A peculiar problem

wvfarrier · 2025-07-30T20:54:24-0400

I have never encountered this issue before, in 30+ years of reloading.

I recently purchased 1000 of the .308, 180 grain tipped gamekings.

I went to load some ladders today and discovered that no matter what length I seat them at, they will not chamber in any of my 308s. They also will not chamber in my gauge. Yet, when I pulled the projectile, the brass will chamber cleanly!

I measured the diameter of the projectiles and they are .308 so thats not an issue.

I am using Alpha brass, I tried Fed brass as well.

I tried different levels of crimp as well, that did not help. I also tried partially seating the projectile and then chambering the round to finish seating. No luck. I am completely perplexed.

Thoughts?

My only possible thought is that its the shape of the projectile (see pic)

180 tgk next to 195 tmk (which chambers easily)

hafejd30 · 2025-07-30T21:04:56-0400

Do you have a OAL gauge? If not get one. Those look like the ogive is much further forward in comparison. Assuming the left is the one you’re referring to

Maurygold · 2025-07-30T21:16:35-0400

^ agreed on probably ogive length issue

db2000 · 2025-07-30T21:27:35-0400

Ran into the same problem with Berger 185 Classic Hunter w/ SP10. I kept seating deeper and deeper than when I’ve loaded them once before. Bolt would jam them into the lands. The weirdest thing ever. All other Berger 185’s are fine.
Doubly odd I’ve shot these before but assume I was just cramming into the lands and didn’t check the chambering. I did record “mild + pressure signs” with only 41.3 of Varget so that’s possibly the deal.

supercorndogs · 2025-07-30T21:28:55-0400

That ojive is way forward. Usually it seems like it's the seating die being too low and mushrooming the shoulder when this happens.

Maurygold · 2025-07-30T21:33:18-0400

Also. Ditch that crimp die for any precision work

tekmann2377 · 2025-07-30T21:45:44-0400

That specific bullet has a weird ogive. It has to be seated deeper to chamber. There are two different part numbers and potentially ogive shapes to the 180 TGK, these being the 4680 and 4861. You will have to adjust seating depth accordingly.

wvfarrier · 2025-07-31T07:34:06-0400

Ok so after a lot tinkering I have to make the OAL 2.778" for them to feed in the rifle I was loading for (TL3). That is WAY too short in my opinion. The bullet is interfering with the amount of powder. Really disappointed.

KYAggie · 2025-07-31T07:53:30-0400

Yeah, my understanding is that the particular bullet you are using is made for the 300 win mag, so you can get close to the lands and the round will still fit in the mag. I was considering trying them in my short action 300 WSM where I have to seat almost every bullet at least .07 off for the round to fit the mag, but I was concerned they would not hold up on elk well. Still messing with 200 Accubonds and 210 ABLR’s trying to get them to shoot when seated .08 to .1 off. If only it was bonded, it would be the perfect set up for my gun.

wvfarrier · 2025-07-31T07:56:39-0400

Would have been nice if this info was disclosed in the description when purchasing

spife7980 · 2025-07-31T08:06:09-0400

Not sure of the vendor but on Sierras page it’s pretty clearly titled as such

https://sierrabullets.com/30-cal-180-gr-tipped-gameking-tgk-optimized-for-30-06/

https://sierrabullets.com/30-cal-180-gr-tipped-gameking-tgk-optimized-for-300-win-mag/

db2000 · 2025-07-31T08:14:22-0400

Meh, sell em and take the education fine

Maurygold · 2025-07-31T08:28:28-0400

You should be shooting a Berger bullet anyways. They’re superior in every way possible

DeathBeforeDismount · 2025-07-31T09:56:18-0400

30 years of reloading and you didn't even gauge the chamber to see where the lands are with that bullet? I mean that's kinda super basic stuff when coming up with a load plan. How else would you know if you are in the lands or how much jump you have? How do you do a ladder test without knowing BTO?

wvfarrier · 2025-07-31T10:40:19-0400

DeathBeforeDismount said:
30 years of reloading and you didn't even gauge the chamber to see where the lands are with that bullet? I mean that's kinda super basic stuff when coming up with a load plan. How else would you know if you are in the lands or how much jump you have? How do you do a ladder test without knowing BTO?

Always one smart ass who is unhelpful.

I use lengths for fine tuning after laddering my velocities.

RTH1800 · 2025-07-31T11:06:08-0400

wvfarrier said:
Always one smart ass who is unhelpful.

I use lengths for fine tuning after laddering my velocities.

It’s only unhelpful because you cannot be helped.

You come here with a most basic reloading question. A beginner should have figured it out. Then you criticize helpful comments.

Some folks are simply not supposed to reload ammo. Your expertise is clearly elsewhere.

tekmann2377 · 2025-07-31T12:10:30-0400

wvfarrier said:
Would have been nice if this info was disclosed in the description when purchasing

If you got these from Raven Rocks, the Sierra part number is listed, and you could easily look up the specific bullet based on this.

vh20 · 2025-07-31T12:12:17-0400

KYAggie said:
Yeah, my understanding is that the particular bullet you are using is made for the 300 win mag, so you can get close to the lands and the round will still fit in the mag. I was considering trying them in my short action 300 WSM where I have to seat almost every bullet at least .07 off for the round to fit the mag, but I was concerned they would not hold up on elk well. Still messing with 200 Accubonds and 210 ABLR’s trying to get them to shoot when seated .08 to .1 off. If only it was bonded, it would be the perfect set up for my gun.

I know where you can get a deal on some right now...

Csafisher · 2025-07-31T12:17:06-0400

wvfarrier said:
Always one smart ass who is unhelpful.

I use lengths for fine tuning after laddering my velocities.

But he’s not wrong lol

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