Difficult closing my bolt on reloads
- Thread starter buckmaster87
- Start date
Your shoulder is not being push back enough on your resize, likely. You can check by trying to chamber you resized brass before you load them. If they are tight turn your die in and resize again. I usually go about 1/4 turn turn at a time.
A number of possibilities exist, we need more info..
- is brass new or fired?, if fired, how often & was it in your rifle.
- how are you resizing?, f.l., neck, or collet.
- are your bullets seated jammed into rifling?
Once we know how you built your loads, many here can diagnose the problem.
Just as Gringo said,
Make sure you are camming over your press correctly. I had this problem before and it turned out I wasn't screwing the sizing die in far enough into the press. I'm talking a little bit here not a lot, just enough for the press to cam over a tiny bit on the die.
Make sure you are camming over your press correctly. I had this problem before and it turned out I wasn't screwing the sizing die in far enough into the press. I'm talking a little bit here not a lot, just enough for the press to cam over a tiny bit on the die.
burnt_servo
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- right in the middle of b.c.
2 things could be happening here , firstly you may not be sizing enough of the case .....
OR
when i first started reloading , 30-06 was the first caliber i started with , and for the life of me i couldn't figure out why the cases where either hard to close the bolt on , or imposible to close the bolt on .
i wasn't using enough lube , and i was resizing too deeply , slightly pushing the shoulder back AND ever so slightly bulging the corner of the shoulder out wards .
other possible issues , what case length are you trimming your cases to ?
and how far are your bullets away from the rifling ?
if the cases have been previously fired in the same rifle , you should be able to get away with nothing more than neck sizing 2/3's to 3/4's of the length of the neck ( and not even come close to to touching the shoulder ) and feel nothing more than a slightly " snug " bolt on closing .
hope this helps some
Lots of valid reasons given, but I think you people have missed a common cause of why the bolt won't close.
Very often it's because of over crimping. I don't even know if you are crimping, it is not necessary on a 270, but if you are, I'll bet you are forcing the crimp, which will bulge the shoulder. You mentioned bulging the shoulder on sizing, but I don't think this can happen.
Back your seating die out enough that it is not crimping, and try it.
Very often it's because of over crimping. I don't even know if you are crimping, it is not necessary on a 270, but if you are, I'll bet you are forcing the crimp, which will bulge the shoulder. You mentioned bulging the shoulder on sizing, but I don't think this can happen.
Back your seating die out enough that it is not crimping, and try it.
burnt_servo
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- right in the middle of b.c.
Shoulder bulge can happen, a dry case heavily resized, maybe old hard necks, big chamber/small die. Hell, just this spring a friend managed to buckle a couple with his lee collet die. Must have rammed it up hard without a case in the shellholder and closed the collet fingers too far. I get a few when necking 8mm up to 9.3 with not enough lube in the neck.
Buckmaster, you should be able to locate your problem by smoking a dummy round and gently chamber/extract. Close inspection will show you where it's tight.
Buckmaster, you should be able to locate your problem by smoking a dummy round and gently chamber/extract. Close inspection will show you where it's tight.
Max Owner
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I personally had 2 problems. One corrected and the other will be corrected for next reloading.
Bullet not seated in far enough giving me a too long of Case Overall Length (COAL).
My primers weren't seated all the way. About .005" sticking out by using an RCBS hand primer contraption. Not sure if this caused me as much grief as the COAL thing.
Bullet not seated in far enough giving me a too long of Case Overall Length (COAL).
My primers weren't seated all the way. About .005" sticking out by using an RCBS hand primer contraption. Not sure if this caused me as much grief as the COAL thing.
To full length size the case, set die so it hits the shell holder. This will probably solve your problem.
On a bolt rifle, I tend it almost FL size the case, so that there is a slight resistance as the bolt is closed.
In the mean time, put a little dab of grease on the bolt locking lugs and on the camming surface that cloases the bolt the last little bit.
On a bolt rifle, I tend it almost FL size the case, so that there is a slight resistance as the bolt is closed.
In the mean time, put a little dab of grease on the bolt locking lugs and on the camming surface that cloases the bolt the last little bit.
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Not sure I understand what your saying cooner.
Just how does feeding affect bolt locking?.
Buckmaster, its easy to pinpoint the tight spot by smoking your dummy round and chambering it. May take a couple tries but you'll soon see what needs to be done for that sweet "barely there" bolt close that denotes zero headspace.
I understand what cooner is trying to point out. If the bolt action is controlled feed with a claw extractor and Buckmaster87 is feeding the rounds in by hand rather than having the bolt picking the round off the magazine, then it will be hard to close the bolt, because the extractor has to be forced over the rim of the casing. If on the other hand it's push feed and Buckmaster87 is feeding the rounds in by hand, then the bolt will close without any issue, because simply put, it's a push feed.
I definately agree with the above statement, but does the bulge not occur on the bottom edge of the shoulder, and if so would it not be impossible to even to fit the loaded round in the chamber, much less try to close the bolt.
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buckmaster87
Member
I think ive found the problem, i did some troubleshooting and after ive resized my cases ( im using a fl die ) i tried chambering each piece of brass and lo and behold its difficult to chamber them so i think it has something to do with the brass. What do i do now? im using brass that has been fired in my rifle, ive check my primers and all are seated correctly
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
I took to just resizing the necks of my 308 brass since I had so much trouble resizing the brass. Don't know if that's an option for you but works fine in my M88.
If you take one of these resized cases and rerun it on the press, does the shellholder come up far enough to touch the bottom of the die? It sounds like the case is not quite being "full length resized" because of your die setting. Check the die instructions first for proper die adjustment. Then check that the resized brass is not too long. It may need trimming. Other than something seriously not right with a die it will likely be one of these two things.
If your die is set too far the other way then the problem that H4831 described could give you grief. You can see whether a crimp has taken place or not.
If your die is set too far the other way then the problem that H4831 described could give you grief. You can see whether a crimp has taken place or not.
TargetNorth
Regular
- Location
- Southern Alberta
I've bulged shoulders from resizing. The bullets looked fine until I looked close, then I couldn't believe I didn't notice it earlier. The shoulders were bulged out enough that they would go in maybe half way(?) and would net come back out. I had to use a rod to push the one out, and they I used a bullet puller to pull all the bullets...
The worst part? I accidentally let them get mixed in with my brass and reloaded them again...
After I pulled them the second time I just threw them out.
