chambering question

[rbahri5206]

when i load .308 win and use them in my bolt acation rifle the bolt is hard to close and im not sure what is causing this or bow to troubleshoot it. the rounds fire fine but hard to chamber. thank you in advanced. by the way i trim and coal to a factory bullet that works fine in the same rifle.

[OldShooter32]

Seating depth? The ogive of some bullets is sharper than others, so overall length round-to-round may be the same, but the "fatter" ogive will engage the rifling sooner.
Close bolt on empty chamber and run rod down, then mark rod at muzzle.
Hold loose bullet touching throat (use a pencil or dowel) and run rod down bore and mark at muzzle.
The distance between marks is your throat depth. Seat a hair shorter and your bolt should close ok. (Unless it is a shoulder issue!)

[StraightShooter]

Remove the bolt and press a round down into the chamber by hand. Tilt the rifle muzzle straight up. Does the round fall out on its own? If not, with the bolt still removed, push it out gently from the muzzle with a cleaning rod. If the round did not fall out on its own then the round is not sizing enough around the base. If the brass was previously fired in a semi auto this is a common issue. Use a small base sizing die to correct this. If the brass was previously fired in this rifle then it could be a headspace issue.

If it is a headspace issue it's likely that the die needs to be screwed in just a tiny bit more.

[troysland]

Are you full length resizing or just neck resizing? If the brass had been shot out of a semi, I would full length resize. Also, a case gauge will confirm proper resizing.

[highpower790]

it could be that going by factory specs doesnt work for your rifle. try seating the bullet a little deaper using a dummy cartridge,or use a small base die ,which will squeeze the case head a little bit more.small base die is popular among serv rifle shooters with match chambers.these chambers are smaller sometimes requiring a small base die.double check your oal on the brass,its ok to trim short of the min .005,this will give you a couple more reloads before trimming is needed.

[One78Shovel]

Remove the bolt and press a round down into the chamber by hand. Tilt the rifle muzzle straight up. Does the round fall out on its own? If not, with the bolt still removed, push it out gently from the muzzle with a cleaning rod. If the round did not fall out on its own then the round is not sizing enough around the base. If the brass was previously fired in a semi auto this is a common issue. Use a small base sizing die to correct this. If the brass was previously fired in this rifle then it could be a headspace issue.

If it is a headspace issue it's likely that the die needs to be screwed in just a tiny bit more.

A very good point and reason for a space Gauge to eliminate the guess work

-178S

[JagerDog]

How do your rounds fit in a gauge? How does the bolt close on an empty case? This should be determined before loading/load development.

[Divernhunter]

I have never used a case guage but I only FL resize.
If the dies are adjusted properly every round will work fine.
If the brass was fired full-auto you may need to chuck some of it first resizing. If you have a tight chamber then you may need small base dies.

Test a resized brass alone to see if it fits like it should in the rifle. If it does not adjust your die down until it does. Most FL dies are adjusted untill the press cams over. If the case fits fine empty but not when the bullet is seated there are several things to check. If you are trying to crimp the bullet then do not. You do not need to and in doing so you have the die adjusted so that it buldges the case at the shoulder. Put an empty sized case in the press and run it up. Then screw the seating die down until it touches the case mouth. BACK it off about 1 turn. Lock the lock ring. If you are useing lee dies toss the ones that come with it and get real lock rings and loc them. Now you can put a bullet into the case and adjust the seating depth. Do not make it so long as to have the bullet engage the rifling before the bolt is closed. For that matter also not after the bolt is closed.
If you are smart enough to put your location in your header someone nearby could offer to help such as measure your OAL with a tool or look at your dies. Ther is ways to measure the OAL without the tool that is listed in some of the reloading manuals. But to start with I suggest you keep it no longer than a factory round untill you get things sorted out and/or get more expeirence.
If you are near me I would be glad to help you and I can measure many different cartridges OAL

[BLR81]

Bullets are soft and can be forced into the lands by the bolt, making bullets seated too long easy to chamber. Brass is soft also, but with the size of the shoulder supported by the length of the case, it doesn't compress very easily.

308's head space off the shoulder. Headspace is the distance from the bolt face when in battery to the point in the chamber where the shoulder of the case touches the chamber.

Once fired the case will expand to the size of the chamber and the shoulder will expand to a size longer than the required headspace. Resizing should move the shoulder back, but following manufacturers direction sometimes isn't enough.

Get a headspace guage and actually measure the fired brass. Then measure your resized brass. For auto loaders the resized should be .005+" smaller. Bolt guns can sometime get away with being .002" smaller but since guages, presses and calipers usually have a plus/minus factor of .001" I usually go from .003-005" on bolt guns too.

[rbahri5206]

Thanks to all who responded looks like I have some homework to do I will try all your suggestions and report my findings.

[stonefly-2]

mark one of the rounds up real good with a sharpie pen and chamber it a few times. the rub marks could tell you a lot.

[rsrocket1]

I'll bet the shoulder will show the marker rubbed off. If you are neck sizing only, you need to bump the shoulder back. If you are full length sizing, your die is not screwed in far enough. Go ahead and test your cases right after sizing. If they chamber properly, they'll probably chamber properly after being fully loaded.

[3006mv]

Set your dies so shoulder bumps lower. Before you load bullet take one of these and feed into chamber and see if bolt closes.