Are These Signs of a Tight Chamber - Cases Stuck!?!

stubblejumper said:
Which is a good indication that the problem is the hand loads,not the rifle.
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If I were also on the outside looking in, I'd tend to agree, however all my brass is within spec and my powder charges are mild.

I'm going to create some loads this week for use this weekend with a mild load of 24 gr H4895 and different types of brass. Using the same charge, some will be neck sized and others will be FL sized for experimentation.
 
As Tiriaq and others pointed, when you don't full-lenght resize the dimensions can be wrong. You should measure the diameter at the base and at the shoulder. If you don't resize enough the base may still be too large. Whenyou fire it, it goes back to "chamber dimensions". It is a similar situation than when we neck-size only for target rifles and then, after XX firings, the cases become hard to chamber. It then need a full resizing to minimal dimensions.
The headstamp (manufacturer) have no relation to this. It can happen even with Lapua cases. It is a resizing problem.
 
Alternatively, he could have a bullet interference problem. He is below the published COL, but that doesnt necessarily mean that he hasnt jammed the lands. The OP has pretty well ruled out the other variables. Perhaps the rifle has a short leade. Factory ammo is OK, but his reloads cross the line.
 
Baribal said:
As Tiriaq and others pointed, when you don't full-lenght resize the dimensions can be wrong. You should measure the diameter at the base and at the shoulder. If you don't resize enough the base may still be too large. Whenyou fire it, it goes back to "chamber dimensions". It is a similar situation than when we neck-size only for target rifles and then, after XX firings, the cases become hard to chamber. It then need a full resizing to minimal dimensions.
The headstamp (manufacturer) have no relation to this. It can happen even with Lapua cases. It is a resizing problem.
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I'm going to pick up a box of factory on my way home from work today plus I'll re-size a bunch tonight with various types of brass and break out the calipers and measure the differences compared to the factory.

I'm still left wanting for a reason why as initially mentioned in my original post FL re-sized, mild powder charged loads would fire in my brothers rifle fine while sticking in my rifle after firing. They are the same rifle other than his is blued mine is stainless. Anyone?
 
cosmic said:
He is below the published COL, but that doesnt necessarily mean that he hasnt jammed the lands.
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I am below COL. If it did touch the lands then what? Using a marker and chambering some rounds should indicate this, shouldn't it?

cosmic said:
Perhaps the rifle has a short leade. Factory ammo is OK, but his reloads cross the line.
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The marker trick should show this too?
 
Yes - It could even be beyond manufacturing tolerance ie a defect. The marker test should tell you. Alternatively, you could set a few rounds to progressively shorter OAL's to see if they bind.
 
icanuck said:
I'm still left wanting for a reason why as initially mentioned in my original post FL re-sized, mild powder charged loads would fire in my brothers rifle fine while sticking in my rifle after firing. They are the same rifle other than his is blued mine is stainless. Anyone?
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I'm still putting my money on the federal brass. Even though they are from the same manufacturer, the chambers were not cut with the same reamer. That's why all guns are different even from the same factory.

If your gun shoots factory fine, there is no "defect".
 
Did some measuring with the calipers last night. Picked up a box of Winchester FMJ on way home last night too for direct comparison and something to shoot this weekend:)

Here's some pics of the the brass:
IMG_0378.jpg

This is a smoke and marker test on the brass fired in my gun (both federal): Where the black is removed from the brass appears to bulge and the chambering of the round removed the marker and carbon seen and then stuck. I measures is .374 at the point where the carbon removal meets brass. I had to use a rod to remove it prior to measuring. This is the same brass I had to fire to extract from my original post it now sticks 3 days later!?!:confused:

I used a marker to test Winchester FMJ fed & extracted fine, as you can see in picture, marker is virtually untouched. The others are the same brass as above
IMG_0382.jpg

The unfired Win. FMJ measures .373 at the same place (1000th off from unfired)
I FL re-sized both these brass. The fired brass before re-size measured 1.750, re-sized brass measures 1.745 and feeds and extracts fine!

So...is 1000th of an inch of diameter at the base of the brass near the head the given play room for in a chamber? This is pretty small.

Comments?

I'm going to create some RP using unfired brass tonight and will see how they do after firing this weekend. And see if all this is just because of the Federal brass...:redface:
 
That area at the bottom of the brass is the expansion ring. It's there to allow the case to expand in the event the pressure is very high and the brass needs to go somewhere.

The marker test looks normal except... I see longitudinal streaking in the marker and black paint. Is this from application or do you have a rough chamber?

Also, it could be the shadow, but the fired necks don't look straight to me. Is the chamber crooked? Try rolling a case and see if the neck appears to wobble.
 
I was having a some what similar expierence with my stevens 200 223 rem,,some what though! when doing some load development for my rifle,,my handloads whould chamber perfectly,shoot perfectly.retract perfectly,,,I then would neck size them,load them,then try to chamber them,the bolt would almost fully chamber and when I tried to retract them the bolt was extremely stiff trying to retract the round.So I just thought my round's were near max and my brass stretched to much and I would have to full length resize every time.then the last time I was at the range and shot my hand loads,that shot and retracted perfectly,,brought them home, and before resizing them I tried to rechamber them,,and wouldn't you know it,,the same results,almost chamber and bolt stuck when I tried to retract them.I then thought maybe my chamber was not round,,and fireformed my brass would not fit unless it was chambered exactly the way it was retracted...
Then I figured it out,,when I cleaned my rifle chamber,I always just used the patches to clean my chamber,but thought my chamber might need a good scrub,so I used a 7mm bore brush to clean it AND all is well.It was just a little carbon build up causing my heart ache,,I'm gonna start brushing my chamber everytime now,,lol
 
I got out this weekend with the f**king gun. The hand loads regardless of brass type got stuck in the chamber after firing. That wasn't all that surprising. But the kicker here is the fact that 2 of the 20 factory Winchester rounds also stuck in the chamber after firing. Needless to say I'm gonna get a hold of the vendor. Thanks for all the input folks.
 
Update

Got a PM from the smith a few days ago. It was a rough cut chamber from the factory. It was polished and tested by the smith and he reports all is now fine with numerous brands of ammo. He put the spent brass from his testing in the box he's sending it back to me in and tells me there is a big difference with the ones I had sent him illustrating the problem. I'll be expecting it sometime next week and will be taking it to the range a soon as is possible to play.
 
I took it to the range a few times since getting it back and all is good. It's a real keeper. I'll be at EOHC working up a load this coming Sunday on Father's day. Looking forward...

Thanks to all who gave their advice.
 
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