[JD338]

Jake
Imperial Sizing Wax is the best in my opinion.
A lightly/properly lubed case will slide in and out of a sizing die with little effort.

JD338

 

[jmad_81]

Jake
Imperial Sizing Wax is the best in my opinion.
A lightly/properly lubed case will slide in and out of a sizing die with little effort.

JD338

Thank, Jim. I'll grab a little jar of that and see if it helps.

 

[DrMike]

Jake
Imperial Sizing Wax is the best in my opinion.
A lightly/properly lubed case will slide in and out of a sizing die with little effort.

JD338

This! Without question!

 

[jimbires]

I'll try to explain what I think I understand on this problem .

the fired brass expands at the .200 line . the die resizes it , but the brass springs back a little . the chamber is at min spec , so the spring back is what causes the problem . the brass can not be resized smaller because of the case head . early on guys were machining off a little on the bottom of the die , or the shellholder top . this would allow the brass to go in the die a little more , and size the brass a little smaller . the problem was the solid case head can not be resized and the die was splitting . Alex Wheeler reamer opens up the chamber a couple thousandths . now the brass does expand more at the .200 line , but it can be sized down to the casehead deminsion and when it springs back the chamber has enough clearance to work properly . I've read numerous guys using the reamer by hand and getting good results . I don't think it's necessary to get a different die . the die you have will size the brass smaller than the new chamber .

 

[pmelancon1984]

I'll try to explain what I think I understand on this problem .

the fired brass expands at the .200 line . the die resizes it , but the brass springs back a little . the chamber is at min spec , so the spring back is what causes the problem . the brass can not be resized smaller because of the case head . early on guys were machining off a little on the bottom of the die , or the shellholder top . this would allow the brass to go in the die a little more , and size the brass a little smaller . the problem was the solid case head can not be resized and the die was splitting . Alex Wheeler reamer opens up the chamber a couple thousandths . now the brass does expand more at the .200 line , but it can be sized down to the casehead deminsion and when it springs back the chamber has enough clearance to work properly . I've read numerous guys using the reamer by hand and getting good results . I don't think it's necessary to get a different die . the die you have will size the brass smaller than the new chamber .

Jmad,

I had the same exact problem that you just described in both 7prc’s that I recently reloaded for especially on some of the cases that were fired right under max pressure during my ladder tests.

I switched from homemade lanolin/alcohol mix (that I have no issues with on my 30-06) to Redding imperial sizing wax. My problems went away. I even broke my dies down before sizing and applied the wax onto the expander stem. Remember a little goes a long way with the wax, put a little inside of the case mouth.

I've been shooting a 7 PRC that I built with a 22" Bartlein carbon barrel. The thing shoots lights out and I absolutely love it. I noticed after my initial firing that the cases seemed to go into the sizing die fairly hard right at the last 1/4" of the press stroke. It was noticeable between the 1st and 2nd shot, but yesterday when I was loading between the 2nd and 3rd firings I stuck 5 out of 25 cases in the die and had a lot of others that were hard enough to pull out that I bent the rim. I'm using plenty of lube, the dies are clean, and I'm completely baffled. I've never had this much trouble with a cartridge before.

I've been reading a bunch about how the Saami 7 PRC is a very tight chamber and is causing people to have case extraction issues or "clickers". Apparently, Alex Wheeler has come out with a reamer that fixes this by taking an additional .003" out of the chamber at the .200 mark. I've read a bunch about this, and his reamer seems to be very successful in solving the chamber issue.

I want to do this to my rifle, but I'm thinking that if I'm not having much of a chamber extraction issue and having a fairly major resizing issue with the die after 2 firings. Does it make sense that expanding my rifle chamber dimensions to solve the "clicker" issue would create a larger issue with my Saami specked sizing die? Would I need to "fix" the chamber AND get a new die to account for the new chamber dimensions?

I had the same exact problem that you just described in both 7prc’s that I recently reloaded for especially on some of the cases that were fired right under max pressure during my ladder tests.

I switched from homemade lanolin/alcohol mix (that I have no issues with on my 30-06) to Redding imperial sizing wax. My problems went away. I even broke my dies down before sizing and applied the wax onto the expander stem. Remember a little goes a long way with the wax, put a little inside of the case mouth.

I've been shooting a 7 PRC that I built with a 22" Bartlein carbon barrel. The thing shoots lights out and I absolutely love it. I noticed after my initial firing that the cases seemed to go into the sizing die fairly hard right at the last 1/4" of the press stroke. It was noticeable between the 1st and 2nd shot, but yesterday when I was loading between the 2nd and 3rd firings I stuck 5 out of 25 cases in the die and had a lot of others that were hard enough to pull out that I bent the rim. I'm using plenty of lube, the dies are clean, and I'm completely baffled. I've never had this much trouble with a cartridge before.

I've been reading a bunch about how the Saami 7 PRC is a very tight chamber and is causing people to have case extraction issues or "clickers". Apparently, Alex Wheeler has come out with a reamer that fixes this by taking an additional .003" out of the chamber at the .200 mark. I've read a bunch about this, and his reamer seems to be very successful in solving the chamber issue.

I want to do this to my rifle, but I'm thinking that if I'm not having much of a chamber extraction issue and having a fairly major resizing issue with the die after 2 firings. Does it make sense that expanding my rifle chamber dimensions to solve the "clicker" issue would create a larger issue with my Saami specked sizing die? Would I need to "fix" the chamber AND get a new die to account for the new chamber dimensions?

I had the same exact problem that you just described in both 7prc’s that I recently reloaded for especially on some of the cases that were fired right under max pressure during my ladder tests.

I switched from homemade lanolin/alcohol mix (that I use on my 30-06 and have no issues) and went to Redding imperial sizing wax. My problems went away. It is just that simple. I even broke down my fl sizing die down and applied Redding directly onto the expander stem then put it all back together. Remember a little goes a long way with the wax. Also put a little inside of the case mouth.

Not sure if you deprime/resize in the same motion. If so, try taking the extra time that it takes to deprime then resize separately. I found that helped as well.

Hope this helps you out,
Patrick

 

[jimbires]

pmelancon1984​

I agree , if the sizing die is set to make firm contact , at the top of the stroke , without a fired brass case , it should be making firm contact , with a fired brass case , at the top of the stroke . if it's not it usually is a lube problem . I'm back to using a lube pad with RCBS case lube 2 .