Help: 30-06 misfires reloads only, browning a-3???

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wjakubsky

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Hi all,

So I bought a new moose gun last year, fired a couple winchester bullets to break it in and put it away, too late for moose tag

Reloaded 100 shells that i've been collecting and every 2nd one is misfiring.

Recipe: sierra .308 190gn hpbt matchking, imr 4166 @ 44gn , 3.22" col, winchester large rifle primers seated slightly in like everything else I reload for years

Brought it over to a master reloader, and his reloads misfired too every couple also...so he clean it and varsoled it, and polish it.

Finish off the commercial winchester ammo...no problem.

Tried again with reloads, now still misfiring every 3rd or 4th shot...wtf?

Called warranty, they will not fix it if commercial ammo is firing.

Any suggestions, I had this problem with my .223 when i first started reloading because I didn't trim the shells (misunderstood the case lengths), but this is different since it does chamber?
 
Try different primers. I have had issues with CCI primers in a 7 mm mag.It looked like I was getting light firing pin strikes CCI primers seem to be very hard. Switched to federal and everything was OK
I have not tried Winchester primers.
 
I had a similar problem with full sized 7.62x39 reloads - brass was undersized, way under standard headspace. Resulted in chambering rounds deeper than firing pin can reach.... ;)

I would check the sizing die adjustment and may be try neck sizing once-fired brass.

s>
 
BTW the Sierra Match King is not a hunting bullet. Need to switch to Game kings as that is Sierra's hunting bullet. The hollow point in the Match King was not designed to expand on big game animals. It's there for an entirely different purpose. FYI
 
Some rifle chambers are a bit long and if you're full length sizing your brass a bit short it could cause light primer strikes. Its also possible you got a lot of substandard primers, this happened to me once with a brick of wolf primers that failed to light up 50% of the time.
 
Back your Full Length die out one rev and size your fired brass and load as normal.

If this ammo fires 100% it means that your brass was too sized and the shoulder got pushed back.

When you chamber your current ammo, does the rifling leave a mark on the bullet? The bullet engaging the rifling, coupled with a set back shoulder will easily cause misfires.

Please tell us how it develops. That is how we all learn, here.
 
As mentioned your brass has more than likely has had the shoulder set back too far resulting in too much headspace.


I would pull the bullets and dump the powder and resize the necks with an 8mm or 338 expander and then neck size down with your 30 calibre die to create a false shoulder so that you get a slight crush fit in your chamber. Reload the powder and bullets and fire away to push the case shoulders forward,
 
I clean all my Primer Pockets every time with a small sharpened Screwdriver. All Primers are seated bottomed out. Never had a single misfire or non fire in don't know thousands of rounds on the range or hunting dangerous Game. Btw. Been using at least 10 different Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Primers all good.

Cheers
 
OP did you adjust the die for YOUR rifle, or did you just follow the basic instructions and screw it down until it contacted the shellholder?

As others have said, you might be oversizing your brass and pushing the shoulder back too far. Can you compare your sized cases to a Once Fired case? How much difference is there in the shoulder position?
 
Thanks for all the suggestions...
1. I'll check the dimensions of the fired ones to see if the shoulder is different
2. I'll check to see if the rifling hitting the bullet
3. I'll neck size the shot ones, but will have to steal some projectiles for that
4. yes the misfired ones have light hits on them, and no the bolt was professionally cleaned to make sure it had no shipping grease left in it; no use in looking at the refired ones since it has a double strike on them

I'll post an update next week, picking up up a 4wheeler for hunting. Dam, I picked the 190gn projectile because I wanted more power in the hit; the commercial loads, 150gn, don't say their for moose, they show smaller game like pics of deer, antelope and boar on them?

I must re-iterate that my friend tried his reloads also, and was having the same problem, do you think both of us are fools and we crushed the shoulder back? Which is the most likely answer? We'll see, it was my first batch of 30-06.
 
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I let the press mount the primers after I adjust the depth...too deep, I'm mainly a hungun loader? Should I load them flush instead of in a bit?
But my friend reloaded his by hand and they still misfired...
 
Yup, likely shoulder pushed back too far, excessive headspace.
Turn sizing die out, gradually turn it in until case barely chambers.
Clean any lube out of chamber before firing. Carb cleaner and chamber size mop.
 
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