Stuck case

[purplecowboy]

I have a Ruger stainless steel .243. I have been reloading using 100gr bullets and 35 gr of IMR 4064 powder for several years.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me if only neck resizing could cause the case to stick in the chamber.
My grandson and I went to the range last week and he fired 20 rounds with no problem. When he started on the second box the cases started to stick. I was able to get the first one out but had to have the range master use an rod to get the second one out. This ended our shooting for the day. I remember that I loaded some cases with only doing a neck resize.
Thanks for any assistance possible. I have ordered a bullet puller to remove the bullet and do a full length resize on the cases.

[Biggerhammer]

It all depends on if the cases you only neck sized had been previously fired through the rifle you were using or if they were new cases or cases fired through a different rifle.

More often than not, you will hardly ever have issues only neck sizing cases that have been previously fired through one rifle. Not all chambers are the same depending on the manufacturer and the wear on the reamer. So it is best to full length size new brass and any brass that has been fired in a different chamber than you intend to shoot it in.

Also you may want to take a good look at your extractor. Forcing the bolt open on a stuck case can be hard on the extractor. Depending on the make and model of the rifle and type of extractor. Some damage more easily than others.

[wsmnut]

Just to be safe I'd knock a bullet or two out of that second box and check the powder charge.  Might be that those cases are stuck for a different reason.

Wsmnut

[purplecowboy]

Just to be safe I'd knock a bullet or two out of that second box and check the powder charge.  Might be that those cases are stuck for a different reason.

Wsmnut

I tried to get the bullet out with the hammer-whammer device that I have but it took forever. I checked the powder charge and it was what I thought I had loaded. I have ordered a bullet puller and when it gets here I will pull all of them and full-length resize them all.

[Heredoggydoggy]

I have found recently, that some of the newer bore-cleaning stuff will get really sticky if you get some in the chamber.  Patch-Out is very bad for this... 

[birddogdad]

was the sticking box factory ammo? same brand ammo as non sticking?
reloads? if so, there are MANY variables to explore here...
do you have a micrometer to take measures at key points to determine sticking at neck or base area.
when was last cleaned? what was used to clean/post clean bore area?

[300rum]

Could be a number of things....

Bolt gun?  Auto?

What you need to look for are signs of over pressure.  Look on the internet if you need to familiarize yourself with the signs.  Listed powder charges are only a "guide".  I have seen factory ammo show over pressure in modern rifles.  As long as your charges are consistent look for signs of OP.   

Are you trimming your brass before reloading?  How many rounds fired are the brass?

Are the rounds hard to cycle through the rifle to begin with? 

You need to check you OAL.  Are you having variances in OAL?

Are you loading the rifle one-at-a-time?  Or, did you have rounds in the magazine when you fired?  You can get bullet setback in the magazine (from recoil) which you may be able to find out by taking the OAL of rounds in the magazine.  This isn't as likely in a .243 but the idea here is to start eliminating things. 

[Kittman]

A couple of things to consider:  If you are putting once fired brass into a neck sizing die and/or not trimming cases on once fired brass, or are not chamfering the case mouths, one or a combination of the things might be contributing to your problems.  Are you measuring cartridge overall length? What do the primers look like, are they "cratered"?

The powder charge listed at 35 grains should be acceptable for your combination, & I would suspect excess neck brass is pinching the bullet in the barrel throat then.  Also be sure to check the distance between you shell holder and die.  There shouldn't be much very much distance there.

[purplecowboy]

I don't know if there is any significance but when I got the bullet puller and started pulling the bullets out there were several that I had a very difficult time removing.  Some came out with hardly any effort and others were hard to remove. I have did a full length resize and reloaded them all. I guess I will see what happens when I can get to the range again.

Thanks for all the response.