Newbie OVL question...

[Rickyrebar]

Following the instructions from the Nosler reloading guide #6, on how to determine "my" rifles overall cartridge length... Using a fire formed (not re-sized) case, I have flattened the edge of the neck, using a permanent marker, colored the bullet & placed it into the neck of the case. Then installed into the chamber, closed the bolt (not firing the pin). Open the bolt & retrieve the case & bullet, realigning the bullet to where the ink has been scraped off by the case and taking a measurement... I do this 3 times and get an average length, then subtract .015, this is suppose to be "my" rifles seating depth.
The concern I have, is taking the averaged dimension and subtracting .015, I have made a few dummy rounds (with full re-sized & trimmed cases), say... 6-8 varying over all cartridge lengths (in the process of getting the seating die cranked down the the targeted dimension I have a few that are a few thousands short). When I chamber "the one" and close the bolt, I experience some resistance (the bolt will close, but closes hard), out of curiosity I chambered the other shorter rounds and found that the resistance lessened as I traveled down the ladder.

If it matters I am working with a .300 WSM, Nosler Ballistic Silver Tip bullets, once fired WIN nickel cases (trimmed to 2.090) and full re-sized.

Per the manual overall cartridge length should be 2.860. The dimension for "my" rifle, I come up with using the method outlined in the manual and referenced above is 2.930 (this is the dimension that is hard to close the bolt on). As I travel down the ladder and get to a cartridge length of 2.880 (the shortest dummy round I have) I find just a slight bit of noticeable resistance when closing the bolt (without being comparing to a factory round, would not be noticeable).

My factory rounds (WSM Ballistic Silver Tips) are in the neighborhood of 2.830, they all obviously chamber with no resistance.

My question is, is a hard closing bolt a concern in a situation like this, or is it merely a product of a "custom fit" cartridge? Should I go with a length of cartridge that offers no bolt resistance? FYI, the longer cartridges cycle & eject through the rifle (WIN Model 70) just fine.

[carpsniperg2]

o.k. here is my  i have reloaded for years and been tought by a master at reloading that has been reloading his whole life never had one problem with any cal untill i bought my 270wsm it took me along time to figure that gun out the wsm are very noted for tight closing bolts with hand loads. i really had to force mine down with the first batches i loaded up. what the problem is more than likey as was in my case the max col of the case is probably a bit long. this is the problem that 90% of the time causes the bolth to close hard that i have found check the col of the brass. allot of the time you don't want to be at max lenght or really close to it or your rounds camber hard. i am not going to say how much that is for you to play with but mine is back a little ways. so to some it up.

your max col with bullet is more than likey fine. you need to check out the max col of the brass and if it is close trim it back and this should solve the problem from what i have seen and delt with before. hope this helps.

[mazama]

I check my brass without a bullet to see how it fits,some cases are a little tighter than others,also you need to check to see how they fit in the magazine, some guns they may chamber but will not fit magazine.

[Rickyrebar]

Fit magazine just fine, empty case fits just fine.

[ecnclan]

Same deal with my 270 wsm.  Double check your case length.