• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Issues with case extraction after 3 firing.

AK86

Private
Minuteman
Jul 18, 2017
19
11
I have a rem 700 rebarreled. I started with new Norma brass chambered in 300 RUM. I use Forester dies. Been relaoding with this die for several yrs. After it was rebarreled I have a hard time extracting the fired case only after 3 firing. Annealed or not. 1st 2 firing just fine. Chamber fine before firing. Running 230 Berger OTM with 84.5 gr H1000 215M COAL 3.802" Only thing I can find after firing a case and tapping it out of the chamber I painted the neck shoulder erea and then about 1" up from the base. I found a ring about .400" up from base only on cases that stuck. Newly FL sized and once fire cases & cases that didn't stick didn't have it. nothing else anywhere on the case. No flat primers some cases have a very light extractor swipe some don't. Doesn't seam like a hot load. Book says max is 84.8. I know not all are the same. I have been all the way up top 85.5 gr with no issues with once fire or new cases. Any ideas?
 
Yes on both FL each time. And actually bumping shoulder about .007" . The cases chamber just fine after resizing.
 
Yes on both FL each time. And actually bumping shoulder about .007" . The cases chamber just fine after resizing.
I have never loaded that cartridge but .007” seems like a lot. I only bump my .280 Ackley .002” .
 
  • Like
Reactions: davidb187
I have never loaded that cartridge but .007” seems like a lot. I only bump my .280 Ackley .002” .
Yes I don't normally bump that far was trying different stuff to try to figure out what the deal was.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ShtrRdy
This is sometimes referenced as a click when it shows up more mildly. You need smaller dies or a larger chamber. Alex Wheeler has spoken about this quite a bit with reference to the 300 PRC on other forums (longrangehunting). On a magnum case your dies need to be .0045” smaller diameter than your chamber at the web.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DIBBS
Also, you should stop pushing the shoulders so far back, you’re going to end up causing a different problem.
 
When I read the title I said to myself “bet it’s Norma brass” opened the thread and had to chuckle. Unfortunately this has happened to me in 3 different rifles 7ss, 300 Norma , Norma dasher. After 2-3 firings heavy bolt and clickers , even had custom dies made to reduce the case head thinking that was the issue. Each time a switch to different brass and ALL the issues resolved, never again will I touch Norma brass
 
  • Like
Reactions: DIBBS
When I read the title I said to myself “bet it’s Norma brass” opened the thread and had to chuckle. Unfortunately this has happened to me in 3 different rifles 7ss, 300 Norma , Norma dasher. After 2-3 firings heavy bolt and clickers , even had custom dies made to reduce the case head thinking that was the issue. Each time a switch to different brass and ALL the issues resolved, never again will I touch Norma brass
Did I read somewhere that Nosler brass and Norma are made by the same factory?
 
No.

Sometimes major brands use Norma to supplement their brass production.
Well @Seandradamus ‘s post sounds a lot like my experience with Nosler 280AI brass. Looking forward to trying Peterson brass unicorn droppings if that freakin thing ever drops any…..🦄
 
Well @Seandradamus ‘s post sounds a lot like my experience with Nosler 280AI brass. Looking forward to trying Peterson brass unicorn droppings if that freakin thing ever drops any…..🦄

I have Nosler brass and Norma brass in the same calibers and it’s obvious that they are not the same.
 
When I read the title I said to myself “bet it’s Norma brass” opened the thread and had to chuckle. Unfortunately this has happened to me in 3 different rifles 7ss, 300 Norma , Norma dasher. After 2-3 firings heavy bolt and clickers , even had custom dies made to reduce the case head thinking that was the issue. Each time a switch to different brass and ALL the issues resolved, never again will I touch Norma brass
I didn’t mention it in my first response, but the OEM size of the brass factors in at some point. Even with dies and chambers that have enough offset, there can still be problems if the brass was made too big originally. There is a limit to what dies can do and brass has a memory, so I f the new brass starts off too large, there will still be problems.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I do have some RP brass I will try as well. I have tried this with old lot of Norma brass from previous barrel and new brass. Might have to start looking for some ADG.
 
But did you measure the cases before and after sizing?
Yes I did. I measure base to shoulder and OD at .500 from base. It all got smaller. What do you think I should be measuring for? How much should it size down the OD of the case?
 
Yes I did. I measure base to shoulder and OD at .500 from base. It all got smaller. What do you think I should be measuring for? How much should it size down the OD of the case?

.003”

If you’re sizing down .001” at the base (like Idahospud and his WinMag) there is not going to be enough clearance for brass spring back to do its thing and the case will stick.
 
Measure diameter at the head .200-.400”. Measure the new brass, fired brass, and sized brass. You want around .003” difference between new and fired brass, and about .0045” between fired and sized. This is for your magnum case. Let us know what you find.
 
same issue as my 338NM , need a new die . see if they make a Body die for the RUM or switch FLS die
 
Midsouth has a Redding body die in 300 RUM in stock. It's not a small base, but it might work.

 
Smaller die won’t fix it 99% of the time
Try your RP brass and see if it happens with those too, bet it won’t
 
Smaller die won’t fix it 99% of the time
Try your RP brass and see if it happens with those too, bet it won’t
What do you think I should do? I do have the rifle back at the gunsmith's now. He is going to do a chamber cast to see if he finds anything. If he doesn't I'm having him polish .001" out of the rear of the chamber.
 
Switching brass would be the quickest , cheapest and easiest thing to try , probably won’t hurt if the smith opens the back of the chamber a bit , Ive tried that too and unfortunately it didn’t solve my issue.
Let us know when you get it figured out
 
Most likely because of what Jakelly alluded to
The brass is already too large to start with and or the chamber too small to start with. The brass and it’s inherent spring back will not allow the proper expansion/contraction even if you have a smaller die.
I thought I could fix it with a new smaller base die , it even took me doing it twice to finally learn. ALL 3 times in my case were solved immediately by switching to lapua or Remington in the case of the 7SS.
It seems intuitive to just get a smaller die but it’s really frustrating to pay and wait for one only to have it not fix the issue.
 
Last edited:
How much were you sizing the case initially and then later with the small base die?
 
If my memory serves me it was originally sizing the .2 line around 2thou , the small base was like 4-5 and the clickers continued and got worse with more firings , they were normal loads too .. 105s in a 26” dasher 2920-2930

Have you ever had this situation in one of your rifles with Norma brass ?
 
Last edited:
What do you think I should do? I do have the rifle back at the gunsmith's now. He is going to do a chamber cast to see if he finds anything. If he doesn't I'm having him polish .001" out of the rear of the chamber.
That won’t work. Just get new brass bro and work up a new load. Will save you tons of time and cash. If your smith didn’t tell you that, you need a different one.
 
If my memory serves me it was originally sizing the .2 line around 2thou , the small base was like 4-5 and the clickers continued and got worse with more firings , they were normal loads too .. 105s in a 26” dasher 2920-2930

Have you ever had this situation in one of your rifles with Norma brass ?

No. I sized my .474” AI chamber fired brass down to .468” using a 308 small base die, fired it in my new .471” chamber, and its fine.
 
Dumb question, but have you tried checking the brass using a case gauge? At least you would know if it meets spec and is a chamber issue.
 
N
Dumb question, but have you tried checking the brass using a case gauge? At least you would know if it meets spec and is a chamber
No I haven't. Aren't they for checking sized cases?
 
No. I sized my .474” AI chamber fired brass down to .468” using a 308 small base die, fired it in my new .471” chamber, and its fine.

That’s cool that it worked for you, but it’s pretty well known that brass from another rifle with even minor changes in chamber dimension can cause extraction issues that cannot be remedied with a small base die.
So you got a new barrel and sized old brass with a small base and never had a problem, That’s great.
In the OPs scenario we are experiencing a problem that needs fixing , I have had this exact problem and through much frustration have solved it . My thought originally was exactly yours , simply small base size the brass and presto but in all 3 cases it didn’t, now what? my money and actual experience several times trying to fix this exact issue says a small base die won’t fix his either. Different brass will.
Of course he could have his smith fool with the chamber (tried that) have Whidden make a custom small base die (tried that $200 And 4 months later) or he could try new REM brass.

In your opinion should the op order a custom small base 300 rum die ? Or try his rem brass?
 
Last edited:
N

No I haven't. Aren't they for checking sized cases?

Yes, they are for checking sized cases. It might tell you that something is off that you aren't expecting or measuring for in the brass. Maybe something is too wide somewhere, or that you need to trim your brass already, or something.

I think if all that is within spec on the final brass before powder and seating, then you might be able to discount any brass issues and focus on chamber size.
 
That’s cool that it worked for you, but it’s pretty well known that brass from another rifle with even minor changes in chamber dimension can cause extraction issues that cannot be remedied with a small base die.

Just as you cannot say that a small base die will always work, you can't say what you're saying here, that it cannot be remedied with a small-base die. It is completely dependent on the difference between the chambers, the size of the new (smaller) chamber, and the size of the small-base die.

Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. As @918v says, if you size brass down enough to give it the room it needs to spring back after firing, then it will work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: supercorndogs
Just as you cannot say that a small base die will always work, you can't say what you're saying here, that it cannot be remedied with a small-base die. It is completely dependent on the difference between the chambers, the size of the new (smaller) chamber, and the size of the small-base die.

Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. As @918v says, if you size brass down enough to give it the room it needs to spring back after firing, then it will work.

I never said it would not work , I said “it can cause extraction issues that will not be remedied with a small base die.” There is the possibility it could, I personally would bet against it only based on my experience.
I’m simply telling the OP to try his new Rem brass first, it is the most logical ,fast,available,cheap solution.
Then he can follow your advice and have the only small base 300 Rum die on the planet made because sometimes that works
 
I never said it would not work , I said “it can cause extraction issues that will not be remedied with a small base die.” There is the possibility it could, I personally would bet against it only based on my experience.
I’m simply telling the OP to try his new Rem brass first, it is the most logical ,fast,available,cheap solution.
Then he can follow your advice and have the only small base 300 Rum die on the planet made because sometimes that works

Why should we base our decisions on your personal experience? You failed to remedy your extraction issue. You can’t tell us why.
 
  • Like
Reactions: supercorndogs
Why should we base our decisions on your personal experience? You failed to remedy your extraction issue. You can’t tell us why.
I think he fixed his problem by switching brass. Doesn’t sound like the small die worked for him.
 
Why should we base our decisions on your personal experience? You failed to remedy your extraction issue. You can’t tell us why.

Better to base your decision on actual experience than on conjecture which is all you have, I have actually had the issue multiple times as have some others , and followed advice from people like you who were guessing how to fix it. I succeeded in fixing my extraction problem by not using brass as soft as cream cheese. Why seems quite obvious… Norma brass did not work regardless of how much it was sized after several firings , most likely the unsupported area of the case head expanded slightly and simply could not be sized back down enough at that area.
You seem hell bent on your idea being the only possible solution despite you never having had this issue and never having solved it , not to mention your solution is not available and would come with more money and a long wait. and my experience must be discounted because you don’t know me.
I’ve been on here for over 10 years , I don’t post a lot especially about people’s issues because I’ve seen them deteriorate into these pissing matches , I only decided to post because this can be an extremely frustrating situation with a new 4-5k rifle and I wanted to help the OP because I feel his pain and would hate to see someone try all sorts of things when the brass sitting on his shelf could Remedy it.
Answer me one question, if you were the OP what would you do?
 
Last edited:
I appreciate all the feedback. I'm taking it for what is. I will try the RP brass if the gunsmith can't fix the issue. Then I will try other options. I will try what I have at my disposal. I'm not discounting the base die option. Definitely frustrating as hell. At 1 point was ready to sell the damn thing or scrap the barrel and take it to another gunsmith to rebarrel it.
 
Better to base your decision on actual experience than on conjecture which is all you have, I have actually had the issue multiple times as have some others , and followed advice from people like you who were guessing how to fix it. I succeeded in fixing my extraction problem by not using brass as soft as cream cheese. Why seems quite obvious… Norma brass did not work regardless of how much it was sized after several firings , most likely the unsupported area of the case head expanded slightly and simply could not be sized back down enough at that area.
You seem hell bent on your idea being the only possible solution despite you never having had this issue and never having solved it , not to mention your solution is not available and would come with more money and a long wait. and my experience must be discounted because you don’t know me.
I’ve been on here for over 10 years , I don’t post a lot especially about people’s issues because I’ve seen them deteriorate into these pissing matches , I only decided to post because this can be an extremely frustrating situation with a new 4-5k rifle and I wanted to help the OP because I feel his pain and would hate to see someone try all sorts of things when the brass sitting on his shelf could Remedy it.
Answer me one question, if you were the OP what would you do?

I don’t have conjecture. I have actual experience.

I have fixed sticky brass in the past by sizing the base down far enough so the case did not stick.

I did not have a sticky issue with Norma brass because I knew what to do from the get go.

You didn’t fix shit. You gave up and went to a new case. You don’t know what you’re doing or how this stuff works. So stop posting advice unless you have figured out how to fix something that is broken.
 
  • Like
Reactions: reubenski
I don’t have conjecture. I have actual experience.

I have fixed sticky brass in the past by sizing the base down far enough so the case did not stick.

I did not have a sticky issue with Norma brass because I knew what to do from the get go.

You didn’t fix shit. You gave up and went to a new case. You don’t know what you’re doing or how this stuff works. So stop posting advice unless you have figured out how to fix something that is broken.
[/QUOTE

Lol , so I should have refused to change brass until I figured it out ? You probably have your car tires retreaded after they’re bald like a real man , new tires are for pussys right. You didn’t answer the question , please show me the error of my ways since you know what you’re doing and how this stuff works enlighten me , what should the OP do ?
 
Last edited:
Na , you only have conjecture, I asked you plainly if you have had this problem you said “no” now all of sudden you’ve fixed this issue many times by ordering small base dies for all your rifles , maybe you should learn to spec your chambers correctly so you don’t have to squeeze all your brass down 6 thou.
Also if something as simple as switching brass solves an issue then that would classify as fixing. What if you received a batch of bad/really soft brass , apparently with your vast knowledge you would start ordering new dies and refuse to try other brass because only a moron would try other brass.
Please again advise the op what to do with his 300 Rum brass , should be an easy fix with all your knowledge?
 
Na , you only have conjecture, I asked you plainly if you have had this problem you said “no” now all of sudden you’ve fixed this issue many times by ordering small base dies for all your rifles , maybe you should learn to spec your chambers correctly so you don’t have to squeeze all your brass down 6 thou.
Also if something as simple as switching brass solves an issue then that would classify as fixing. What if you received a batch of bad/really soft brass , apparently with your vast knowledge you would start ordering new dies and refuse to try other brass because only a moron would try other brass.
Please again advise the op what to do with his 300 Rum brass , should be an easy fix with all your knowledge?

now you’re just plain lying