can't close bolt on round

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Pinard

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Ok so here is my problem... reloaded some 308 ammo with federal brass (I know it's not the best but it's what I have at the moment.)
I shoot it with a remington 700 VTR.. bone stock.

Here is where I can't figure what's up. load the first round, goes bang and no problem to be seen. Load next round, bolt won't fully close on it. I remove the round, seak for obstruction but path all clear. try again, can't close the bolt. Remove round, try another one, bolt closes. Overall on 30 rounds 5 of the prevented the bolt to close fully.

the OAL of the rounds are 2,695in on paper... they are all between 2,690 and 2,699 in reality. what I can't understand is that some of the rounds that won't chamber are 2,692 and the ones at 2,695+ work fine.

All casings have been resized with a full resize die

Can't figure what happens with the bad ones! anyone knows what ?

EDIT: yes the casings have been trimmed down to 308 specs, bullets are seated right and primers are also seated right
 
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How about your case lengths? If brass is too long, it would hit end of chamber, with a couple tries, the neck might be getting squashed down enough to close the bolt??
 
1. Did you measure the length of just the brass? It might have to be trimmed back. Brass will stretch after you shoot it

2. Is the primer all the way in? if it is not flush that could be the problem.

3. no idea and would like to hear what the issue is
 
I would check the bullet runout (off axis) with a concentricity gauge. If runout is too important, the cartridge won't chamber and if you look carefully, you may see a mark on the bullet where it hits the troat. I saw that problem many times at the range. Since you full resized the brass, I would assume the shoulder has been bumped back properly and that is not your problem. If runout is important, you can see it if you roll the cartridge on a flat surface, the tip of the bullet will wobble.
 
I was at the range yesterday and a buddy was shooting is Ruger precision with hand loads of .308. There were two rounds that would not allow him to also close the bolt. He also did a FL and used a cage gauge to check for chambering.

I tried the round on my Savage 10TR with the same result. This is interesting about bullet run out and not being centered. Interesting to see a similar issue crop up.
 
Potashminer said:
How about your case lengths? If brass is too long, it would hit end of chamber, with a couple tries, the neck might be getting squashed down enough to close the bolt??
Click to expand...

cases have been trimmed down

spatrick said:
I would check the bullet runout (off axis) with a concentricity gauge. If runout is too important, the cartridge won't chamber and if you look carefully, you may see a mark on the bullet where it hits the troat. I saw that problem many times at the range. Since you full resized the brass, I would assume the shoulder has been bumped back properly and that is not your problem. If runout is important, you can see it if you roll the cartridge on a flat surface, the tip of the bullet will wobble.
Click to expand...

I doubt it but eh.. I'll check it out!

Gnome75 said:
1. Did you measure the length of just the brass? It might have to be trimmed back. Brass will stretch after you shoot it

2. Is the primer all the way in? if it is not flush that could be the problem.

3. no idea and would like to hear what the issue is
Click to expand...

check above

hawk-i said:
I'd check to see if the primer is fully seated first.
Click to expand...

going to do this
 
Maybe to help you trouble shoot - take a jiffy marker with you next time out - if you get another one, colour it all over solid color and then see where the color gets rubbed / scratched off.
 
ok so primers are well seated. also run axis looks fine when I roll the round the tip doesn't wobble. I'm really wondering what the heck is wrong.. my bet is the casing must be at fault but still... there must be a reason for that.
 
Pinard said:
ok so primers are well seated. also run axis looks fine when I roll the round the tip doesn't wobble. I'm really wondering what the heck is wrong.. my bet is the casing must be at fault but still... there must be a reason for that.
Click to expand...

No marks on the case or bullet?
 
Take the rounds that won't chamber and remove the decapping pin and turn the full size die another 1/8 turn , lube and resize the and check to see if it chambers. Note if you can remove the firing pin first, that would be good
 
Pinard said:
no .. no mark for trying to chamber them.



IIRC once fired brass I bought online bought that like 8 months ago can't recall where. got them from a sponsor I think
Click to expand...

It could be they were fired from an AR 10 and stretched like a mother f..k so you might need to turn in the sizer die more till the chamber closes. No big deal.
 
I would say you did not resize them enough. Some of them may have been fired in oversized chamber. Turn your sizing die in another 1/8 of a turn and resize the ones that wouldn't chamber then check them in your rifle if the bolt will close on them before you reload them.
 
I bought once fired 762x51 from a site sponsor which I had planned to use in my SpringField super match. Let me tell you that I had one hell of a time resizing them to fit. Brass is great but you should run them threw a small base die first and I'm sure your issue will go away
 
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