22-250 help!

[reload4fun]

I was shooting from a bench rest factory loads in my Remington 700.
I switched over to a box of reloads I had done. on my 6th shoot the bullet would not go all the way in. by this I mean I pushed the bolt forward to within an 1/8" of locking up. I pushed a little harder on the bolt and no way. Of the 20 rounds of reloads, 4 would not seat. I took home the 4 rounds, and the balance of the factory rounds back home. I have measured and measured, most of the measurements of the reloads are a few thousands under the factory loads. what am I missing?
Thanks in advance

[pdq_wizzard]

were the cases you used shot out of your gun?

If not how did you re-size the cases? (how did you set the die?)

[Bastard]

IIRC 700s have long chambers so I am going to make an assumption here that the issue is in resizing process not the seating process.

like PDQ stated - what is the process you used, single stage or progressive (easier to set up the progressive wrong). neck sized or full sized, new or once fired brass... what was it fired out of?


mainly for us to help you we are going to need more information, the more the better.

[Dutch Henry]

Sounds like the cases weren't resized enough. Perhaps the shoulder may not be set back far enough to accommodate your chamber.

[reload4fun]

cases were factory Remington once fired in my rifle. I use a rock chucker single stage. rcbs sizing die, I set it just a hair of the die holder. I mic'ed the factory and the reloaded even the neck and there are no real differences.
I took the 4 reloads and dropped them into the sizing die, then dropped the new factory loads measured and they were with in .002 of eatch other.
I measured from the end of the case to the shoulder on both and they are very close. I was kinda thinking I needed to roll crimp a little more and it was the edge of the shell catching, but the bullet was in very far off by less then an 1/8"

[reload4fun]

should I be using more then one sizing die??

[reload4fun]

and one last thing to add, I shoot about 16 reloads all done at the same time. Only 4 were a problem

[pdq_wizzard]

no crimp is needed, you should read the instructions for the sizer die, it should tell you to run the die down to the shell holder and then 1/16 to 1/4 more into the holder not backing out.

also did you check the length of the cases? I have had cases over max length after one shot. this could cause you BIG problems with over pressure. trim your cases to trim length.

[ar15barrels]

During resizing, case shoulders can actualy get LONGER if your die is not down far enough to size the shoulder down.
This is bacause the die is squeezing the sides of the case inward and the brass tends to get longer because of the case/die taper.

take a 308 case and zero your calipers on it like this:



Then measure the sized and fired cases like this and see what the shoulder lengths are of the fired cases and the loaded rounds that would not fit:

[Fjold]

I'll bet that your seating die is screwed down to far and contacting the case mouth when the bullet seats. This causes the case mouth to get pushed back and bulges the case at the shoulder, which prevents the case from entering the chamber all the way.

[ar15barrels]

I'll bet that your seating die is screwed down to far and contacting the case mouth when the bullet seats. This causes the case mouth to get pushed back and bulges the case at the shoulder, which prevents the case from entering the chamber all the way.

If so, seating dies are easy to setup to NOT crimp.
Start with the seating die a couple turns loose.
Set a sized case in the press but no bullet.
Run the ram all the way up.
Screw the die down until you JUST start to feel it snug on the case.
Back the die out 1/8 turn from there and jock it down.
Now, retract the ram and add a bullet and adjust the seating stem for desired overall length.

[drdarrin@sbcglobal.net]

Were all of your reloads trimmed prior to loading? If you are crimping and some cases are longer than others, you will bulge the shoulder when you seat and crimp.

[ducky_0811]

two excellent points have been made here, TRIMMING, and shoulder length. I recently had a problem with 7.5 swiss, the shoulders were getting longer as stated before, causing a nightmare of a problem when trying to chamber with a strait pull. I always trim my .22-250 to 1.902 and give a good inner chamfer of the case mouth with a vld tapered tool, greatly reduces jacket shaving

[reload4fun]

I did not trim the cases, I mic'ed them and they were within a few thousands of the factory. I checked the o.d. in every place and compared to the factory round. I have a hunch it's the shoulder. overall length is very close, I dropped the factory into the sizing die and mic'ed the overhang and it was within .002 of the reload.

[Coyotegunner]

I May have missed a detail here in all this,so bare with me,If I repeat something someone else said.
Rock Chucker,RCBS dies.Full Length sizing.
22-250 is my favorite and I own several.Really.
Most of them will chamber the same loads,but I have a honery one.A custom Mauser.Well OK,the Weatherby pistol has its own kink as well.
When I set my size die,I pretty much do what someone else mentioned as does the die instructions.I take the die/ram down to the shell holder.Back the ram off a little and turn the die down about 1/2 turn,snug the lock ring.
The ram when sizing will make a cam over pop when I size.
The Mauser has to be turned in 1 full turn past contact in the set up.

Different caliber:204 Howa with a Christensen carbon fiber wrapped barrel.
1 1/4 turns past initial contact with the shell holder. Whoa you say.Well it is what it is.

I could go on and on.I love all 34 calibers I load for.Most I have 2 or more in, will chamber the same loads with excellent accuracy results.
Everyone of them is a learning curve at first.

I say size up a group of them as I suggested and cycle them through your shooting machine and see if problem is solved.Before you load them.

Neck only sizers work differently.

Crimping:I did not know people still do this?
I do it for calibers that will seat bullets further in a box magazine from recoil.Like 338 Win Mag.Sometimes even the 4th crimped round is pushed in with those little shoulder destroyers.
Small calibers never.It seems to me it just puts extra tension on the bullet for no good reason.