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Out of the box Tikka will not chamber rounds

B

bradworley

Private
Minuteman
Aug 4, 2022
58
23
Florida
Trying to figure out if this is a gun issue, or a me issue.
Bolt will not close on a lot of rounds and is really hard to close on the others. So far, none of the rounds I've loaded will chamber easily.
Everything is within SAAMI spec.
Tikka t3x varmint 6.5CM
120gr BTHP
OAL 2.68
Headspace 1.915
I even tried loading an empty case that measures 1.915
It will chamber, but the bolt is very hard to close
At this point, I'm almost ready to take it to a gunsmith as I've heard it sucks to deal with Beretta.
 
Kadams1563 said:
If your rifle will not load a single factory round you should have an email into the manufacture already.

There is no reason to keep trying
Click to expand...
These are all hand loads. On my way to the store now to pick up some factory ammo. If those won't load... Well, yeah I'll have to contact Beretta
 
Are these factory loads or reloaded ammunition?

If they are factory, you could have a problem. It could also be an issue with the factory ammunition.

If they are reloaded, then they just don't fit your particular chamber.

You mentioned headspace being 1.915.
It's not. That would be your case length.
Headspace is measured from the base of the cartridge to the datum line, which is normally the middle of the shoulder.


To help troubleshoot your issue, we need more and better information.

The empty brass you tried in your chamber:
Is it new or fired in another rifle?
What is the neck diameter of a loaded round?
Are your primers seated properly?

Many more questions need to be asked and answered before we can help you.
 
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Some fired 6.5 CM in one rifle will not fit in another 6.5 CM rifle after re-sizing. Had that happen before and to others as well. It seemed to come down to slightly different chambers with the problem being in the area around the case web. I manged to get mine to eventually work by switching to a different die.
 
Mike Casselton said:
Are these factory loads or reloaded ammunition?

If they are factory, you could have a problem. It could also be an issue with the factory ammunition.

If they are reloaded, then they just don't fit your particular chamber.

You mentioned headspace being 1.915.
It's not. That would be your case length.
Headspace is measured from the base of the cartridge to the datum line, which is normally the middle of the shoulder.


To help troubleshoot your issue, we need more and better information.

The empty brass you tried in your chamber:
Is it new or fired in another rifle?
What is the neck diameter of a loaded round?
Are your primers seated properly?

Many more questions need to be asked and answered before we can help you.
Click to expand...
Sorry, headspace is 1.56
Diameter is.29
Brass is fired from another rifle
And primers are seated properly.
 
One of the things that will help you in the future is to make sure you are measuring to the .001.

An example would be referring to neck diameter.
For two of my 6-BRs, they use neck turned brass. The chamber has a neck diameter of .262.

If I load ammunition to .261 or smaller, it fits.
If it's .262, it won't.

If I was having a problem clambering a round and I told someone the neck diameter was .26, it wouldn't help either of us because that would mean it could be anywhere between .260 and .269.

.269 would be .008 too large and never have a chance to enter the neck.

Make sure when you are passing on information, that you include all of the numbers past the decimal point.


I see you're from Florida.
If you are anywhere near the Tampa area, I can assist you if you'd like.


Hopefully, the factory ammo fits and all you'll need is to pull the reloads down and resize the brass to fit your chamber.
 
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Well, I hope the factory ammo fits because if it doesn't, you're about to learn a lesson about the worst customer service in the industry. They have my tikka T1x since January 2020 and refuse to even speak to me. They just kept my rifle and won't even discuss it. I've called them a thousand times, emailed every decision maker in the company with an email address, and they have never called me back or responded to an email. Check out the Better business bureau website (Beretta USA). They have the worst rating a company can have with the better business bureau. If you go read the stories there, you'll find a couple dozen people that they did the same thing to.

If your chamber needs work, I'd go to a gunsmith, if you send it to Beretta, you may never see your rifle again.
 
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37L1 said:
Some fired 6.5 CM in one rifle will not fit in another 6.5 CM rifle after re-sizing. Had that happen before and to others as well. It seemed to come down to slightly different chambers with the problem being in the area around the case web. I manged to get mine to eventually work by switching to a diffe
Click to expand...

Mike Casselton said:
One of the things that will help you in the future is to make sure you are measuring to the .001.

An example would be referring to neck diameter.
For two of my 6-BRs, they use neck turned brass. The chamber has a neck diameter of .262.

If I load ammunition to .261 or smaller, it fits.
If it's .262, it won't.

If I was having a problem clambering a round and I told someone the neck diameter was .26, it wouldn't help either of us because that would mean it could be anywhere between .260 and .269.

.269 would be .008 too large and never have a chance to enter the neck.

Make sure when you are passing on information, that you include all of the numbers past the decimal point.


I see you're from Florida.
If you are anywhere near the Tampa area, I can assist you if you'd like.


Hopefully, the factory ammo fits and all you'll need is to pull the reloads down and resize the brass to fit your chamb
Click to expand...
Im in Pasco Co
The factory ammo loads, but is still a bit tight.
The only difference I see between my hand loads is the case length.
Factory is 1.906 and mine is 1.915
 
bradworley said:
The only difference I see between my hand loads is the case length.
Factory is 1.906 and mine is 1.915
Click to expand...
For a test, you can tear down 3x of the handloads and run them through a shoulder bump (9 thou) and a small base die, and see if that fixes the issue.

ETA: Someone can correct me if im wrong, but AFAIK, a 'comparator' is not accurately a measurement device in relation to saami spec. its only useful for a/b testing. So it will give you reasonable estimates of variance between two cases, but won't accurately tell you where those cases fit within spec of the chamber, etc.
 
Last edited:
Sacrifice a case.
Take a case and trim the case length at the neck. Check fit.
Probably not the issue.
Bump just a little more.
Headspace could be tight.
Next, sand down the body diameter near the base to see if fit improves.
Probably IS the issue.
Sand down the shoulder/ body junction in case the shoulder has swelled.
Usually only an issue when seating a bullet, not with a sized empty case.
Normal sizing dies will take care of most everything else.
I did this one just as an example.
I used a drill and a fine file to remove brass in indicated areas. 2 minute job.
Note that case will now be trash.
Sand-for-fit-check.jpg

If you find where the case doesn't fit then seat a bullet and try again.
 
Last edited:
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Had a friends RPR not chamber factory ammo, chamber wasn’t cut properly, not sure how it went thru quality control.

He sent it back and they put in a new barrel on it.
 
Rocketvapor said:
Sacrifice a case.
Take a case and trim the case length at the neck. Check fit.
Probably not the issue.
Bump just a little more.
Headspace could be tight.
Next, sand down the body diameter near the base to see if fit improves.
Probably IS the issue.
Sand down the shoulder/ body junction in case the shoulder has swelled.
Usually only an issue when seating a bullet, not with a sized empty case.
Normal sizing dies will take care of most everything else.
I did this one just as an example.
I used a drill and a fine file to remove brass in indicated areas. 2 minute job.
Note that case will now be trash.
View attachment 7973638
If you find where the case doesn't fit then seat a bullet and try again.
Click to expand...
Yup, trimmed it and that didn't work. Moving on through your list to see what the culprit is.
On a side note, I was able to get all my other brands of brass to chamber except Hornady. When I drop them in the case length and headspace gage, they are proud by 5000th of an inch
 
On my Tikka 270 Win., It took turning the sizing die in a bit more. Comparator measurements showed my Tikka has a tighter chamber than my other J.C. Higgins 270 Win. The Tikka brass needed to be shoulder bumped more, right near SAAMI minimum.

Once I set my die properly, no chambering issues.

You probably need to turn your F/L die in a little bit more.

Most of the time, these issues are user error. You need to keep testing to figure it out.
 
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bradworley said:
Yup, trimmed it and that didn't work. Moving on through your list to see what the culprit is.
On a side note, I was able to get all my other brands of brass to chamber except Hornady. When I drop them in the case length and headspace gage, they are proud by 5000th of an inch
Click to expand...
That is .005
 
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It's most likely the difference in chambers. I tried to use 1x fired from old barrel and it wouldn't chamber but new brass would. When you resize you do not resize 100% of the case down the webbing. You are going to need something like a small base die to size it all the way down as well.



My friend had a similar thing happened when he bought a 6CM prefit and bought some once fired Peterson 6CM brass. It wouldn't fit in his chamber unless they slammed down on the bolt handle. Used the 6.5CM SB die and it sized the base down enough to where he can chamber the brass easily.

Redding make specific shell holders for this exact some issue too.
 
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I'm about 99% certain it's the shoulder.
When I measure the Hornady compared to all the other brands the shoulder is 5,000 of an inch longer.
Only problem is, no matter how much I crank down my Forester die it will not bump the shoulder! I have a new set of dies and the Redding competition shell holders ordered and on the way. Hopefully this solves the issue?
 
Was your brass fired in an autoloader?

Factory brass is usually at least .003 under most chambers. I wouldn't be surprised if it was more.
 
I'm sure it's the not the shoulder. The case dimension closer to the base of the case is not the same causing your issue to close the bolt. I had the same issue, lot's of people have this same issue. It's nothing new.
 
It's probably not under spec, it's most likely right in spec. All ammunition manufactured has a +/- or minimum/maximum dimension allowed.

If it fits your chamber then it's nearly a 100% guarantee it's within dimensional tolerances.
 
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Lyman's 50th edition says case length should be 1.910 to 1.920
The factory I had measured 1.902
But as I'm learning, length is not always the issue
 
Have you mopped the chamber good to make sure there’s nothing in there? It wouldn’t take much at all if there’s a chip or some crud at the shoulder of the chamber. If the case is not sticking at all it’s probably a headspace issue. If the web was too big it would almost certainly give resistance when you try to pull it out bc it would be wedged in there from trying to close the bolt.
 
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bradworley said:
Lyman's 50th edition says case length should be 1.910 to 1.920
The factory I had measured 1.902
But as I'm learning, length is not always the issue
Click to expand...
Unless you’re using higher end calipers the factory measurement you took could easily be that much off. Either way, less length shouldn’t keep the bolt from closing.
 
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bradworley said:
Only problem is, no matter how much I crank down my Forester die it will not bump the shoulder! I have a new set of dies and the Redding competition shell holders ordered and on the way. Hopefully this solves the issue?
Click to expand...
The Redding Competition Shell Holders WILL NOT help your issue. The Competition Shell Holders will make your shoulder bump LONGER in .002" increments from +.002" to + .010". A lot of reloaders don't understand this. They will not shorten your shoulder any more than a regular shell holder does.

The only way to add more shoulder bump is to either sand down a few thousandths off of a regular shell holder or skim .005"-
. 008" off of the bottom of the F/L die. No one makes shell holders that have a deck height shorter than the normal .125".

I do use the Competition Shell holders. They are very useful for their purpose.

A different brand of die might give you more shoulder bump.

Poor or improper case lube use can also cause sizing to come out inconsistent. What lube are you using?
 
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FLIGHT762 said:
The Redding Competition Shell Holders WILL NOT help your issue. The Competition Shell Holders will make your shoulder bump LONGER in .002" increments from +.002" to + .010". A lot of reloaders don't understand this. They will not shorten your shoulder any more than a regular shell holder does.
Click to expand...
Well that sucks!!! I was thinking that one of those shell holders had to be shorter.
I guess I could go grab a Hornady and rcbs holder and hope they're shorter than the Lee that I have?
Maybe I'll have to get the small base dies?
I use one shot lube
 
bradworley said:
Yes, but from what I've heard it's not uncommon for some Shell Holders to be shorter than others. It doesn't take much of a manufacturing error to be off a few thousands of an inch.
Click to expand...
If new hornady ammo/brass is not fitting right there’s more going on than your die/shell holder. If it’s just a tight chamber that’s not terrible as long as you plan on reloading for it 100%.

Tell us again what fits, if it has hard bolt close, and what doesn’t fit-
New brass?
New ammo?
Fired brass that’s resized as far as the die can resize it?

What press are you using?
 
Ok, looks like the problem has been solved by switching dies.
Used the RCBS tonight and was able to bump the shoulder back 8000 of an inch. This has the bolt closing with no problems
 
Precision Underground said:
If new hornady ammo/brass is not fitting right there’s more going on than your die/shell holder. If it’s just a tight chamber that’s not terrible as long as you plan on reloading for it 100%.

Tell us again what fits, if it has hard bolt close, and what doesn’t fit-
New brass?
New ammo?
Fired brass that’s resized as far as the die can resize it?

What press are you using?
Click to expand...
The bolt was hard to close on factory ammo (Winchester) and would not close on most of my resized once fired brass. (From another rifle)
I was able to get most of my once fired brass to chamber except for the Hornady by cracking down the Forester die a. Problem was, I was only getting about 2000th of a shoulder bump.
That was enough for most, but the bolt was still pretty stiff and was not enough of a bump for the Hornady (for what ever reason???)
I'm using a Lee Challenger press.
The RCBS dies definitely do the trick. I've ran about 10 cases through and all of them are cycling smoothly with 8000th shoulder bump.
 
Go fire a round before you end up sizing all your shit too much man….

Fire a round and check the headspace on the shoulder so you know how much to bump…..

Like I said earlier, Learn more about reloading before continuing the hobby.
C9A90481-974A-45D8-9463-B6E01FA0D94E.gif
 
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bradworley said:
The bolt was hard to close on factory ammo (Winchester) and would not close on most of my resized once fired brass. (From another rifle)
I was able to get most of my once fired brass to chamber except for the Hornady by cracking down the Forester die a. Problem was, I was only getting about 2000th of a shoulder bump.
That was enough for most, but the bolt was still pretty stiff and was not enough of a bump for the Hornady (for what ever reason???)
I'm using a Lee Challenger press.
The RCBS dies definitely do the trick. I've ran about 10 cases through and all of them are cycling smoothly with 8000th shoulder bump.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t call it solved but now you have more info. My guess is the headspace is tight. If you still have some brass that won’t fit drop one in the chamber with no bolt and give it a push and see if it sticks. That will give you more info.

Are you using a headspace comparator to get the shoulder numbers? If so, do as stated above and see how much the shoulder grows when you fire it. Measure before, measure after.
 
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Precision Underground said:
I wouldn’t call it solved but now you have more info. My guess is the headspace is tight. If you still have some brass that won’t fit drop one in the chamber with no bolt and give it a push and see if it sticks. That will give you more info.

Are you using a headspace comparator to get the shoulder numbers? If so, do as stated above and see how much the shoulder grows when you fire it. Measure before, measure after.
Click to expand...
The Hornady comparator kit is what I'm using to measure shoulder bump.
I'll definitely back the die out before resizing the brass fired from my rifle and then only bump the shoulder as much as needed.
 
Jmccracken1214 said:
Go fire a round before you end up sizing all your shit too much man….

Fire a round and check the headspace on the shoulder so you know how much to bump…..

Like I said earlier, Learn more about reloading before continuing the hobby.
View attachment 7974752
Click to expand...
He is learning , maybe take your own advice ? If you knew shit about the hobby you would know what you call "headspace" is actually the base to datum measurement . Rookie mistake, but that's OK . :ROFLMAO:
 
Haney said:
View attachment 7974793
Click to expand...
Whatever man… I have enough sense to know if a rifle isn’t chambering a handload for another rifle, to throw a factory round in it, pull the trigger and measure.
Not go to the internet acting like my new rifle, that won’t chamber another rifles rounds is jacked up.
This thread has been way to complicated is all…. It’s a very simple solution.

Measure before you go sizing away at your brass
 
Jmccracken1214 said:
Whatever man… I have enough sense to know if a rifle isn’t chambering a handload for another rifle, to throw a factory round in it, pull the trigger and measure.
Not go to the internet acting like my new rifle, that won’t chamber another rifles rounds is jacked up.
Click to expand...
I started the thread by stating that I wasn't sure if it was me or the rifle.
 
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Mike Casselton said:
8000 is written as .008
Click to expand...
Glad I'm not the only one that it was bothering. Never seen anyone write it like that lol.

But I will still put money on that it's the chambering difference between 2 rifles is because causing this issue. OP is going to need a small base die to fix this. I know it sucks having to buy the die for 1 use. But that is what fixed mine and did fix a friends issue as well. I have also tried to crank down on my regular die to get it to size and that didn't work either. My old barrel was a 6.5CM chambered by GAP. Shot that one out and had another barrel cut by GAP as well. Brass would be a no go, tried to crank down on the sizing die to get it to work, nope. It would only push it back to maybe .012 max before you can't cam over the press anymore. Bought the stupid SB die, size it to bump your normal .001-.002 and it chambers perfectly. My friend had the exact same thing happen. Bought once fired 6CM Peterson brass, for his brand now PVA 6CM prefit. Sesized it with your standard Redding Type S bushing die, giving it a .002 bump, would not chamber. Let him borrow my 6.5CM SB die and did the same bump and all his brass fits perfectly with no drama in closing the bolt.
 
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