.308 load development

wce323078

wce323078

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Well I loaded up some .308 using the following items. Hornady 180gr interlock BTSP #3072 (what I had on Hand) Powder IMR 4895 Primer CCI 200 case WW 1 fired. So I started out with a starting load from the Hornady book (9th edition)
35.0gr and worked my way up to 37.5gr.So this morning I went to the range with my Savage FCP-K and all my gear and sat down to see what was what. first shot not bad placement and speed was about 2113 but very hard extraction. no signs of pressure so shot a second one of the same load extraction was normal. went on to the next load .5gr more normal went till I reached 36.5 and first load was hard extraction no signs of pressure other then the extraction tried a couple more at that load extraction normal but on 4th round hard extraction no other signs of pressure. I measured all the case heads when I got home and they all seem to be in the .470 +or-.002. So I am kind of at a loss to explain this other then a very tight chamber and the cases have a few marks but nothing that a finger nail will catch on. One thing with this rifle is when I first got it I had to send it out for warranty as after 4 shots I couldn't extract shells until rifle cooled of. I have no idea what they did with it but till now no extraction issues. so now what. Only thing I can think of is load an other batch and try them in my Savage BA in .308. OAL was same as factory 180 2.740. Any thoughts or have I forgotten something?
 
You say it was 1 fired brass? Was it fired from that rifle and neck sized? If it was fired from another rifle and not full-sized back to spec, you could have extraction/feed issues.

Also, did you leave any cleaner or oil on the chamber? That can cause brass to stick after firing due to the increase in pressure.
 
The Brass was fired in this rifle, It was full length sized and trimmed to the recommended length. I have gotten a hold of Savage Canada and found out what the warranty people did to it for the hard extraction when rifle was new. They just reset the headspace. I have since done some measuring and other testing it seems most of my issue seems to involve the brass. some will be really hard to extract and some are normal. measuring shows maybe .001 difference in between the cases. What I don't under stand is after getting rifle back from Grech (the warranty people) it was good for about maybe 200 rounds then this. I agree with Ganderite about polishing but I think there is maybe more to it then that. To give you an idea about what is going on this is what I found today. I fired 10 rounds of Federal American Eagle 150grain FMJ boat-tail and got this # 1 very hard extraction (beat on bolt handle) # 2and#3 normal extraction. #4 hard extraction but not beating on bolt, #5 beating on bolt #6.7,8 normal #9 hard #10 normal. I then Fired 10 reloads starting at 37.0 of CFE-223 in pairs of 2 #1 pair hard #2 pair 37.5 normal, #3 pair 38.0 normal #4 pair 38.5 tight but not hard #5 pair 39.0 Hard. Some of the time I waited after the initial try to open bolt and let it cool for maybe a min and could get it to extract. So My feeling is chamber issues depending on Brass. Plus I measured for freebore the best that I could and there seems to be very little, with a 180 grain in the lands and closing a unresized case in chamber I get oal length of 2.808. with a max cartridge length of 2.810 don't seem like much.. Anyway I spoke to Savage Canada and they want it back to be looked at on their dime so off it will go. Sure hope it is less than a year this time.
 
I thought of that I had cleaned it a while ago and greased the bolt lugs. Before taking it out I used a chamber brush with patchs wrapped around it and a little brakekleen.=PrecisionLongshot;12607981]You say it was 1 fired brass? Was it fired from that rifle and neck sized? If it was fired from another rifle and not full-sized back to spec, you could have extraction/feed issues.

Also, did you leave any cleaner or oil on the chamber? That can cause brass to stick after firing due to the increase in pressure.[/QUOTE]
 
Ganderite said:
If it was my rifle I would polish the chamber.
Click to expand...

well the tale is on going. Sent the rifle back to warranty center And it just came back ( must be a record was only gone a month) Had a note in the shipping case polished chamber fired 20 rounds all good. So first chance I get I reinstall scope and off to range. 1st round no extraction Had to cycle bolt about 20 times and it came out, this went on for the whole box of Factory ammo. So I am not impressed at all with the warranty center. Question now is where to I go from here? It may be a primary extraction issue, but I have tried the feeler gauge thing and that don't seem to work. I await word from Savage Canada. but welcome any input from the knowledgeable people here on CGN. Thanks
 
Ganderite Rifle had factory base on it when Grech had it. I have fired 100 to 150 rounds with that base with no problems before. It had a Near base and Near screws on it for last little bit. and nothing indicating anything touching for either. It seems to be a chamber issue. I Reinstalled factory base before returning for warranty. One thing is new this rifle had chamber issues after 3 to 4 rounds would not extract till action cooled off. It went to warranty center Grech outdoors in Ontario for that and all they did was reset headspace or that's what the repair order said. So has a history of tight chamber. The report I got in a note from Grech was polished chamber, fired 20 rounds all good. Straight out of box installed scope of to range and first round (factory) no extraction. and same for all 20 rounds from box. So unless this rifle don't like Federal American Eagle and Remington don't know what else to try. I thing chamber was cut with worn out reamer and is to tight, need a lot more polishing or touchup with new reamer if such a thing is possible. Or new Barrel.
That's what I am going to push with Savage when I hear from them. note seems like they didn't clean barrel very good after polish had all kinds of crap in there.
 
You are just not thinking things through.
Looks like Ganderite nailed it and you virtually proved him right---"Ganderite Rifle had factory base on it when Grech had it. I have fired 100 to 150 rounds with that base with no problems before-----"
Then you put another base on and problems start.
People who figure things out on their own would have loosened the new screws off a half turn, to see if that was the trouble, which it likely is.
 
Gentlemen I have checked all that. very front screw hole is into barrel threads as you can see them before installing rail. Rear Front screw is in locking lug area and is at least 2 turns from end of threaded hole rear screws are into the bridge at rear of action they are at least 4 turns from coming through. Also I have shot this with the Near rail at least for 50 shots before this problem showed up. tried to take a picture of the chamber and the screw holes to show but it is extremely difficult. View attachment 56930
 
AS you might be able to see chamber looks fairly rough and top picture tried to show rear front screw hole with no screw threads showing next two are the rear mount holes with no screw threads showing. so what does that leave?
 
It fails with factory ammo?
Send it back for warranty until it works.

I would forget about any reloads until factory ammo works flawless.
 
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