Lapua 308 Win Brass in Savage Model 10FP

[atlsniper6.5]

Alright...

I FL resized and trimmed my 308 Win Lapua brass to 2.005". I ran it through my Sinclair expander die and neck turned it to .015". My Hornady OAL gauge measured 2.242" to the lands. My assembled round is 2.227" (what should be .015" off the lands). I'm getting a stiff bolt closure when I chamber the round in my Savage Model 10FP... to the point where it polishes the back of the brass a little bit where the bolt face touches it. I'm also getting a little bit of scuffing on the shoulder and on the ogive of the bullet. I'm thinking:

1. I got a bad measurement with the OAL Gauge and I need to seat the bullet deeper.
2. Or the Lapua brass is too thick for my chamber.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Thud]

Try chambering a non loaded case see if it still hard to close. If not your bullet is to far out.
Are you using new brass or fired brass in a new gun.
If fired brass from diffrent gun may not work.
Check sizing die or use new brass.

 

[Raufoss]

wrong brass headspace.

 

[roggom]

^^^^ This

You obtain brass headspace from a fired round, using a cartridge headspace gauge.

 

[atlsniper6.5]

^^^^ This

You obtain brass headspace from a fired round, using a cartridge headspace gauge.

So if I already FL resized the brass and the headspace is off, is there anyway to fix it other than trying another die or different brass in the gun?


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[Dan Newberry]

Savage chambers are super-tight. Some would argue that they're too tight, but if you handload and bump the shoulder back to the right point, all will be well.

You need to run the brass all the way into the sizing die. Just bringing up the press ram and tightening the die down to touch the shell holder will not provide enough sizing. Once the press is under a load (with the brass in the die) there will be a gap between the shell holder and the base of the die. You can see this by holding a white piece of paper, with good light on it, behind the die/shell holder union when you've brought the ram all the way up. If you see this gap, you need to turn the die in an extra 1/16th turn at a time, until the gap is no longer there. Then you'll get a true FL sizing, rather than just a partial shoulder bump.

If this was virgin brass from your rifle, and the shoulders moved forward this much, I'd say the load is way too hot. On the other hand, if this brass was obtained once-fired from another rifle with a larger chamber, then there's the problem... you just need to bump the shoulder back per directions above.

If you fire these tight loads in your rifle, you may end up having to peck the bolt open with a block of wood or a rubber or plastic mallet... they're probably not going to extract properly. Best thing to do is take them all apart, resize the brass fully, and go again...

Dan