Neck sized rounds VERY hard to chamber?

Silverado

Silverado

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The hard data: Win brass previously used in another rifle, loaded/fired ~ 7-8 times in that rifle.

Brass annealed, FL sized, trimmed and fired in my new to me Savage 10FP. Those 20 chambered just fine, no issue whatsoever.

Now once fired, brass neck sized, trimmed again, loaded.

Bullets seated near the lands.

Previous measurements indicate this chamber has a very short throat, and headspace is near max spec.

Cartridge base measures .469" just ahead of the head.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is a very tight chamber.

When I chambered and fired these rounds, they were VERY hard to chamber. I've never had this problem before in neck sized brass after fireforming.

FWIW, I'm sure the difficulty chambering isn't to do with the bullets jamming into the lands; there are no marks on a chambered and extracted bullet, and the resistance comes as soon as the bolt is near the chamber.

Is it likely that this chamber is so tight I will need to FL size all my brass every time?
 
Silverado said:
The hard data: Win brass previously used in another rifle, loaded/fired ~ 7-8 times in that rifle.

Brass annealed, FL sized, trimmed and fired in my new to me Savage 10FP. Those 20 chambered just fine, no issue whatsoever.

Now once fired, brass neck sized, trimmed again, loaded.

Bullets seated near the lands.

Previous measurements indicate this chamber has a very short throat, and headspace is near max spec.

Cartridge base measures .469" just ahead of the head.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is a very tight chamber.

When I chambered and fired these rounds, they were VERY hard to chamber. I've never had this problem before in neck sized brass after fireforming.

FWIW, I'm sure the difficulty chambering isn't to do with the bullets jamming into the lands; there are no marks on a chambered and extracted bullet, and the resistance comes as soon as the bolt is near the chamber.

Is it likely that this chamber is so tight I will need to FL size all my brass every time?
Click to expand...

Brass has a memory and will try to return to the previous rifle chamber dimensions, try some new brass and only fire it in your rifle.
Seven or eight loadings in another rifle could mean the brass is near its life expectancy.
 
A) I wouldn't bother to use 7-8 times fired brass

B) If you must use this brass, use a FL die, and keep adjusting die down, until brass chambers easily. If it is all the way, so be it.
 
FWIW the 7-8 times fired was neck sized only with a Lee Collet die each time...

I'll try some different brass anyway.
 
Gatehouse said:
A) I wouldn't bother to use 7-8 times fired brass

B) If you must use this brass, use a FL die, and keep adjusting die down, until brass chambers easily. If it is all the way, so be it.
Click to expand...

x2 Brass hardens as it is worked and it loses elasticity. So, it doesn't spring back much from the chamber wall. Oddly enough it was around 7 or 8 uses that I would often find it necessary to full length resize as chambering rounds got harder and harder. Naturally, when this happened was related to things like how hot the rounds were and so on. Today, I get new brass. After tryng most things I came to believe that it just wasn't worth it to try and reclaim such brass unless you were using an obsolete case. Even then I would likely consider forming the cases from other cartridges that were closely related.
 
Sounds like you need to bump the shoulder back. I usually do this after about 4-5 firings out of my neck sized brass. You can use an adjusted FL sizer or get a body die from Redding and do it that way. Or just full length resize it.
 
The reason for neck sizing only, of course, is to not work the brass too much.
However, as someone has mentioned, adjust the die down to where the case just nicely goes into the chamber. Then leave the die always at that adjustment. The brass will be expanded only very little on firing, thus will not be overworked in slightly resizing it.
Neck sizing only, is so popular and sounds so good, but in reallity it is not the be all, end all, of reloading.
With a rifle with a normal chamber, I have full length sized after every firing and the cases seemed to last just as long as the neck sizing only, I have done.
Look at it this way, what ends the life of your case? With normal, full power loading, where the primer pocket does not swell, the cases wear out because the neck cracks. The neck will eventually get a vertical crack, whether it is full length resized, or just neck sized.
 
Maybe I have"nt read it all properly, but I know that if neck sizing only you will probably need to Full length them again eventually. Try FL sizing for this loading, if you have"nt already, and then back to neck sizing next time. There"s only so much "spring" in the case and the body of the case may need resizing.
 
I've read that the reason brass that is "neck sized" in a full length sizing die that is adjusted back a bit is that the sizer ball being pulled out of a neck that is getting work hardened pulls the shoulder out a bit at the same time, so the case has in effect been slightly lengthened.
 
762shooter said:
I've read that the reason brass that is "neck sized" in a full length sizing die that is adjusted back a bit is that the sizer ball being pulled out of a neck that is getting work hardened pulls the shoulder out a bit at the same time, so the case has in effect been slightly lengthened.
Click to expand...

Lubing the neck helps prevent the pulling of the shoulder and a tapered expander ball helps too. It isn't always the shoulder that is the problem either, though it is true that alot of guys bump the shoulder back without resizing the body. But the body of the case itself loses elasticity due to the working of the brass from firing and it can eventually get tight too.
 
Silverado, had the same problem with my 300WSM. Round would not chamber easily and bolt stiff, brass from another 300WSM. Found out it was not worth the time and effort to reuse the brass. Tossed it and bought new stuff, no more chambering problems.
 
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