hard to close the bolt

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holfeldian

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hey guys... i recently started loading for my remington 700 sps ss in 7mm rem mag and i'm having issues with closing the bolt on some of the rounds. Some of them go in nice and easy and others you have to push pretty hard... any thoughts? i've measured all of the dimensions of the brass and they seem to be the same..? bullet C.O.L will be the same and the bullet will be hard to push in the last little bit.
cheers thanks
 
Sound like you have not over camed when you did your sizing

are you using brass from someone's else rifle ?

or you are disforming your brass when you are seating your bullet
 
If your c.o.l is good (I'd try deeper seating anyways to be sure) the most likely culprit would be the shoulder hasn't been pushed back far enough on resizing. Try screwing the resizer die in a bit more and make sure the handle on the press 'cams over'. You should feel it get harder to push the lever as the shell goes into the die body and then you should feel a 'ka-chung' as the handle pivots over. If you aren't feelind that last quick lockup of the lever then you aren't totally sizing the shell and bumping the shoulder into place.
 
This is very common with new reloaders, I have had this issue myself.. You need to set the shoulders back a bit further. Try turning down your resizing die a half turn. Keep adjusting it in small increments until the brass is properly sized, it should eliminate your problem.
 
Bit of a thread derail but can you bump the shoulders back too far?
If so what is the cause and are the cases still usable after?
 
Buying and using a cartridge headspace gage for the cartridges you are reloading is a very helpful step in the die setup
and confirming correct dimensions for all the sized brass.

I discard (recycle) brass that has been sized too far. It will have excessive headspace, which is bad news if you fired it in a normal chamber.

Excessive headspace for sized brass is also easy to detect when using a cartridge headspace gage.
 
If over resized, excessive headpspace won't happen with a belted magnum case. You will likely have to deal with short life of brass, though.
 
rodregier said:
Buying and using a cartridge headspace gage for the cartridges you are reloading is a very helpful step in the die setup
and confirming correct dimensions for all the sized brass.

I discard (recycle) brass that has been sized too far. It will have excessive headspace, which is bad news if you fired it in a normal chamber.

Excessive headspace for sized brass is also easy to detect when using a cartridge headspace gage.
Click to expand...

This is how I discovered that I had bumped the shoulders back too far on about a dozen cases. Love the gauges but wish they weren't so expensive.

Did I have the dies screwed in too far?
 
On a bolt action rifle you only need to bump the shoulder back .001 to .002, on a semi-auto like the M1A or AR15 you should bump the shoulder back .003 to .004 as a basic thumb rule.

On belted cases you can have a bulge just above the belt because some resizing dies do not size far enough down the case, and this can cause hard chambering. A simple cure for this is to NOT buy rifles that have antiquated belted cases that were designed at the turn of the century for cordite powder in British Rifles.

P.S. Jack O'Conner once said the .270 Winchester was the best non-belted magnum in the world. :)

Read the link below mid page on
"Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die"

http://www.larrywillis.com/

Also notice he sells a cartridge headspace gauge so you won't bump the shoulder back too far and have case head separations.
 
If you are concerned about the cost of headspace gauges, here is an alternate [and inexpensive]
way to arrive at the same place in sizing cases.

Take a case that is tight to chamber after you have FL resized it.

Now set your FL die down only 1/16th of a turn and resize the case again.
Try it in the rifle.

If it is still tight to close the bolt, repeat the adjustment of the FL die, but only 1/16th of a turn at a time.

You repeat this, using that same "tight" case, JUST until you can feel the bolt close easily on the case.
Do NOT adjust the die any deeper after this occurs!!!!

You have now adjusted your FL die for YOUR rifle's chamber, and you will have max case life and ease of chambering.

I generally adjust my FL dies so I can just barely "feel" the drag as the bolt closes.
It works!! I have some 6mm cases that have been shot 20 times, and FL sized every time.

Keep in mind that this die setting is for your rifle only, and may not be suitable for any other rifle.

Regards, Eagleye.
 
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Eagleye said:
If you are concerned about the cost of headspace gauges, here is an alternate [and inexpensive]
way to arrive at the same place in sizing cases.

Take a case that is tight to chamber after you have FL resized it.

Now set your FL die down only 1/16th of a turn and resize the case again.
Try it in the rifle.

If it is still tight to close the bolt, repeat the adjustment of the FL die, but only 1/16th of a turn at a time.

You repeat this [using that same "tight" case, JUST until you can feel the bolt close easily on the case.
Do NOT adjust the die any deeper after this occurs!!!!

You have now adjusted your FL die for YOUR rifle's chamber, and you will have max case life and ease of chambering.

I generally adjust my FL dies so I can just barely "feel" the drag as the bolt closes.
It works!! I have some 6mm cases that have been shot 20 times, and FL sized every time.

Keep in mind that this die setting is for your rifle only, and may not be suitable for any other rifle.

Regards, Eagleye.
Click to expand...
This is the exact same advice that was given to me by a veteran handloader nearly 40 years ago when I first got going with this stuff.Hasn't let me down over the years and if there was a book of commandments for reloading this would surely be included in it.
 
One thing I have run into with my 7mm Rem. was a problem with the height of the belt. Check the difficult to chamber cases against the others and see if they have a higher belt. I use a caliper and measure from the cartridge base to the forward edge of the belt.If I have one that is too high,I use a lathe to shorten it a few thousandths.
 
Below is what I have against belted cases, below look at the diameter of the chamber just forward of the belt and the diameter of the case at the same location. The chamber can be .009 larger in diameter than the case and this is what causes the "bulge" and hard chambering. And as stated above the case belt can be longer than the belt recess in the chamber. Bottom line it is not reloader friendly in its stock factory form and a oddball from the past when cordite was placed in the cartridge and then the shoulder and neck were formed.

7mmmag_zps561b027d.jpg


Headspace_2_lg.jpg

Headspace_1_lg.jpg


The shoulder location on the British rimmed cases and belted cases was not considered critical in the good old days. The British .303 and belted cases are famous for case head separations due to their design and tolerances.

short.jpg
 
bjmurata said:
This is the exact same advice that was given to me by a veteran handloader nearly 40 years ago when I first got going with this stuff.Hasn't let me down over the years and if there was a book of commandments for reloading this would surely be included in it.
Click to expand...

This is something i have been pondering but never posted. similarly, Could i also not take a piece of brass that has been fire formed in my rifle, put it in the press and with the ram in the raised position screw in my resizing die until it touches the shoulder and maybe 1/16 of a turn more? would that not give me controlled headspace plus the benefits of full-length sizing?
 
stvnbrg said:
This is something i have been pondering but never posted. similarly, Could i also not take a piece of brass that has been fire formed in my rifle, put it in the press and with the ram in the raised position screw in my resizing die until it touches the shoulder and maybe 1/16 of a turn more? would that not give me controlled headspace plus the benefits of full-length sizing?
Click to expand...
Re-read post #12 by Eagleye,this gives you the adjustment you want for your rifle.What you really want to do is preserve that shoulder position on your case.You will be partially full length resizing your brass to some extent anyway by using this method but the idea is to not overwork it.
 
in post 12 he's talking about the case being tight even after you have full length sized or am I misunderstanding? What I'm talking about is controlling headspace even while full length sizing by adjusting your dies before resizing as opposed to after as described in post 12
 
stvnbrg said:
in post 12 he's talking about the case being tight even after you have full length sized or am I misunderstanding? What I'm talking about is controlling headspace even while full length sizing by adjusting your dies before resizing as opposed to after as described in post 12
Click to expand...
You can use the same procedure for your unresized fired brass by following the same basic idea,raise the ram,screw in your FL die until it touches the shellholder,then back off your FL die about half a turn or so.Now run your case into the die and try this partially sized case in your chamber,it probably won't fit.Screw your FL die into the press in small increments of 1/16 turn or so and repeat the process however many times you need to until you can just feel the slightest resistance on the bolt as you close it,this is where your brass is now sized to your chamber.You can use this process to size brass for your rifle from virtually any source.Hope this is clearer.
 
holfeldian said:
hey guys... i recently started loading for my remington 700 sps ss in 7mm rem mag and i'm having issues with closing the bolt on some of the rounds. Some of them go in nice and easy and others you have to push pretty hard... any thoughts? i've measured all of the dimensions of the brass and they seem to be the same..? bullet C.O.L will be the same and the bullet will be hard to push in the last little bit.
cheers thanks
Click to expand...

Another thing that nobody has covered yet, and if only some of your loaded shells are tight, I would suspect it as the culprit. The bullet grip sizing pilot on your de-primeing rod may be pulling some of the shoulders back out on your brass if they are too tight or to dry of lubricant on the stem. I will purposely apply a small dab ( very slite) of lube on the inside of the a case neck every once in a while if I feel them pulling excessivly on the removal stroke.
 
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