Gunsmithing Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

[TresMon]

So I'm frustrated and need suggestions from you guys;

In my 300WM, I have to bump the bolt handle back to get the cases out of the chamber (even with mild loads.)

I have:
CLEANED the chamber & throat repeatedly.
FL resize all the brass
checked case length
set the head space of the barrel .001" off the "GO" gauge.

Any idea's?

I moly coated the chamber, but the lugs sheared off the bolt and the bolt came out of my head between the jaw and ear. I guess it was just too much bolt thrust. Just kidding. But for real, any suggestions?

 

[19Scout77]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Try a box of factory ammo. That should rule out ammo as the issue.

 

[richardj]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Did you clean all the sizing wax off the brass?

It gets super sticky in cold weather..

RJ

 

[deadly0311]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

either that sizing lube is causing a stick, or your chamber has some burrs in it that is causing the stick

 

[chpprguy]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Any "scuff marks" on the brass? Especially the case belt?

 

[GunjunkieM24]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

What kind of action?

If remington, have you recently done any work on the action or the bolt handle?

Assuming it is not the ammo, and assuming the chamber is polished to a decent level, it sounds to me like the cam of the handle is not timed right to "unseat" the cartridge after firing....just a thought and a wild ass guess with the info provided..

I have seen guys "blueprint" an action and remove so much off of the internal lugs that the cam on the bolt handle never touches the cam area on the action or touches very little and does not generate enough torque. This will allow you to open the bolt enough to allow the lugs to pass through the recess in the action but will not pull or (cam ) the cart. as it should to unseat it.

If you could post some pics of the chamber and action it might help us.

 

[ORD]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Try some factory 300WM ammo as 19Scout77 suggested and see if that resolves your troubles. If so, it could be anything relating to your reloading, including excess lube/sizing wax, out-of-spec ammo due to bad dies, etc.

If the factory ammo doesn't do the trick, then you've got bigger problems!

 

[Ed Jacovino]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Check for rust in your chamber.

 

[buffybuster]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Is this a OEM factory chamber or custom? Might be a burr in the chamber or the chamber might be slightly out of round.

 

[former naval person]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

I sort of get the idea that it is a Savage with his setting the barrel off the go guage. I'd really check out the concentricity of the chamber. I had one that did that and it was egg shaped slightly from the factory. I had a new reamer run into the chamber, cleaned up just forward of the case head, and all was well.

 

[TresMon]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??


Good awareness FNP, it is a Sav. will double check everything everyone advised.
Thanks all.

 

[Bubb]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

if your smith made a tight chamber and you molly coated it you added to a tight already tight chamber. No matter what you fire in there it will be tight. The moly was the room for exspansion of the round and you took that up? If you take out the moly and it still does it then have it checked out for burrs.

 

[TresMon]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??


Bubb, thanks for writing. The entire bit about moly was was for humor.

NOTE TO NEWBS AND NOVICES! NEVER MOLY COAT YOUR CHAMBER.

 

[LRI]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Here's what I'd do:

First, determine if this is an action direct from the factory or one that has been "blueprinted" by someone.

Reasons why:

When the cut on the lugs of the bolt/receiver is made it affects the primary extraction. -meaning the two cams that interface with each other are going to do it later in the rotation of the bolt. This results in less camming action of the bolt as it's rotated out of battery. Temperamental extraction of cases is the result.

The way to resolve this (if it is in deed the case) is to physically remove the bolt handle from the action and have it repositioned forward (towards the lugs) so that the proper relationship is reestablished. Understand also that it affects the cocking piece and it's path of motion on the cocking cam surface as well. It' will also affect the shroud's clock position too. (it's a domino effect)

Next:

Once you've determined its not for any reasons mentioned above start with a box of factory loaded ammunition and see if the problem replicates. If it does then chances are it's a gun problem. Look for things like firing pin strikes grossly off center and/or excessive rubbing by an extractor or bolt face. (chewed up brass) Rarely (but it does happen) an action is way out of whack and causes cases to hang up because the bolt is binding on the case as it's trying to pull it out)

If none of this is present then your reloading practices need to be reviewed.

Cleaning is probably not the culprit. Unless your blazing through 5 gallon buckets of ammunition in a swamp or sandstorm at one sitting I have a hard time accepting its due to a cleanliness problem. An NRA match rifle will shoot an 800 aggregate match all day and in 20+ years of competitive shooting experience I've yet to see a guy drag a cleaning rod out and run it through his rifle for fear of cases not extracting (or for any other reason for that matter)

Next:

Check the headspace. If it's deep it can cause cases to be temperamental on extraction.

The belted magnum can be a pain sometimes. The GO gauge is only an inch or so long and the HS is determined from the belt to the case head. A better way (IMO) is to use the full body gauge that qualifies off the shoulder datum (like almost every other cartridge) so that you aren't pushing shoulders all over the place by accident. (with the case H/S off the belt you could in theory push the chamber shoulder further forward and never know it. Then you size your brass and scrunch it back to SAAMI and before you know it your brass is so screwed up it won't run right.

PTG sells them for about $40 bucks.

Good luck.

C

 

[Jeffvn]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Not going to re-hash everything above, as there is lots of decent information in there. I will say this. I had a very similar problem with my F-Class 7WSM, and it made me absolutely crazy. My situation was fixed by a very simple process - I trimed my brass. It seems the brass was just long enough that it was engaging the throat after the round was fired. No marks on teh brass nothing to see. Oddly it was NOT beyond max length, just right at it. Just me being crazy and needing a cleaning rod to push them out from the muzzle end. After trimming all my my brass I had no extraction problems.

Good luck; I KNOW how nuts this can make you.

JeffVN

 

[TresMon]

Re: Brass sticking in chamber even w/ mild loads??

Thanks so much for taking all the time to write guys. I'm gonna shoot some factory loads (after I sell my blood plasma to buy it) and see if it's the same. It's a relativly new development... SO it's gotta be brass or some stubborn carbon deposit.

But I was unaware of the type of headspace Gauge C was talking about. It's obviously a better way to go! I need one.

The action has not been trued yet, I have not pulled it apart and thrown it in a lathe yet.

Thanks guys.