UPDATE***Explain this...case will not chamber...

[300WSM]

the 30-378...
I love this thing. Having a lot of fun shooting 1000 yards.

That said I picked up some once fired Hornady brass. Sized them up as they all still had the spent primer...
At the range I run into two of them that won't chamber.
My first thought is for whatver reason perhaps these two need trimmed. Tonight I was getting these cases ready to trim and load a second time (for me) and I come to the pair that wouldn't chamber. I pull the bullets, knock out the unfired primer...and start checking it out. Both cases OAL is 2.903
Exactly on the trim to length. So that is not it.
I thought...Did I not have the die turned a full 1/4 turn when I sized them. So I sized it again making sure to go past the 1/4 turn...
Absolutely positively will not make a difference. I tried just chambering the case with nothing done to it and it will NOT chamber. I cant see any measurement that is sticking out at me screaming why this won't chamber.

Thoughts are much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[sphingta]

Brass may be hard and spring back after sizing. May need to be annealed.

 

[GregoryB.]

Color the case with a black sharpie and try to chamber it. If it doesn’t chamber there should be a shiny spot where it’s rubbing. That will at least show you where the problem is and you can go from there.

 

[TackDriver284]

the 30-378...
I love this thing. Having a lot of fun shooting 1000 yards.

That said I picked up some once fired Hornady brass. Sized them up as they all still had the spent primer...
At the range I run into two of them that won't chamber.
My first thought is for whatver reason perhaps these two need trimmed. Tonight I was getting these cases ready to trim and load a second time (for me) and I come to the pair that wouldn't chamber. I pull the bullets, knock out the unfired primer...and start checking it out. Both cases OAL is 2.903
Exactly on the trim to length. So that is not it.
I thought...Did I not have the die turned a full 1/4 turn when I sized them. So I sized it again making sure to go past the 1/4 turn...
Absolutely positively will not make a difference. I tried just chambering the case with nothing done to it and it will NOT chamber. I cant see any measurement that is sticking out at me screaming why this won't chamber.

Thoughts are much appreciated.

Thanks

If you have annealed your brass and bumped .002", then I think its a belt issue. I had issues before I converted from 7 STW to 300 Win Mag, some of the new brass from Nosler would not chamber at all, most of them did. When i switched to Remington brass, no issues. It was strange, see if your die is sizing off the belt or the shoulders.

 

[RL338]

That said I picked up some once fired Hornady brass

That stuff is soft junk. Where you need to measure is just above the belt.

 

[flyingagg]

You might need the Larry Willis magnum sizing die. Check OD right above the belt just like @RL338 said

 

[Jimbeaux82]

The problem is likely exactly what flyingagg describes. Conventional dies cannot size right above the belt in cases that are shot in z as different rifle. Only the Willis or Wilson? Die will fix this. I have run into this issue many times before with brass I have picked up

 

[300WSM]

What's even more bizarre is I bought these with the "once fired" description....
Nothing I noticed said otherwise.

But...

BUT....

Upon further review 18 of the 20 after I received,
Resized them,
Loaded them,
Shot them,
All were ready for a trim.

EXCEPT....
Two of them. The two that won't chamber. The measurement of those is exactly 2.903.
It's as if they weren't ever fired because had they been fired before I got the lot, those two OAL would be longer than 2.903


I will look into the dimension above the belt

 

[Joec7651]

I had the same issue with two 7mm Rem Mag’s. Fire a round in rifle A and it wouldn’t chamber in rifle B after full length sizing with a Lee die. Switched to Redding dies and problem solved. The Redding dies size the brass smaller just above the belt. People say they all size brass to the same dimensions, but they don’t.

Nothing against Lee but in my case, going to Redding dies allowed the round to fit into the tight chamber of rifle B. I also have brass assigned for each individual rifle now, and don’t interchange cases.

 

[Yoteklr]

The problem is likely exactly what flyingagg describes. Conventional dies cannot size right above the belt in cases that are shot in z as different rifle. Only the Willis or Wilson? Die will fix this. I have run into this issue many times before with brass I have picked up

I'm not sure if the Willis die is available in the .378 case diameter. I thought they only made it for standard belted magnums ( 300wm, 7mm RM, ect.)

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

 

[RL338]

I'm not sure if the Willis die is available in the .378 case diameter. I thought they only made it for standard belted magnums ( 300wm, 7mm RM, ect.)

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

No it does not. It only works for cases that were based off of the 375 H&H.

 

[Jimbeaux82]

Yoteklr you are correct. It will only work on a 375 H&H based case diameter

 

[300WSM]

UPDATE ***
Is this the problem and can this fix it?

The measurements between the Weatherby brass and the Hornady brass are identical. Above the belt...yes..same same.

I DID FIND THIS



The Hornady case on the right..
The other non chambering Hornady is exactly the same. Greater distance from the head to the belt versus the Weatherby case.

Solution.
It's about .019 to low 20's thousandths of an inch.

Can I make up that difference by trimming it back another .020

There should be enough neck to retain the bullet.

It's only two pieces of brass but brass for this King Kong is not the easiest available and certainly isn't cheap.

 

[Darkhorse]

True belted brass is expensive. But I've been loading belted magnums for many decades now and I no longer load pickup or donated brass. I don't find it costs much more to buy a hundred or so virgin brass cut out 30 or 40 for further testing and hunting, and load the stew out of the rest. Much less trouble in the long run and well worth it in my opinion.
I haven't even mentioned donated brass shot in a chamber that allowed stretching and would just break right off just above the belt.
You just never know with some of that stuff.
Another thing that's just personal on my part. I gave up loading hornady brass a long time ago.

 

[300WSM]

I am way early in the testing thing out phase and while two pieces aren't do or die...
it's also a part of learning this new weapon and this caliber...

thus i am curious if trimming an extra 20 thousandths off the neck making up for the extra .020 from head to belt would work.

I am going to just trim one another .020 and find out if it will chamber

 

[wvbuckbuster]

If you are on the path to learning, then trim it. After that I'd throw those two pieces of brass in the scrap bucket. Not worth the trouble to try fixing. Yes, brass isn't cheap, but it is the easy button for trouble free problem solving for your situation I belief. Just me.
Dan.

 

[IdahoCTD]

The head to the belt dimension sets the headspace. Trimming the neck wont fix that problem. It sounds like those cases have too long of headspace dimension for your rifle. Belted cases have been known to have terrible tolerances in the belts. The "premium" brass made now is much better.

 

[Slimfinn]

brass for this King Kong is not the easiest available

Weatherby and Nosler both have them in stock, I would choose one and forget about time and money wasted trying to get the Hornady to work for you, they will have to replace it after a couple loadings anyway.

 

[TackDriver284]

The head to the belt dimension sets the headspace. Trimming the neck wont fix that problem. It sounds like those cases have too long of headspace dimension for your rifle. Belted cases have been known to have terrible tolerances in the belts. The "premium" brass made now is much better.

That is what happened with my 7STW new Nosler brass,,about 11 pieces out of 50 pieces would not chamber, tossed those 11 pieces and used whatever I had left,,,,soon I converted it to 300 Win Mag.

 

[300WSM]

That is what happened with my 7STW new Nosler brass,,about 11 pieces out of 50 pieces would not chamber, tossed those 11 pieces and used whatever I had left,,,,soon I converted it to 300 Win Mag.

So that gap...you had the same issue as my picture?