can't close bolt on round

What dies and shell holder are you using? I had a similiar problem with .243 and found that even when the press had completely finished its stroke some rounds had a hard time chambering. Also could be neck thickness but that seems unlikely with factory 308 brass.
 
I will vote for the sizing die not being adjusted down enough. The need for small base dies is also a possible thought.

One other thing that occurs to me is that you have been sold "once fired" brass that has actually been fired enough times for the brass to have flowed into the necks and thickened the walls so that seating a bullet swells them and preventing chambering.
Measuring diameter in different places or colouring with the marker might be a good idea to help figure it out.
 
Do you have a case gauge or another rifle you can try these in? Remington chambers are typically very generous but you never know...

Also: does your rifle chamber factory ammunition reliably?
 
First of all, did you try chambering a box of commercial ammo? Did they chamber without problems? If they did, you may have a case of tolerances working against you, i.e. tight chamber and looser than average full size sizing die. Also, is your sizing die screwed down far enough that your press has to slightly "toggle over" the cam link? If all else fails, try a small base sizing die.
 
yes the rifle chambers various factory ammunition without any issue being federal or remington ammo, normal and match ammo.

I'll try resizing them when I find the time and try that again. I'll post the result here for anyone that might run into the same trouble.
 
This time, when you size them again, try them in the rifle before loading...........I have run into this exact problem and with cases fired from my rifle. Some of my top end test loads were obviously hotter than the others, so I took a batch of fired brass including these fired test loads brass, and set my die so I could just feel the case when closing the bolt. Well this set up was not using the higher pressured brass, just the luck of the draw, and even though I usually try 5 or so just to be sure my die set up is good, the ones from the upper end test loads would not chamber.........46 of the 50 were fine, but 4 would not allow the bolt to close, (I use 4 cases per load when test loading)..........lesson learned. If I pressure up during test loading, I mark the cases rather than just dump them in with my fired brass now and I make sure these marked cases get the special run through to be certain they will chamber after sizing.
 
Not all of it might be once fired. If the case is hardened it will not resize down to your chamber size. I would resize all of it and do a chamber check before refilling with primers and powder. Cull the hard ones and experiment with annealing. Annealing softens the brass so it will resize easily.
Next I question if you crimped the bullet in? Some over-crimp and end up with a bulge under the shoulder. I never crimp a 308 unless it is for a lever gun.
Compare the un-chambered rounds with your reloading manual brass spec's.
 
Thanks roadcarver for posting this up. I think I have solved my particular mystery. Short version: Headspace

Longer version: I am using store purchased once-fired brass 308WIN (PMC head stamp) and after reload with my Lee Turret Press, OAL is 2.795". Using a Lyman case gauge, I *thought* that I made certain all my casings were within length and headspace (measured from shoulder datum line to back of case) after a full length resize, but, upon checking the two rounds that would not load, I can now measure the head space as 0.012" beyond the gauge. I am not sure if the case needs annealing or just my oversight. I will be now checking head space again after reload is done...just to be sure.
 
tigrr said:
Not all of it might be once fired. If the case is hardened it will not resize down to your chamber size. I would resize all of it and do a chamber check before refilling with primers and powder. Cull the hard ones and experiment with annealing. Annealing softens the brass so it will resize easily.
Next I question if you crimped the bullet in? Some over-crimp and end up with a bulge under the shoulder. I never crimp a 308 unless it is for a lever gun.
Compare the un-chambered rounds with your reloading manual brass spec's.
Click to expand...

I am not setup for annealing and have absolutely zero knowledge in that.

I don't crimp, I shoot out of a bolt action and feed every round directly in the chamber so I don't crimp after the bullet seating.
 
I've only had this issue appear in 2 ways....one was a round nose bullet that didn't have consistent ogives, ones that didnt chamber easily did once the bullets were seated a bit deeper, did it at the range so no doubt about that cause/cure.
Other was an over size base which didn't get sized properly due to trying "partial neck sizing" with a FL die.
 
Your problem is in the resizing of the brass, this can be overcome by shortening the die by 0.020. Try one of these brass (in the chamber) with the bullet and powder removed, won't fit?? go back to resizing until the brass fits with NO resistance. Problem solved. The brass you bought may have been shot in different rifles.
 
The brass you bought may have been once-fired- or not. Sellers lie.

Rather than fooling around with questionable brass it may be worthwhile to buy new brass and move on.

In the short term, crush and toss the five offending brass and focus on the cases that chambered.
 
Mauser98 said:
The brass you bought may have been once-fired- or not. Sellers lie.

Rather than fooling around with questionable brass it may be worthwhile to buy new brass and move on.

In the short term, crush and toss the five offending brass and focus on the cases that chambered.
Click to expand...

was bought from a sponsor here but yeah ... was my plan to buy new brass once the federal wears out... wich will be soon because their brass is #### anyway.
 
Pinard, you were doing well until you drank the koolaid. Nothing wrong with Federal brass. Pro'lly your "once fired" isn't, or it was fired in a chamber somewhat larger than your rifle's.

To me, the minor savings of buying someone else's used brass, versus buying a bag of one hundred, or even popping off a couple of boxes of factory ammo to provide a benchmark for your handloads, is false economy. I admit I did it once, from a company owned by an occasional poster here. On close examination - because I had the devil's own time processing them - some had even been fired enough to have cracks on the case mouths - they were .45 ACP. Primers of some were deformed from extraction from a FA, some were crumpled, and so on. Oh, I eventually got 8 or 900 usable cases out of a thou, and stuffed through my Dillon for IPSC practice nights, but that was my last purchase of "once fired." I like to know where my components come from. Normally, P&D!
 
When you say the bolt won't close, what pressure are you putting on it? Some times they have to be a little persuaded. I'm not saying rubber hammer time but a little extra pull to close the bolt. Then after they go bang, they are sized to your chamber.
I have annealed then resized some 6.5-284 lapua brass and shot it 4 times just neck sizing it and the 5th reload takes a little extra oomph to close the bolt. Then anneal, full length resize and the process continues.
 
If your bolt locking lugs are lubed (they should be lubed before every shooting session) you can push the bolt closed if the bolt engages part way.

To solve the problem:

I have posted this so often, I should make a copy of it. To full length size, the die has to hit the shell holder. Adjust the die down so it touches and then give it a full rev more. This will stop the ram from caming over and when it hits the shell holder you will know you have all the sizing the die has to offer. This should solve the problem.
 
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