After 15 years of reloading I made a rookie mistake.

coyoteking

coyoteking

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I just got myself a second hand Kimber in 280AI. I ordered up some bullets and Nosler brass.

This morning I pulled out the brass, trimmed, chamfered and neck sized it. I ran a few pieces through a Redding body die to check for proper sizing. They went into the die so easy I didn’t even need lube. I then proceeded to load up 15 rounds for a ladder test and went off to the range.

At the range I set up my chrono and gear and settled in on the bench to begin shooting. The first round I tried to chamber the bolt would not close, even with significant force. I tried a few more rounds all to the same effect.

So it turns out I needed to bump the shoulders back 6 thousandths to get them to chamber. I’m a bit surprised I had to do this with new premium factory brass. Do Kimbers have tighter chambers than other factory rifles? This is a first for me with new brass.

Morale of the story- always check your cases in the chamber of the rifle before loading them, even with new brass.
 
Big bore dinosaur said:
My kimber m.a.280ai with factory nosler brass.
Weird ! Hate to here a fellow gunnie wasted time at the range
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A trip to the range is never wasted! I brought along a 1911 and a 223 for some fun time.

The Kimber issue was a bit frustrating though. I’ve been pretty excited for a few weeks to get load development started on this rifle for the coming deer season.I Still have lots of time for that though.
 
I always full length resize everything, even new brass, and check a few empty cases.

It's easier and safer than resizing loaded cartridges.
 
coyoteking said:
...Moral of the story- always check your cases in the chamber of the rifle before loading them, even with new brass.
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That's some of the best advice a new reloader can get. Also to check a loaded or dummy cartridge fits in the rifle before you load 100 of them.
 
Kimbers tend to have tight chambers, its something they are proud of.

When you stray into the wildcat world, and brass made for them there are many variations of reamers. It might not seem like it right now but Nosler did you a favour. You’re better off having to bump the shoulder than taking the initial stretch on the first firing.
 
coyoteking said:
I just got myself a second hand Kimber in 280AI. I ordered up some bullets and Nosler brass.

This morning I pulled out the brass, trimmed, chamfered and neck sized it. I ran a few pieces through a Redding body die to check for proper sizing. They went into the die so easy I didn’t even need lube. I then proceeded to load up 15 rounds for a ladder test and went off to the range.

At the range I set up my chrono and gear and settled in on the bench to begin shooting. The first round I tried to chamber the bolt would not close, even with significant force. I tried a few more rounds all to the same effect.

So it turns out I needed to bump the shoulders back 6 thousandths to get them to chamber. I’m a bit surprised I had to do this with new premium factory brass. Do Kimbers have tighter chambers than other factory rifles? This is a first for me with new brass.

Morale of the story- always check your cases in the chamber of the rifle before loading them, even with new brass.
Click to expand...

Recently I watched a good friend wrestle with his nice 260 same problem. An hour earlier I had exact same issue with twice fired Lapua 308 brass for my Model 1375 Wichita rifle.

Humbling....
 
Brutus said:
Recently I watched a good friend wrestle with his nice 260 same problem. An hour earlier I had exact same issue with twice fired Lapua 308 brass for my Model 1375 Wichita rifle.

Humbling....
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I had a similar problem with "once fired 6.5 cr" bought on here. Only the WW would chamber on an FL resize. My guess is only the WW was once fired. The rest, Hornady, Nosler and FC needed the shoulders bumped .004-.006 and still scraped the head stamp. Seller was adamant it as all ONCE fired from the same bolt gun(not).
 
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