Bolt hard to pull back

[Ahhnother8]

The friction point will be just above the extractor groove in the brass. That is why you can lift the bolt but not pull it back. If the case was too long, it would force the bolt open once the lugs cleared. Even if an unfired round is too long, you can typically use the camming power of the bolt to close it, and after firing, the case will be shorter and eject easily.

Overpressure OR need to small-base size the brass.

[Cookie91/38]

Thanks a lot guys. I will try camming over, and if that doesn't work then drop the charge or buy a small base die.

[dave225]

whats the primer look like
maybe a picture of the case after marking and a picture of the primer would help
agreed overpressure sounds about right

[baih777]

You don't need a small base die for PPU brass. I have been using it all year. Reloaded the same brass about 8 times now. F/L die is OK. I think overcamming is your answer. I do that to mine. Spend your money on a Dillion case gauge. Saves you a lot of headaches.

[krwada]

Did you trim your brass? Did you measure the trim length?

Improper trimming will do this with rifle loads.

Full length sizing will inevitably work the brass to longer lengths ... then when you fire some ... the case length being too long will cause this symptom. The problem is it will not be consistent ... some will extract OK ... some will be difficult to extract.

Proper trimming is essential for safe rifle rounds.

[Faded]

My PPU loads with IMR 4064 is 40.6. With Federal brass I do 42.2. The PPU was over pressured for me at that same load with sticking bolts as well.

[Cookie91/38]

My PPU loads with IMR 4064 is 40.6. With Federal brass I do 42.2. The PPU was over pressured for me at that same load with sticking bolts as well.

Oh wow thats really helpful. Was the lift hard to or just the pull? Was it on every round?

[Cookie91/38]

Did you trim your brass? Did you measure the trim length?

Improper trimming will do this with rifle loads.

Full length sizing will inevitably work the brass to longer lengths ... then when you fire some ... the case length being too long will cause this symptom. The problem is it will not be consistent ... some will extract OK ... some will be difficult to extract.

Proper trimming is essential for safe rifle rounds.

Im using a LE Wilson case trimmer and they are all coming out evenly in length, and seem even. Is it easy to trim unevenly? And is 2.008 a good trim length? Or do I have to trim to 2.005?

[Jeymz]

+1 on camming over. I experienced the same issues in my early reloading days and had to bump the shoulders back. Also do you have a 308 case gage? If not, I would invest in one.

[baih777]

this is what I was referring to. 308 case guage.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/880646/le-wilson-case-length-headspace-gage-308-winchester

I use a Dillon but it measures at the shoulder.

[J-cat]

Maybe he shod first figure out where the case is sticking? It cold be his sizer die is not sizing the diameter of the casehead enough. I had a sticky case issue after 5x with Winchester brass. I measured the case head. It was springing back too much. Got a small base die. Problem solved.

Don't tell him to cam over. If his shoulder position was the problem he would have a hard time chambering a round, not extracting the round.

Measure a sized case and compare it to a fired case. See where it is sticking. I bet it's somewhere on the case wall near the extractor groove.

[krwada]

Win .308 case trimming

Im using a LE Wilson case trimmer and they are all coming out evenly in length, and seem even. Is it easy to trim unevenly? And is 2.008 a good trim length? Or do I have to trim to 2.005?

If you are using the Wilson case trimmer ... then trim length is not a problem for you. 2.008" for Win .308 is fine.

The only thing I can think that can do this is overpressure. Do you get the bolt extraction problem when you use the lower charge weights? This is an indication of overpressure.

Overpressure will be different with different brass ... as others on this forum have pointed out.

This is one of the reasons why it is good to test rifle loads using the same headstamp and to work up accordingly ... especially for rifle.

[popeye4]

If the cartridges are chambering without effort, it most likely isn't a sizing/headspace problem.

I'm guessing this is an overpressure issue. I don't know how the case capacity of PPU brass compares to the baseline case used in developing the load recipe, but perhaps measuring the water volume of the case might shed some light. Weigh an empty case (with spent primer still intact) and then fill with water and weigh again. This will give you the internal volume of the case in grains of water (I know, that's mass and not volume, but one is directly proportional to the other). Smaller case capacity will lead to higher pressures with the same powder charge.

This thread provides some baseline info. http://www.700rifle.com/forum/20-han...ral-brass.html

Bottom line: if you're seeing evidence of excessive pressure (sticky bolt on extraction is pretty classic), back off your load a bit.

[Cookie91/38]

I will try and back the load to 40.6 like the above poster, because even at 41.7 it was still sticking.

[bigedp51]

Cookie91/38

What make rifle are you having this problem with?

1. Lifting the bolt straight up is called "primary extraction" and should break the case free from the chamber and move the case slightly to the rear.

2. Secondary extraction is then pulling the bolt all the way to the rear.

If the primary extraction is not timed correctly it does not totally break the cartridge free from the chamber walls. And this makes secondary extraction difficult.

This happens a lot with Savage rifles, so if you have a Savage rifle your load may have nothing to do with your extraction problem.