308 bolt and semi auto

[purple]

Your load is way too hot for a 180gr bullet. 4895/4064 are an excellent choice with 150/165gr bullets for deer. As pointed out, the action needs to be kept squeaky clean and pay particular attention to scrubbing the chamber with a suitable size brush. I've dealt with several 740 rifles where the extractor would tear thru the case head leaving the case stuck in the chamber. This problem was due to a badly fouled chamber.

 

[Ganderite]

I guess this is what I should have asked for here...can I have the full load data from a Hornady manual for 180gr SST boat tail please. I always use load data but it varies considerably...

Here is the 180 gr page from a Hornady book. It shows 41 gr of 4895 as Max. If your ammo is 44 gr, I am not surprised rifle does not function.

4895 is a good choice of powder.

I suggest you load 3 each of 39, 40 and 41 and shoot them for group and function.

Make sure you let the barrel cool between 3 shot tests.

If the rifle is clean and the bolt is lubed, all 3 loads should function perfectly. Just choose the one that groups best.

 

[stubblejumper]

Loading 308 win 180gr Hornady SSTs. (Speer Boattail but I doubt that matters)
So here's the deal...I'm gonna be as detailed as possible in case someone can help me. I went out today to sight in my rifle for deer season and it's malfunctioning. It's a rem7400 (I know it's not a great gun...but moving on) semi auto. it's ejecting fine but not chambering the next round. when i manually stroke the bolt it works fine.
I don't shoot my hunting rifles much...I remember loading up these cartridges last year before deer season. They are 180gr SSTs over 44gr of IMR4895. I don't remember working up the load but they were labelled and I've pulled the bullets on 4 to check. I'll note here that it's definitely a compressed charge...the powder barely wants to come out of the cases and when I reseat the bullets I can hear it crunching the powder down. I fired at least 6 to 10 through the rifle...it ejected most of them...1 or 2 failed to eject fully...I don't think it ever chambered the next round.

I came home checked out the rifle...I had cleaned the barrel last week so I though maybe I clogged the gas ports...now I don't think that's the issue. I checked load data:
hodgdon/IMR website says min load is 40.5 and max load is 44.7 for a 180gr bullet and notes that is a compressed load
an old reloading manual I have says min 38, max 42.5
the current lyman manual says about the same...max 42.5 for sure, I forget min.

I checked the cases...I'm not experienced to know pressure signs for sure but the primers are definitely flattened a little. When I knocked them out they had rims where they'd flattened against the bolt face.

So my question is this...do I go up to the 44.7 or down? I feel like the issue is definitely that the bolt is not going back far enough to strip the next round from the mag and it makes me want to up the powder but...can excess powder/pressure cause this issue?

I'm wondering if excess pressure is bulging the cases and impeding the ejection. I can't effective check that now...I tried running the fired cases through the gun and several definitely "stuck" but I also fired my bolt gun today so I don't know which went through each gun...lots of fail here guys I know but maybe I can get some thoughts.

So you ended up loading 44gr, what did you start with to work up to 44gr?

 

[Necroman99]

So thank you everyone for your help...here's where we stand...not the most satisfying end but with deer season approaching and busy work life this is it till next spring.

Based on excellent help and input here I gave gun another good clean...paid attention to chamber, bolt and "receiver" area where bolt rides to make sure they were clean and lightly lubed. Cleaned gas area with clp and then wiped it as dry as I could. Made up these same bullets... 38gr, 39gr, 40gr and 41gr

all functioned

So I sighted it in with factory winchester ammo (cause I was out of handloads) which also worked flawlessly an came home.



Thanks again guys.