REALLY tight fit!

[komifornian]

I'm reloading 6.5 creedmoor and when the cartridge is complete and I go to chamber the round it's REALLY tight. Factory Hornaday loads aren't tight.

Here's what I'm using:
140 grn Berger VLD's seated to an OAL of 2.810
Hornaday once fired brass from my rifle
RCBS dies

Has anyone else experienced this?

By the way I don't experience this with any other caliber or when using Redding dies.

Suggestions/comments would very much appreciated.

 

[ajwcotton]

First don't take offence to this, but do you really know what you are doing?
Have you measured the distance to the lands? Do you have a chamber guage?
If not I suggest you start there.

the easiest way to find out what is going on is to:
Take a piece of sized brass and see how that chambers if that goes in fine then you are probably pushing the ogive into the lands. If the brass doesn't chamber easily then you are not sizing them quite enough.

 

[rjacobs]

How does an empty, sized case run into your chamber?

 

[komifornian]

First don't take offence to this, but do you really know what you are doing?
Have you measured the distance to the lands? Do you have a chamber guage?
If not I suggest you start there.

the easiest way to find out what is going on is to:
Take a piece of sized brass and see how that chambers if that goes in fine then you are probably pushing the ogive into the lands. If the brass doesn't chamber easily then you are not sizing them quite enough.

None taken-

Okay, the sized brass goes easily. So perhaps I'm not seating the bullet deep enough. However, what's odd is that the OAL of the round doesn't change once it's been chambered. If the bullet was hitting the lands wouldn't the bullet seat a little deeper? I measured the OAL before and after and both measurements were 2.810".

 

[turbo54]

What is the length to the datum on your reloaded cartridges?

 

[haroldwilson]

Factory Hornady loads don't use Berger VLD's.

What's the cartridge base to ogive dimension on the factory load versus the VLD load?

 

[komifornian]

What is the length to the datum on your reloaded cartridges?

I'm not sure what you mean? Please elaborate

 

[turbo54]

I'm not sure what you mean? Please elaborate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-UrMTyJ1_E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[ksthomas]

Komifornian,

Yes, you need one of these.

 

[demolitionman]

Most likely, your jamming your rounds into the lands. Meaning, your OAL is too long with that bullet. Different brand bullets will contact the rifling at different lengths. Please, be careful, and heed the advice from the wise ones on here. I would at a minimum start with an Hornady OAL gauge and load off the lands a few hundredths before jamming...which is what is sounds like you might be doing now.


Check this page out. This page helped me ALOT when I started loading.

Proper Reloading Practices

 

[komifornian]

Most likely, your jamming your rounds into the lands. Meaning, your OAL is too long with that bullet. Different brand bullets will contact the rifling at different lengths. Please, be careful, and heed the advice from the wise ones on here. I would at a minimum start with an Hornady OAL gauge and load off the lands a few hundredths before jamming...which is what is sounds like you might be doing now.


Check this page out. This page helped me ALOT when I started loading.

Proper Reloading Practices

Thanks, I appreciate your help!

 

[demolitionman]

Thanks, I appreciate your help!

Your problem may not be so simple either. Like Turbo posted, you'll need to know what your brass is doing by measuring it. Possibly your brass from the case head to the shoulder or datum (center of case shoulder) is not being bumped back enough in your sizer after firing. Although you stated a sized case does go in easily, but you should know for sure what kind of shoulder bump if any your are getting from your die on fired cases.

Also take measurements of the brass neck dimensions of loaded rounds and take note if they are within book spec. Maybe you've got some unusually thick brass although unlikely.

Its very possible your problems can be fixed by properly setting up your dies before sizing.

 

[Aimsmall55]

Chamber one of the tight rounds. If you have marks on your shoulder area that's the problem. Solution ..... Set your die up as normal then give it about a 1/8 extra turn. That should give it just enough bump to keep it from being difficult to bolt but not too much bump that will result in excessive head space. Also get your self a hornady headspace kit. It's cheap and very cost effective.

 

[Unknown]

A sized case without a bullet seated in it will chamber easily even if it is over length. However, when there is a bullet in the case, the excess brass tries to crimp onto the bullet causing pressure spikes, and difficulty chambering. A little undersize is OK, while a little oversize is NOT ok.

If case length for the 308 is 2.015, I usually trim to 2.000-2.010. If I trim to 2.000, I don't have to trim quite as soon the next time. But I measure every case every time so I don't cause a pressure spike, and for consistency.

 

[bcrich]

Sound like it might be a really tight neck .... Might have to neck turn the brass.

 

[thrusty]

I'm with turbo on this with his simple question...he's hinting that the brass is possibly not properly sized....the shoulder may not be bumped back enough for easy chambering.

I didn't see whether you were neck sizing or full length sizing?

 

[Petrov]

Are you using full length sizing dies or Neck?

 

[komifornian]

I readjusted my "full length" sizing die to bump the just a little more and the round chambered easily. Now I need to work how far off the lands I should go to get optimal accuracy/consistency for this specific rifle.

The funny thing is that I have a few other rifles that I reload for that are in different calibers and I've had zero issues. This rifle is just finicky I guess...

However, even with this "tight" problem I was still getting 3/4 minute groups at 200 meters. I'm excited to see what this rig is really capable of!

 

[oldfatguy]

Use a sharpie to paint one of your tight loaded rounds and chamber it. You will be able to see where the tight places rub the sharpie off. Sounds like you've already found & fixed the problem. The sharpie test will confirm.

OFG

 

[komifornian]

Use a sharpie to paint one of your tight loaded rounds and chamber it. You will be able to see where the tight places rub the sharpie off. Sounds like you've already found & fixed the problem. The sharpie test will confirm.

OFG

We're on the same page. I'll be doing the "sharpie test" in a few minutes. Regardless, thanks for the advice!

 

[FLIGHT762]

I'm not sure what you mean? Please elaborate

When you have time, do a net search on shoulder bump. There's a lot of great information out there.

I readjusted my "full length" sizing die to bump the just a little more and the round chambered easily. Now I need to work how far off the lands I should go to get optimal accuracy/consistency for this specific rifle.

The funny thing is that I have a few other rifles that I reload for that are in different calibers and I've had zero issues. This rifle is just finicky I guess...

However, even with this "tight" problem I was still getting 3/4 minute groups at 200 meters. I'm excited to see what this rig is really capable of!

You've found your first rifle that's been finicky on sizing. Depending on how many rifles you load for, every once in a while, you'll find that the factory instructions on setting up your F/L die just doesn't do it.

I own 33 centerfire rifles and I reload for all of them. For me, it's a necessity to use a gauge to measure shoulder bump for my F/L die. The gauge will give you the numbers regarding the distance from the case head to the datum line on the case shoulder. It's then an easy adjustment of the F/L die to get it to bump the shoulder minimally (-.001"-.002") to increase the life of your brass. Without some kind of gauge, you're flying blind. You can use the old method as suggested of using a sharpie or smoking the case and using your rifle's chamber as a gauge. It does work. A gauge and some calipers just make the process so much easier and you can see the actual numbers of the datum length from the fired cases shot in a particular rifle.

Over the years, I've had .223, 30/06/, 270 Win. and .308 Win. rifles that have been finicky. The gauges have made my reloading easier.