The wait begins

[jasnt]

If you decide to go with the neck turning tools I’d recommend k&m

[dmoua]

Sounds like you may have a tight neck chamber.  A bullet should just fall in the case.  If this is true you may need to neck turn to get rid of this pressure issues or use a different brand of brass.  Check multiple cases including those that did not have the pressure issues

I tried it with all the cases I fired yesterday. Even the one's that cycled fine, the bullet just sits on the neck. Some don't even let the bullet slide down when pushing it in by hand and some you can eventually wiggle the bullet into the spent casing. Somebody is hoarding all the Nosler brass  .

Definitely sounds like tight neck chamber.  Looks like everyone is hoarding 300wsm brass.  Not easy to find any in stock except Winchester.   Do you have access to neck turning tools?

You might be right on the tight neck chamber. But no I do not. Guess I'll have to buy one now. 

I’d contact Shawn again, let him know what issues your having and he may be able to help. Maybe even turn your necks to get you started and he will have more insight on the chamber specs of the reamer used.

Dude's probably tired of hearing from me. Didn't seem too pleased when I wanted to rethroat to 185's but I guess I can shoot him an email. I don't mind buying a neck turning tool either but I'll see what Shawn says.

[dmoua]

I think what I will do first is back off the powder charge to see if the problem continues. If not then I’ll fire form all my brass and go from there. If the problem is still there then I will contact Shawn.

Going to start from 61gr and work up to 65.5gr.

[b23]

Curious, what are you using for dies and are you FL sizing all of your brass before you load it and if you are FL sizing all of the brass before you load it are you accurately measuring base to shoulder, with a bump gauge and caliper, on every piece that comes out of your FL die? 

Are you measuring base to ogive on every loaded round you make with a comparator?  As you probably know base to tip is pretty inconsistent so that number doesn't mean much and you'll want to make sure the primer isn't protruding when you measure or it'll give you false readings as well.

If you're getting 6 thou neck expansion I doubt you have a tight neck issue and just because a bullet won't slip in and out of a fired case doesn't really mean anything.  I don't have a single rifle with a tight neck chamber and most of mine you can not slip a bullet in and out of the neck on a fired piece of brass.

If you're using a bushing die are you sure you have the right size bushing?  If you aren't using a bushing die does your sizing die have the expander button still in it or did you remove it?  You aren't crimping these by chance are you.

No disrespect intended in any way, but I think something is amiss in your reloading process/s and I say that only because there seems to be no consistency with the trouble you're having.  Generally if it's a gun issue the problem/s will be more consistent.

[Bareback]

You may be getting the cart before the horse.

Have you addressed all of your mechanical issues first? I just broke in a Christensens Ridgline 300 WSM and observed similar issues. Have you polished your bolt face? Have you chamfered/softened the edges on the ejector hole. Have you polished your action, specifically where the bolt handle contacts the action? When you can’t eject a casing there is a friction issue, right?

Have you or a second party taken an actual physical measurement of the chamber? Reamers wear with use. Dull HSCO reamers collapse when dull, carbide reamers do as well. How smooth is the chamber bore? Have you removed the barrel from the action to see if there are rings from reaming. Looking through the action it’s tough to see. Are there scratch lines on your spent brass?

Someone mentioned neck turning. What diameter are you turning to and why?

Someone previously mentioned seeing if spent casings fit in the chamber. Did you measure them (diameters) prior? It’s a good way to get and ‘idea’ if your chamber is in SAAMI specs or specs you requested (disclosure... casings are not round, if you take multiple neck measurements with a micrometer you will see this).

IMHO, I would address a lot of the simple issues first, lower your pressure, break in the barrel, get some repeatability, then slowly up the pressure.

[dmoua]

Curious, what are you using for dies and are you FL sizing all of your brass before you load it and if you are FL sizing all of the brass before you load it are you accurately measuring base to shoulder, with a bump gauge and caliper, on every piece that comes out of your FL die? 

Are you measuring base to ogive on every loaded round you make with a comparator?  As you probably know base to tip is pretty inconsistent so that number doesn't mean much and you'll want to make sure the primer isn't protruding when you measure or it'll give you false readings as well.

If you're getting 6 thou neck expansion I doubt you have a tight neck issue and just because a bullet won't slip in and out of a fired case doesn't really mean anything.  I don't have a single rifle with a tight neck chamber and most of mine you can not slip a bullet in and out of the neck on a fired piece of brass.

If you're using a bushing die are you sure you have the right size bushing?  If you aren't using a bushing die does your sizing die have the expander button still in it or did you remove it?  You aren't crimping these by chance are you.

No disrespect intended in any way, but I think something is amiss in your reloading process/s and I say that only because there seems to be no consistency with the trouble you're having.  Generally if it's a gun issue the problem/s will be more consistent.

I'm using a RCBS FL sizing die. I size all my new brass without bumping the shoulder. I measure all my brass after resizing with a Hornady headspace gauge and measure everything to the ogive after seating on every round. I'm rather anal when it comes to consistency and measure everything.

I haven't ruled out anything reason why I'm going to start even lower and work back up on charge weight.

I use the same loading process for 8 different rifles and they all shoot great once a load is found so I'm pretty confident in my work.

I'm not saying Shawn didn't do a good job on the build if that's what you're thinking. Knowing you have had work done by him before.

If I was confident that it was the gun I would have called him already. There are many variable's to account for still. I'm gonna do what I can to rule things out before even bothering him.

[dmoua]

You may be getting the cart before the horse.

Have you addressed all of your mechanical issues first? I just broke in a Christensens Ridgline 300 WSM and observed similar issues. Have you polished your bolt face? Have you chamfered/softened the edges on the ejector hole. Have you polished your action, specifically where the bolt handle contacts the action? When you can’t eject a casing there is a friction issue, right?

Have you or a second party taken an actual physical measurement of the chamber? Reamers wear with use. Dull HSCO reamers collapse when dull, carbide reamers do as well. How smooth is the chamber bore? Have you removed the barrel from the action to see if there are rings from reaming. Looking through the action it’s tough to see. Are there scratch lines on your spent brass?

Someone mentioned neck turning. What diameter are you turning to and why?

Someone previously mentioned seeing if spent casings fit in the chamber. Did you measure them (diameters) prior? It’s a good way to get and ‘idea’ if your chamber is in SAAMI specs or specs you requested (disclosure... casings are not round, if you take multiple neck measurements with a micrometer you will see this).

IMHO, I would address a lot of the simple issues first, lower your pressure, break in the barrel, get some repeatability, then slowly up the pressure.

This is a custom built rifle. Builder should have done all that already since I was charged for a trued action. But as I mentioned above I will go back to lowering the charge weight and go from there.

I will also load some 0.020" from the lands to see how they chamber/ fire as well.

[b23]

A few things.  Built guns generally have tighter chamber specs than off the rack factory built guns so what you can get away with in a factory chambered rifle maybe won't necessarily work in a custom chambered gun.

You said you're FL sizing with zero bump and measuring base to shoulder on every piece but are you measuring base to shoulder on every piece before and after you FL size it and comparing the numbers or only on a few here and there?  I'm always skeptical when people talk about zero bump when using a FL die because if you understand what a FL die does to the brass it's somewhat of an impossibility.

Brass as it is pushed up inside a FL die makes contact on the case body and to some degree, large or small, squeezes on the body of the brass and as this is happening it causes the brass to flow in the direction of the path of least resistance which causes the body to actually get longer.  If you're measuring accurately and you partially size a piece of brass nearly every time it'll come out of a FL die with a base to shoulder length longer than what it went in.  It's not until the die is screwed down far enough that the brass comes in full contact with the die that it pushes the shoulder back.  Even at zero bump, the body gets longer which increases the base to shoulder number before it comes in full contact with the die and pushes it back down.

To a large degree your problem sounds like a sizing issue which is why you're having trouble with some of your ammo chambering fine while others are hard on close and why you have inconsistent heavy bolt lift.

Also, one of the problems with using a non bushing type FL die is they can't adjust for varying neck thickness which is why it's important to use the expander button or a neck mandrel for setting neck tension.

This has nothing to do with pointing a finger at anyone, just trying to help you resolve an issue and in my opinion the issue is with the sizing process or possibly your FL die isn't a good match for the chamber you have.

[dmoua]

A few things.  Built guns generally have tighter chamber specs than off the rack factory built guns so what you can get away with in a factory chambered rifle maybe won't necessarily work in a custom chambered gun.

You said you're FL sizing with zero bump and measuring base to shoulder on every piece but are you measuring base to shoulder on every piece before and after you FL size it and comparing the numbers or only on a few here and there?  I'm always skeptical when people talk about zero bump when using a FL die because if you understand what a FL die does to the brass it's somewhat of an impossibility.

Brass as it is pushed up inside a FL die makes contact on the case body and to some degree, large or small, squeezes on the body of the brass and as this is happening it causes the brass to flow in the direction of the path of least resistance which causes the body to actually get longer.  If you're measuring accurately and you partially size a piece of brass nearly every time it'll come out of a FL die with a base to shoulder length longer than what it went in.  It's not until the die is screwed down far enough that the brass comes in full contact with the die that it pushes the shoulder back.  Even at zero bump, the body gets longer which increases the base to shoulder number before it comes in full contact with the die and pushes it back down.

To a large degree your problem sounds like a sizing issue which is why you're having trouble with some of your ammo chambering fine while others are hard on close and why you have inconsistent heavy bolt lift.

Also, one of the problems with using a non bushing type FL die is they can't adjust for varying neck thickness which is why it's important to use the expander button or a neck mandrel for setting neck tension.

This has nothing to do with pointing a finger at anyone, just trying to help you resolve an issue and in my opinion the issue is with the sizing process or possibly your FL die isn't a good match for the chamber you have.

Yes I do measure the shoulder's before resizing the brass and afterwards. I never bump the shoulder's on new brass, only sizing to uniform the neck as some come mushed from the factory.

I understand what you're saying. I'm going to fireform all my brass and bump the shoulder 0.002" and go from there.

I've thought about buying a match grade die setup as well but will see if I can resolve the issue before hand.

I appreciate the help.

[mazama]

I looked back to page 3, you stated you could not close the bolt on factory 150gr plus 180 factory,looks like a problem to me unless I am missing something,throated for 215 then everything lighter should fit,if 150 factory does not chamber easy I would stop and look for a problem.

[Stein]

I looked back to page 3, you stated you could not close the bolt on factory 150gr plus 180 factory,looks like a problem to me unless I am missing something,throated for 215 then everything lighter should fit,if 150 factory does not chamber easy I would stop and look for a problem.

That's my thought, sounds like the chamber may still not be correct.

[dmoua]

I looked back to page 3, you stated you could not close the bolt on factory 150gr plus 180 factory,looks like a problem to me unless I am missing something,throated for 215 then everything lighter should fit,if 150 factory does not chamber easy I would stop and look for a problem.

That’s what I thought as well but was told that since it was throated for the VLD bullet profile only the VLD’s will chamber. I also thought since the 215’s were bigger that I would have more room to play with 185’s but was told it is actually the opposite. That’s why I took it back and had it throated for 185 VLD’s with a dummy round I made just shy of 3” to fit my magazine.

He’s the expert so I wasn’t going to argue with him. The chamber is now throated for what I want so I’m ok with it.

I’ll have to try and see if a 165gr TGK will chamber since it has a secant ogive like the VLD bullets do.

[Jason]

If your rifle was setup for 215's it should have no issues shooting 185's. These specs are for 185gr VLD Hybrid Target and 215gr VLD Hybrid Target.
OAL
185's = 1.418"
215's = 1.598".
Nose length
185's = 0.831"
215's = 0.872"
Base to ogive
185's = .657"
215's = .799"

[dmoua]

If your rifle was setup for 215's it should have no issues shooting 185's. These specs are for 185gr VLD Hybrid Target and 215gr VLD Hybrid Target.
OAL
185's = 1.418"
215's = 1.598".
Nose length
185's = 0.831"
215's = 0.872"
Base to ogive
185's = .657"
215's = .799"

I am using VLD hunting

[dmoua]

So were 215s and 185s both loaded to same sub 3" overall ?  If so, you would be seating the 215 too deep into the powder column increasing pressure.  When you use the long bullet in the standard mag, and then throat for that, you are short throating your chamber, the same as youd be giving it a long throat had you used the Wyatts longer mag.

No. The 185’s would have had to be way shorter than SAAMI spec to even fit the chamber.  I’ll post a pic later when I get home of what the 185’s would have looked liked jammed into the throat when throated for the 215’s.