Really big problem .

K

Kazman1960

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I have a really big problem and need advice .

I have just sterted to reload . I have various rifles that i try re-loads for with mixed results . .243, .308, 30-06 , .338 Lapua and , lastly .50 BMG .

Here's the issue's i have been having , 30-06 Beneli semi , relaods are not ejecting , .338 Lapua , i have an MT shell stuck in the breach .

Bolt is still in the forward possition but will not pull back .

Now , lastly and the biggest problem , .50 BMG , this one has a live round stuck in the breach , bolt is in the forward possition with the bolt handle in 2.00 o clock

possition . Bolt Handle will not lock down , bolt will not come back !!!! .

I took a chance and pulled the trigger ( as i was scarred s@%$@)s ) about transporting the rifle home with a live round in it !!! After pulling the trigger and nothing

happened , i felt a little easier , i put the trigger lock into place and now , its in the safe . What am i doing wrong ? I measured the factory loads , my completed bullet

lengths are all within 000's of an milli meter , whats going wrong ?

How the heck am i going to get the live round out the 50 Cal ???

HELP !!!
 
With the 50 it almost sounds like a sizing issue, although it could be in the lands, but then he should have been able to cam the bolt closed.

Are your 30-06 loads on the light side? That could explain why it isn't ejecting the spent brass.

As skhunter stated, the stuck 338 sounds like too hot of a load.
 
Some people have had problems with Hornady 338 Lapua brass sticking in the chamber especially in Savage rifles, is it Hornady brass?
 
Thanks for the replys .

The semi was reloaded with new brass , it is Winchester brand , likely , a little too light on the powder .

As for the 338 , i was kind of worried about going to hot , so i checked and double checked each load , even then i went on the low side .

I'm still kinda of in a bind though on how to get the stuck case out of the 338 and get the live round out of the .50 .

Is it safe to "tap " a live round onto the bolt ? the firing pin is in the fired possition .
 
I took a chance and pulled the trigger
Click to expand...

In reloading it is never wise to Just take a chance. You need to find a mentor locally to help get you going.If you can't find a mentor then you need to completely spell out each problem you have from start to finish, and include all components and steps you performed to get you in the pickle your in. Then maybe we can help.
 
NShunter1254 said:
In reloading it is never wise to Just take a chance. You need to find a mentor locally to help get you going.If you can't find a mentor then you need to completely spell out each problem you have from start to finish, and include all components and steps you performed to get you in the pickle your in. Then maybe we can help.
Click to expand...
Well i thought it best to squeeze the trigger , that way , if the round was to fire , it would (a) at least gone off , ( b) i wouldn't of felt comfortable putting the rifle back in my truck with a loaded round in it and "hot" to fire , so , i took the chance and sqeezed the trigger to see if it was going to fire . With no fire ,. trigger lock was then placed in possition and rifle back home . But , i still have a loaded round in the breach !
 
Do you mean lift the bolt back to the retract possition and hit lightly on the bolt handle or a wood dowel down the barrel and tap lightly ? Sorry for the questions guys but i am new at this and limited knowledge .
 
The benelli sounds like it needs parts, ie a new extractor.

But another issue could be that you need small base dies for that rifles chamber. Usually the problem with SA reloading is that resized brass won't chamber.....

The 338 sound like a hot round. I have seen this on several occasions. Usually it's when someone shoots someone else's max load in their rifle.

You are going to have to take a block of wood and tap the bolt handle to open the action. Hopefully the case will eject. If it doesn't. Spray some penetrating oil in the barrel from the muzzle. Let it sit over night. Insert cleaning rod in from the muzzle, with the action open, and tap the cleaning rod until the case comes out. Try not to whale on the rod, if that doesn't work, you will likely need the services of a smith.

With the 50, it sounds like your brass was not re-sized completely or the bullet is jammed into the rifling.

Again tap the bolt open with a piece of wood. The action should open and hopefully the round will come out when the bolt opens.

If it doesn't insert cleaning rod as above to tap out the projectile, you shouldn't need lube on this one.

In the future until you have everything dialled in at the bench, try inserting a resized case in to the rifle before priming it. If it inserts and extracts properly with out too much pressure on the bolt it's is probably to spec for the rifle. Make sure that you trim your brass, as brass that is too long will stick and cause trouble closing bolts.....

Really hoping you get this figured out...

Reloading is a dangerous and fulfilling pastime, it is a hobby unto itself. I know several people who will not reload, they don't shoot as much as others as costs are more, but they just can't handle the boredom to do it right.....

Good luck!
 
I know you brought it up but i just want to say DO NOT PUSH THE BULLET WHILE THE BOLT IS CLOSED!!!! You have fired the bolt so the firing pin is likely forward, you try and tap the bullet against the bolt to open in and then you strike the primer on the round. Goodbye you.

Use wood or a rubber mallet and get the bolt open.
 
Johnny_Zanni said:
I know you brought it up but i just want to say DO NOT PUSH THE BULLET WHILE THE BOLT IS CLOSED!!!! You have fired the bolt so the firing pin is likely forward, you try and tap the bullet against the bolt to open in and then you strike the primer on the round. Goodbye you.

Use wood or a rubber mallet and get the bolt open.
Click to expand...
'm
Great , thats what i wanted to know . Going to try and free up the 338 first . I'll take a couple of pics of the spent round and see if someone can tell me what happened.
If i'm successful with that onbe , i'll do the samer with the 50 . Thanks again .
 
notsorichguy said:
The benelli sounds like it needs parts, ie a new extractor.

But another issue could be that you need small base dies for that rifles chamber. Usually the problem with SA reloading is that resized brass won't chamber.....

The 338 sound like a hot round. I have seen this on several occasions. Usually it's when someone shoots someone else's max load in their rifle.

You are going to have to take a block of wood and tap the bolt handle to open the action. Hopefully the case will eject. If it doesn't. Spray some penetrating oil in the barrel from the muzzle. Let it sit over night. Insert cleaning rod in from the muzzle, with the action open, and tap the cleaning rod until the case comes out. Try not to whale on the rod, if that doesn't work, you will likely need the services of a smith.

With the 50, it sounds like your brass was not re-sized completely or the bullet is jammed into the rifling.

Again tap the bolt open with a piece of wood. The action should open and hopefully the round will come out when the bolt opens.

If it doesn't insert cleaning rod as above to tap out the projectile, you shouldn't need lube on this one.

In the future until you have everything dialled in at the bench, try inserting a resized case in to the rifle before priming it. If it inserts and extracts properly with out too much pressure on the bolt it's is probably to spec for the rifle. Make sure that you trim your brass, as brass that is too long will stick and cause trouble closing bolts.....

Really hoping you get this figured out...

Reloading is a dangerous and fulfilling pastime, it is a hobby unto itself. I know several people who will not reload, they don't shoot as much as others as costs are more, but they just can't handle the boredom to do it right.....

Good luck!
Click to expand...
I double checked the case length of a new one to the reloads and they are both excactly the same , i am hpowever using pulled 50 rounds . Could this have anything to do with it ? I weighed all the projectiles and cleaned
them before re loading , checked and double checked to make sure they are the same length as the store bought ammo . The only other difference is , the casing are military spec . Could this also have something to do with it ?
 
Kazman1960 said:
I double checked the case length of a new one to the reloads and they are both excactly the same , i am hpowever using pulled 50 rounds . Could this have anything to do with it ? I weighed all the projectiles and cleaned
them before re loading , checked and double checked to make sure they are the same length as the store bought ammo . The only other difference is , the casing are military spec . Could this also have something to do with it ?
Click to expand...

That may or may not be the best method..... It does work, but sometimes it's just easier to go with what a manual tells you. Some chambers will be tight, others looser tolerances wise. There is also the variances of different manufacturers ogive to consider.

IMHO, if you want to know what your chamber is like, fire a factory round in the chamber. This will tell you what the chamber is like more or less.

When I say trim your brass I mean just the brass case.

The brass you used to load your ammo, was it new brass or once fired? If it was 1xf, was it fired in the rifle you are loading for?

When you measured the factory ammo and compared it to your reloads did you account for the bullet profile?
 
Safety caution, when driving a live cartridge out of a barrel with the bolt removed,
never let the bore point at any part of your body (or anything else that you care about).

There have been incidents where people doing just that had the cartridge fire and the rod driven thru vital parts of their body.
Not all of them survived to tell the story. It doesn't happen very often, but the graveyards are full of people who died from
low-probability events.

Wooden rods can splinter and collapse, I would use a properly sized brass rod if at all possible and a rubber or plastic mallet for starters.
Start gently...

\\

I use a cartridge headspace gage to setup my dies, and also make up dummy cartridges (no power or primer) to confirm I have
the dimensions correct for a specific rifle. Bullet seating depth can catch you by surprise on occasion.

Bolt should easily close on your dummy, and you could be able to extract the dummy "complete" too.
 
You do realize you need to tap the bolt radially to fully open first, right? It has to cam open (fully rotated left on a right hand action) before you can pull or tap it to the rear. Sorry if this sounds condescending but you need to have one before the other. When chambering a tight round, "more muscle" is not a good thiing - as you've now found out. Stop if there is resistance before fully chambered and investigate. Just because your remote doesn't work when you press a button, pressing it harder and jabbing it at the TV does not change the fact that there's something wrong with the remote or that the batteries are pooched.

Are your '06 cases not ejecting or are they not extracting from the chamber? If they're coming out of the chamber but not clearing / releasing / throwing, you have an ejector issue. If they're not coming out of the chamber, you have an extraction issue which brings a whole 'nother set of variables into the mix.

Are you using powders appropriate for the caliber / bullet? Are you getting your information from a reliable manual or from load data posted on the internet somewhere?

Are you aware of where the lands (beginning of the rifling) are in your rifles versus where ogive / shank junction of your seated bullet is? This location on bullets of each type / weight / brand varies greatly. Jam that location into the rifling and you get a pressure spike that may be the cause of some of your problems.

Are you absolutely positive that your unloaded, resized brass length is equivelent to or slightly shorter than the length specified in a reputable reloading manual?

Are you trying to neck size your brass? I don't think this is a good idea for a new reloader. Down the road when you've learned more and are more confident with everything you do at the bench, maybe. But I wouldn't advise it at this point for you.

Again, sorry to sound condescending but these are things you have to be 100% sure of. And for God's sake, don't pull that trigger when your bolt is not fully closed - there is a HUGE potential for projectiles coming out of both ends of that weapon. I understand your fears regarding the live round left in there but wow, you're a lucky cat! I hope you still have 8 left!

Rooster
 
358Rooster said:
You do realize you need to tap the bolt radially to fully open first, right? It has to cam open (fully rotated left on a right hand action) before you can pull or tap it to the rear. Sorry if this sounds condescending but you need to have one before the other. When chambering a tight round, "more muscle" is not a good thiing - as you've now found out. Stop if there is resistance before fully chambered and investigate. Just because your remote doesn't work when you press a button, pressing it harder and jabbing it at the TV does not change the fact that there's something wrong with the remote or that the batteries are pooched.

Are your '06 cases not ejecting or are they not extracting from the chamber? If they're coming out of the chamber but not clearing / releasing / throwing, you have an ejector issue. If they're not coming out of the chamber, you have an extraction issue which brings a whole 'nother set of variables into the mix.

Are you using powders appropriate for the caliber / bullet? Are you getting your information from a reliable manual or from load data posted on the internet somewhere?

Are you aware of where the lands (beginning of the rifling) are in your rifles versus where ogive / shank junction of your seated bullet is? This location on bullets of each type / weight / brand varies greatly. Jam that location into the rifling and you get a pressure spike that may be the cause of some of your problems.

Are you absolutely positive that your unloaded, resized brass length is equivelent to or slightly shorter than the length specified in a reputable reloading manual?

Are you trying to neck size your brass? I don't think this is a good idea for a new reloader. Down the road when you've learned more and are more confident with everything you do at the bench, maybe. But I wouldn't advise it at this point for you.

Again, sorry to sound condescending but these are things you have to be 100% sure of. And for God's sake, don't pull that trigger when your bolt is not fully closed - there is a HUGE potential for projectiles coming out of both ends of that weapon. I understand your fears regarding the live round left in there but wow, you're a lucky cat! I hope you still have 8 left!

Rooster
Click to expand...

Update . I got the spent shell out of the 338 , there's no evidence of hot load , so , i had 47 casings ready for reload , these are ones that were shot once , by me from new .
Out of the 47 , 3 jammed up , 2 were very tight but did extract 42 still OK . These are S&B that were shot by me from this rifle , all were bought by me . Could it be the spec for these shells is out of whack right from the factory ? So , now that i know this , should i cycle each round through each rifle before i begin the reload process to make sure this does not happen again ? As for the 06 , the shells pull out from the breach but it seems like they get stuck as they are being ejected . Its like theres not enough gasses to fully open the bolt . Now , i'm going to attempt the 50 cal . I hope to God its as easy as the 338 was .
 
Kazman1960,
Where are you? If you are in the Calgary area, PM me and I will come over and help. Or matbe someone can help you if you are in another area.

Lift the bolts all the way up (in the normal position to pull straight back for ejection). Take a 2x4 or block of wood and rest it on the bolt handle and TAP it lightly till the bolt slides out. DO NOT HAMMER IT!!!! You may end up breaking your bolt handle, then you are totally screwed. Only use the wooden dowel after the bolt has been removed to knock out a stuck bullet.

I think you may have gone light on powder for the 30-06, gone too hot with the .338 load and seated too long on the 50 but these are only a guess.
Good luck and try to find someone locally to come by and take a look at what you are doing to get you going in the right direction.
 
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