Reloaded ammo changing over time mystery

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big bear

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Decided to shoot up some partial boxes of reloaded ammo yesterday and had a problem I've not seen before.

First off I had 29 rounds of 348Winchester with 250gr cast bullets. I had shot 21 rds of thyis box last fall, no problem. Yesterday I could not close the action completely on any of the rounds.

Then with my Winchester BB in 375Win same problem with some jacked bullet reloads. Again these same loads worked great a year ago.

In both instances a moderate taper crimp had been used. i am assuming that omehow the bullets have ?? move4d forward in the cases, exceeding the proper OAL .When measured they are not excessively long and measure the same length as noted when loaded 1 and 2 years ago.

The Winchester 71 is well worn and is cleaned/bure scrubbed after every use. The Winchester 94 BB is as new. It has at most had 200rds though it. Again cleaned after evry use.

I plan to pull all the bullets, resize and reload.

Any ideas as to what I may be missing here?
 
...Your chamber dirty? Copper/carbon buildup somewhere? Seating die move when you loaded the ammo? Bullets cast oversize? Were you sizing the cast bullets down and maybe missed some?

I don't think the bullets moved themselves out of the cases over time, unless your powder went through some kind of corrosion reaction I've never heard of and expanded. No idea if that is even possible, but it definitely wouldn't be the first thing I suspected.
 
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Thanks for early replies.I am going to ink some bullets and see where the problem might be. The problem I have with most of the possibilities are that the rounds from the same session worked great before and now they don't.
i am going to try the 348Win loads in another rifle before I pull the rounds down. If they work then 1 problem solved. Sorry, no borescope. A buddy tried to sell me a "great" used benchrest front rest for $1,900, if I ring my old Labradar to the range all the cool kids with their Garmens point at me and snicker, I lust after a $2,000 annealer and now I need a borescope.I'm a retired old guy, I might be reduced to just throwing rocks ;)
 
Look carefully with a good strong light at the recessed edge of the chamber where the rim of the cartridge seats. I'd bet there is a bit of crud in there. Rimmed cartridges headspace on the rim, not the shoulder of the case or the bullet. A little debris could cause the problems you are seeing. More likely than bullets moving too far forward in storage anyway.
 
I'd say something in the chamber. Bore scopes are cheap on Amazon or online searches. $50 gets a decent one that is hooked up to the putor. I think I paid $46 for mine.
I seen all the copper I wasn't getting out!
Might help solve the problem before pulling all the loaded rounds apart.
 
Longwalker said:
Look carefully with a good strong light at the recessed edge of the chamber where the rim of the cartridge seats. I'd bet there is a bit of crud in there. Rimmed cartridges headspace on the rim, not the shoulder of the case or the bullet. A little debris could cause the problems you are seeing. More likely than bullets moving too far forward in storage anyway.
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Thanks.
 
Are the loads compressed? Can you see rifling marks on the bullets that failed to chamber? Lead s soft; if thebullet is whats stopping it you should be able to see it easily. If you pull the bullet on one cartridge can you chamber the empty case? If you can it was the bullet for sure, if you can’t them its time to look at your sizeing die setting with suspicion. You can colour a cartridge with a black sharpie and when after trying to chamber it the spots where the black is rubbed away is your trouble area. Are your sizing your cases just enough to get them back in the gun to protect your rare brass from generous chambers, or setting the die hard on the shell-holder to ensure function?

A process of elimination will fnd your problem.
 
Partial answer

The 375Winchester issue seems to be over crimping (taper crimp) producing a subtle bulge in the case body. I think there must be replacement die lock rings. Has anyone used the Lee Ultimate Lock rings??
 
I've replaced all my Lee lock rings with much better Hornady or Forster lock rings that use a hex screw horizontally to grip the die body. Easy to set, never moves.
 
big bear said:
The 375Winchester issue seems to be over crimping (taper crimp) producing a subtle bulge in the case body. I think there must be replacement die lock rings. Has anyone used the Lee Ultimate Lock rings??
Click to expand...

Crimp bulges can cause chambering problems, no doubt about that. The weird thing is that these same rounds chambered last year without issue.
 
Dogleg said:
Crimp bulges can cause chambering problems, no doubt about that. The weird thing is that these same rounds chambered last year without issue.
Click to expand...

My question exactly. I have tried the 348Winchester loads in the rifle I used them in before, nogo. I got out another Winchester 71 and the rounds would not chamber in them either. I am sure it is not a rifle issue. I 've sorted out the 375Winchester issue but the 348Win remains amystery. I am going to pull the bullets , seat slightly shorter and use less crimp and see how that goes.
 
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