What is wrong here??

[SLIVER]

Let me start by telling ya that I shoot a remington model 700 SPS in a 300 WSM. I use 66.5 gr of IMR 4831 with a 180 AccuBond and a federal magnum primer with great results. My problem is this: When I reload once shot brass my rifle has issues closing the bolt, the bolt is hard to turn down. I full length size the brass and trim the brass down to spec. and still it has problems. Federal brass is the worst that i've tried, Winchester isn't as bad. I bought new brass and shot this load and there were no signs of pressure, the bolt opened easily, and primers were not flattened. It is on the reload of the same brass that i am having problems. My bullet is far off the lands so that is not the issue. Any advise from a RL guru would be awsome. Thanks in advance.

))--SLIVER-->

 

[YoteSmoker]

I'm not a RL guru, but I learn as I go. Your problem sounds very familiar to an issue I had with my 30-06. Found out that I was not camming over enough between shell holder and die which was not pushing the shoulder back far enough. Make sure you die is screwed down to where it touches the shellholder, then give it another quarter turn or so where you get the "camming action". I think this will most likely solve your problem.

 

[steve4102]

Yup, your die may need to be screwed in a bit more. Screw the die in a tiny bit and see if an empty case chambers. If not keep screwing it in a little at a time until it does.

 

[Brian]

1) Can you easily chamber an empty and unprimed FL resized case? If yes, then the problem doesn't lie with your resizing.

2) If no, consider your seating die. I've seen the same hard-to-chamber thing happen with an improperly adjusted seating die.

It's possible that if the die is screwed in too far and the seating stem of the die not far enough, you could seat your bullet properly, but your seating die could be forcing the case neck backwards towards the base, causing the shoulder edge to bulge out.

For a quick check, I suggest you place a resized case in your press, screw in the seating die, and without a bullet, powder or primer, raise the case into the die. Can you move the handle of the press fully down without feeling the case contact the die?

 

[rick smith]

Too much sizing or too little sizing. You need to measure to the datum line on the shoulder of a fired case and check it again after your FL sizing. Get a neck die or PFL size your cases. Do not just assume you need more sizing. Also try a case in the FL die without the expander ball in place.Rick.

 

[flashhole]

I second Rick's suggestion to try the FL sizer die with the expander ball removed. If the inside of the neck has excessive friction the expander ball can pull the base of the neck up a small amount causing the problem you are experiencing.

Lots of good stuff above. I think the message is be systematic in your approach and you will find the problem. Too many variables changed all at once might fix the problem but not get you an answer as to what the root cause was.

 

[baltz526]

are you lubing the inside of the neck, if not you might be streching the case on the down stroke

 

[old #7]

I had the same problem with my 243 wssm.
The brass cases loaded good but my bolt became stiff to close when I loaded the nickle plated brass.
One brand of brass may be softer or harder than another.
I think Yotesmoker has the answer to your problem.

 

[SOTN]

Probleee, yotesmoker and Steve4102 got it pegged, but always pay close attention to what Brian described.

If the crimping step is touching the case when you don’t want it to, it will start to collapse the neck spreading the shoulder. I’ve had to redo handloads done by someone else that had swelled shoulders more than once. That seems to be a common error when learning to handload.

Sometimes brass from Hot loads can be hard to resize. When a case is tight, it isn’t always due to what you can measure on the datum line. It could be the case body or the shoulder, for example.

Let us know when you get it fixed.

Smitty of the North