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Welcome to the land of the unknowns

mheimer_45

Life’s tougher if your stupid
Full Member
Minuteman
May 19, 2013
797
481
NW Kansas
Hello all I’ve been reloading for years and have never experienced a problem like this. I have an 18” Wilson barreled Grendel that shoots hornady black around .75 moa and American gunner around 1.25 moa. I made some rounds with a 95 vmax and Xbr to use on prairie dogs and coyotes. Anyway on the way to finding group data I fired 5 rounds of American gunner to bring the barrel up to temp. Loaded the first five rounds with 28 grains xbr and Cci #41s in hornady brass. All brass was ran through a RCBS .264 LBC full length die. First round click. Half cocked the rifle to reset hammer and click. Round had no firing pin indention. Tried a round from each group and nothing. Tried 5 rounds of hornady black and all fired. What is going on? I have ordered all the tools to measure headspace,DTL, and BTO. So I can give that info in a week.
 
I dont know the relationship between the LBC and the Grendel somi’ll assume they’re compatible, but how were you establishing the proper adjustment of the die prior to sizing them all?

I suspect you bumped the shoulder wayyyyyy too far, the ejector is thrusting the case forward when they are chambered and out of reach of the pin. Probably a very good thing the rounds didn’t actually fire.
 
I dont know the relationship between the LBC and the Grendel somi’ll assume they’re compatible, but how were you establishing the proper adjustment of the die prior to sizing them all?

I suspect you bumped the shoulder wayyyyyy too far, the ejector is thrusting the case forward when they are chambered and out of reach of the pin. Probably a very good thing the rounds didn’t actually fire.
 
In all honesty I’ve never needed a comparator until now so I ordered one and have it on its way. And I adjusted the die the same way I do all of my dies. Slowly start sizing a piece of brass until it chambers and ejects. At first glance the shoulder looks the same as the once fired and factory new. But if the shoulder was bumped to far and the rounds were pushed in by the ejector then why did they eject just fine? Anything else I should measure once the tools come it. Rounds are loaded to book length for first rounds of testing. Also the bolt is headspaced to the barrel.
 
Where the claw of the extracor is located may be far enough out to allow for this. Your case rims could be on the thin side, and your pin protrusion may be minimum.

You have a fired pistol case you could use as a headspace comparator until your tools show up?
 
Ok so I think I’ve figured it out. I found my collet bullet puller for .308 fits nicely on the shoulder. And I may be totally wrong so please tell me if I’m doing it wrong. Hornady new brass measures 1.218. Brass from my chamber measures 1.226. My reloads measure 1.229. So that explains it. Rounds weren’t fully going into battery which wouldn’t let it fire.
 
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Ok so I think I’ve figured it out. I found my collet bullet puller for .308 fits nicely on the shoulder. And I may be totally wrong so please tell me if I’m doing it wrong. Hornady new brass measures 1.218. Brass from my chamber measures 1.226. My reloads measure 1.229. So that explains it. Rounds weren’t fully going into battery which wouldn’t let it fire.
That was easy
 
In all honesty I’ve never needed a comparator until now so I ordered one and have it on its way. And I adjusted the die the same way I do all of my dies. Slowly start sizing a piece of brass until it chambers and ejects. At first glance the shoulder looks the same as the once fired and factory new. But if the shoulder was bumped to far and the rounds were pushed in by the ejector then why did they eject just fine? Anything else I should measure once the tools come it. Rounds are loaded to book length for first rounds of testing. Also the bolt is headspaced to the barrel.

When you set your dies up that way do you use 1 or multiple pieces of brass?

Scott