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#1
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Won't chamber after seating projectile
I will preface this by saying that I am new to reloading. I have done a lot of reading, and decided to start off with a Lee single stage press.
I am currently trying to reload .338 and since I am new, I wanted to chamber all of the resized cartridges before seating the projectiles. They all chambered very well, so I went and began adding powder/projectiles. My problem though, is after seating the projectile to the OAL, about 30% of the rounds do not chamber without what I deem is excessive force. What could be causing this? Thanks in advance. |
#2
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Exsessive COAL, ir ur bullet is hitting the lands.
Or ur case necks need turned. Take a fired case and squez the neck just enough to hold a bullet loosely, then place a bullet in it by hand sticking way out and chamber slowly, now unchamber and be carefull that the ejector doesn't mess u up, and mic the CAOL. And use that as ur absolute max. U should load .002 lower or less than that reading. |
#3
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Not a lot to go on here but if you're crimping the bullets, you are probably crimping too much and crushing or collapsing the shoulder of the case. Use your calipers to check the diameter of the shoulder and neck of the resized and loaded cartridges.
Try raising the seating die to decrease the crimp. |
#4
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You've provided enough info for some great speculation but a little more will help identify your issue.
You chambered every case after it was sized and you had no problems with any of them? Did you crimp the bullets? Did you trim all of these cases to the same length? Was your seating/crimping die locked down? Do all the cases have the same head stamp?
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NRA Life Member GOA Life Member USMC '71 - '78 "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." Edward Everett Hale |
#5
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If the cases fit without any trouble before seating the bullets either the bullets are seated to long or the neck is now too thick.
If the gun is a factory gun the necks shouldn't be too thick but you can look at them and see if they have rub marks from tough chambering. If its the bullets being seated too long the bullet will have land marks on it from the barrelthe easiest check for this would be to simply take a snug fitting round and seat the bullet 0.020 deeper and see if that solves the problem. Bullets especially big 338 bullets have larger variances than smaller bullets. Always seat your bullets using a comparator tool which attaches to a $10 caliper and your guns accuracy will improve greatly.
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Lynn Dragoman, Jr. Southwest Regional Director Unlimited Range Shooters Association (URSA) www.unlimitedrange.org Not a commercial business. URSA - Competition starts at 2000 yards! Last edited by LynnJr; 04-02-2015 at 3:20 PM.. |
#6
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Since you're new to reloading, this is probably the only bullet you've ever used. I'm presuming you trimmed the brass to a uniform length? As other members have mentioned, you need to find out what the maximum OAL for each bullet is, when the ogive of the bullet is touching the grooves (rifling which engraves the bullet) of the barrel. Once you've determined this, substract a few thousandths of inch (I like to subtract 0.005 - 0.010") depending on experimentation for accuracy. Published data usually shows the shortest OAL you'd ever want to load. If you're anywhere near the minimum, the rounds should chamber fine.
Each time I get a new bulet, I seat a dummy round (no primer or powder) incrementally shorter until I can force the bolt closed by hand. If you mess up, and seat too short, then pull the bullet, resize the case, and start over. Another technique is to cut a slit on one side of the case mouth down towards the neck, so a bullet can go in and out with your hand. I like the first technique since there's enough neck tension on the bullet that it doesn't matter if the dummy round ejects harshly. |
#7
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Your seating die is adjusted down to far.
If the die is screwed in to far the mouth of the case hits the inside step in the die, pushing it back and causing the shoulder to bulge. Your only hitting the longest cases, that's why only a few are hard to chamber. Screw your seating die out 1/4 of a turn and then readjust the seating stem to set the COAL.
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Frank One rifle, one planet, Holland's 375 Life Member NRA, CRPA and SAF |
#8
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To add to the above adjust the seating die so NOT to crimp then seat the bullets so they do not touch the rifling. As Fjold said back the die up a bit then adjust the seating stem to insert the bullets to the needed depth.
You do not need to crimp the rifle cartridges. I load for 338Win mg and to not crimp. Never had a problem. If you are located near me(the Modesto area) I can help you out and give you some good data for the 338Win mag. I do not have data for the 338Federal.
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A 30cal will reach out and touch them. A 50cal will kick their butt. NRA Life Member, NRA certified RSO & Basic Pistol Instructor, Hunter, shooter, reloader SCI, Manteca Sportsmen Club, Coalinga Rifle Club, Escalon Sportsmans Club, Waterford Sportsman Club & NAHA Member, Madison Society member |
#10
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OP must have moved on...
__________________
NRA Life Member GOA Life Member USMC '71 - '78 "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." Edward Everett Hale |
#11
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As others have stated, it's most likely your seating die causing the problem. Unscrew it a quarter turn than you should be fine. I had a similar issue happen to me and the seating die was the culprit.
If you can get them to chamber, firing will fix it for you. As I stated above, I had 50 cases that had slightly bulged shoulders. I was able to chamber them in my Savage 99 and they worked just fine. If they won't chamber then you will need to pull them apart and resize the cases. |
#12
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Here is a quick way to test wether your seating die is screwed down too far.
Pull a bullet out of a tight round and after dumping out the powder chamber it in the rifle. If its still hard to chamber its most likely the seating die. If it chambers easily its the seating depth
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Lynn Dragoman, Jr. Southwest Regional Director Unlimited Range Shooters Association (URSA) www.unlimitedrange.org Not a commercial business. URSA - Competition starts at 2000 yards! |
#13
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Quote:
If the decapping pin won't come out of the expander plug, you're going to have to slowly press out the primer and throw it away as it will deform the primer anvil when you press it out. A safer way to do it is to spray a little oil in the flash hole to inert the primer prior to pressing it out but I usually just press them out slowly.
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Frank One rifle, one planet, Holland's 375 Life Member NRA, CRPA and SAF |
#14
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"Your seating die is adjusted down to far.
If the die is screwed in to far the mouth of the case hits the inside step in the die, pushing it back and causing the shoulder to bulge. Your only hitting the longest cases, that's why only a few are hard to chamber. Screw your seating die out 1/4 of a turn and then readjust the seating stem to set the COAL." __________________ So, the entire die get's screwed out about a 1/4 turn, and then the seating stem gets screwed in until the COAL is right, correct? |
#15
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Yes
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Frank One rifle, one planet, Holland's 375 Life Member NRA, CRPA and SAF |
#16
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One other possible issue, it would require the OP to chamber one of the difficult rounds and then eject it without firing, is to look at the sides of the bullet just in front of where it seats in the case, if there is a bunch of scratches on just one side of the bullet then it means that the bullet isn't being seated concentrically to the bore.
I had this issue when I first got into reloading for .308 using Lee dies and a Lee progressive press. I switched to an RCBS single stage press and better dies and the problem went away. Groups shrank as well.
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#17
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Over crimp can cause that. Makes the neck push into the body of the case and mushrooms.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
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#18
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Thank you all for you responses. I have been out of town for the Easter holiday, but I am going to check some of your suggestions and advice tonight.
To answer a few questions: Yes, I chambered every cartridge after initial sizing and they all chambered smoothly. I did not check COAL, so that will be the first thing that I set up tonight. Every cartridge was trimmed to length. Cases are all the same manufacturer. I AM crimping. All processes were followed by the Lee instructions, so maybe they are a general set of instructions, but I'm better served following the advice of all the experienced gentlemen here. So I'll first check the COAL and see how that compares to the rounds that will not chamber and report back. Thanks all. |
#19
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I went ahead and checked most everything that you gentlemen asked me to and did the best I could for being as late as it is...haha. I couldn't get a good OAL reading, so I'll have to work on that tomorrow.
I did sharpie the bullet though, and this is what it showed... |
#21
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If seating and crimping in the same step . You could be buckling the shoulder a tad with a heavy crimp or if all cases are not trimmed to the exact same length . As said above . It's not likely you need to crimp .
Look familiar ??? I had this issue with a very fouled throat/lead . It looked very much like your issue Also with a fouled lead/throat and the expander ball of the die pulling the neck off axis to the case body you could have the bullet contact the sides of the throat when chambered because the bullet is off axis to the case and bore . Roll your case on it's side while at the same time looking straight on to the bullet tip . Can you see any wobble ? If off by only a couple thousandths you will not see it but if its off by a lot you will notice
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Tolerate allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference. Anyone else find it sad that those who preach tolerance CAN'T allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that they do not necessarily like or agree with) without interference. I write almost everything in a jovial manner regardless of content . If that's not how you took it please try again Last edited by Metal God; 04-05-2015 at 4:38 PM.. |
#23
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Left, over crimp;right, chambers and ejects.
Attachment 403357 Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
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Last edited by 2shotjoe; 01-20-2016 at 1:52 PM.. |
#24
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I loaded 3 more rounds today with every casing going through the same identical process. 2 chambered perfectly without any of the above pictured run out, and one was a little more snug than the othe two, but without any noticable runout.
Why would two fire formed rounds chamber smoother than the other round when they all went through the same sizing/trimming/seating (no crimp this time) process? |
#26
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I missed the part that said you were using fire formed cases and only neck sizing . Yes cases can fire form differently from case to case . Some cases will spring back more then others when fired . So it is not uncommon for a case to fit a little tighter then others .
What firearm are these cases fire formed too ?
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Tolerate allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference. Anyone else find it sad that those who preach tolerance CAN'T allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that they do not necessarily like or agree with) without interference. I write almost everything in a jovial manner regardless of content . If that's not how you took it please try again |
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