Sticky bolt....

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So I have never had issues like this before. I did a search and could not find any answers.

I am loading for my 338 lapua. I have third fired brass. Loaded for the 4 time now. (Techinally 5th as I fire formed them using Cream of wheat) Brass was brand new. Round going into chamber, easy to close bolt. Round coming out. Sticky.

So I bumped the shouder back and checked if they needed to be trimmed, and then needed trimmed. When I tried to trim the pilot wouldn't fit in the case. I measured the neck thickness. I found that they were way to thick. I have never neck turned them before as they didn't need it prior to this. So I then got a neck turner and did same. Cases still getting stuck.

So to this point I've neck sized them, trimmed them, deburred, chamfered at 22 dergees, and bumped the shoulder back and they still are making very sticky bolt and a couple get stuck.....

So I put them through the body die. I kept adjusting the die down until it wouldn't go any closer, against the shell holder. Cases are still making the bolt sticky.

I then measured the fifth fired case against a once fired case I have.
Neck with bullet seated same.
Shoulder angle, same.
Length from neck to body(shoulder) same.
Length of body, same.
Head, same.
Width of body just above base, middle, top, same.
Weight of brass, same
Internal volume, same.

Now given that it is a once fired it should be the same. However the once fired neck size only brass chambers without an issue.
So I checked it agains a never fired brass.
Neck, same.
Shoulder angle 19 should be 20
Length from neck to body(shoulder) same
Length of body, same.
Head, same.
Width of body just above base .001 smaller, middle .001 smaller, top .001 smaller.
Weight of brass, same
Internal volume, 1gr of water less for never fired brass.

I even went so far as to coat my brass with a sharpie chamber it and see where the marks were. Nothing. Nothing showing where the case was sticking.

I am at a complete loss. The difference in the brass between 5 times fired, once fired and never fired are so small that they are not even worth speaking of, yet my bolt it very heavy and sticky and some brass get stuck.

Any thoughts?
 
What load are you using?

Without more info, a sticky bolt is one sign of excess pressure. It would be interesting to see good photos of the bases of the cases in question.
 
What brand of brass are you using?
Which rifle?
There were issues with Hornady brass in the Savage 110 and hard extraction.
Search some of the US forums you'll easily find a bunch of threads.
 
You may be well served to do a chamber cast of your rifle! If it has a min sammi spec chamber you may have to outside turn your brass to allow proper chambering for starters and also to allow for proper expantion when the cartrige is fired allowing the neck to release the bullet. It is also possible that the chamber / throat is cut short?
 
ATOM said:
What load are you using?

Without more info, a sticky bolt is one sign of excess pressure. It would be interesting to see good photos of the bases of the cases in question.
Click to expand...

I am using 91 gr H-1000 with a 300 gr SMK. I did have a much hotter load but it was too much in warm weather. There are no signs of pressure other than ring on the primer and it is hardly able to be noticed.

thump_rrr said:
What brand of brass are you using?
Which rifle?
There were issues with Hornady brass in the Savage 110 and hard extraction.
Search some of the US forums you'll easily find a bunch of threads.
Click to expand...

Lapua brass. Savage 110.

blaser.306 said:
You may be well served to do a chamber cast of your rifle! If it has a min sammi spec chamber you may have to outside turn your brass to allow proper chambering for starters and also to allow for proper expantion when the cartrige is fired allowing the neck to release the bullet. It is also possible that the chamber / throat is cut short?
Click to expand...

The throat is cut long enough. Incase it was the bullet too far out I had seated them deeper. Did not fix issue. I may have had the term wrong but I have outside neck turned my brass.

What confuses me is that a once fired brass measures the exact same and chambers without issue.
 
caver77 is right. But if you're already using Lapua brass, then you should have the chamber looked at by your local gunsmith with a borescope.
I had a client with the same problem & found some locktight residue , from his attempt to mount the scope himself, inside the chamber that made extraction very difficult.

Moosifer.
 
Based on what you say and Caver77's link, the problem might be the brass. You could try another brand and see what happens.

That said, the 300 gr Match King is a long bullet, with more bearing surface than lighter ones and that's probably going to push pressure up somewhat.

Looking at the Hodgdon online reloading calcultations (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp.), 91 gr of H-1000 is very close to their recommended top end of 92 gr. That fits pretty well with my Sierra manual's top end of 92.2 gr. Both those sources (as do all good manuals) note that maximum loads should be approached with care.


However, looking in my Lyman 49th edition, they say that the max load using just the same bullet as you is 86.0 gr, which would put you well over the recommended maximum.


So - you're using a load that is around 99% of the recommended maximum by the most generous standards and well over it according to another reputable source.


Things like flattened primers and bolt-face imprints on the brass are just wet-thumb-in-the-air indicators, not scientific measurements (as is a sticky bolt). Your problem could be the brass or a too-small chamber, but I'd say you're into over-pressure territory. Your call, but I'd back off a few grains and see if that solves the problem.
 
Last edited:
Based on what you say and Caver77's link, the problem might be the brass. You could another brand and see what happens.

That said, the 300 gr Match King is a long bullet, with more bearing surface than lighter ones and that's probably going to push pressure up somewhat.

Looking at the Hodgdon online reloading calcultations (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp.), 91 gr of H-1000 is very close to their recommended top end of 92 gr. That fits pretty well with my Sierra manual's top end of 92.2 gr. Both those sources (as do all good manuals) note that maximum loads should be approached with care.


However, looking in my Lyman 49th edition, they say that the max load using just the same bullet as you is 86.0 gr, which would put you well over the recommended maximum.


So - you're using a load that is around 99% of the recommend maximum by the most generous standards and well over it according to another reputable source.


Things like flattened primers and bolt-face imprints on the brass are just wet-thumb-in-the-air indicators, not scientific measurements (as is a sticky bolt). Your problem could be the brass or a too-small chamber, but I'd say you're into over-pressure territory. Your call, but I'd back off a few grains and see if that solves the problem.
Click to expand...

Good suggestion.
 
Based on what you say and Caver77's link, the problem might be the brass. You could another brand and see what happens.

That said, the 300 gr Match King is a long bullet, with more bearing surface than lighter ones and that's probably going to push pressure up somewhat.

Looking at the Hodgdon online reloading calcultations (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp.), 91 gr of H-1000 is very close to their recommended top end of 92 gr. That fits pretty well with my Sierra manual's top end of 92.2 gr. Both those sources (as do all good manuals) note that maximum loads should be approached with care.


However, looking in my Lyman 49th edition, they say that the max load using just the same bullet as you is 86.0 gr, which would put you well over the recommended maximum.


So - you're using a load that is around 99% of the recommend maximum by the most generous standards and well over it according to another reputable source.


Things like flattened primers and bolt-face imprints on the brass are just wet-thumb-in-the-air indicators, not scientific measurements (as is a sticky bolt). Your problem could be the brass or a too-small chamber, but I'd say you're into over-pressure territory. Your call, but I'd back off a few grains and see if that solves the problem.
Click to expand...



I also agree, back off and work back up, see if the problem goes away.
 
Do you get sticky bolt lift after firing? To be more specific, when opening the bolt and it is ready to cam over and extract the spent casing do you feel a click? If so your sizing die is not squeezing the web area of the case enough. This would also cause stiff bolt closing. Shoulder set back would have no effect on the web area of the case.
 
Ive got a question, i had the same problem, ended up being the way i trimmed and deburred my brass, ended up being i didnt get all the burrs of my case mouth, so a piece of brass came off and got stuck in my chamber making brass stick when fired, i suggest clean your chamber really well and try again, possibly try one and shorten the case neck by .010 increments and see if that might be it too.
 
I have tried just about everything. To answer some questions. The stick bolt is after they have been fired but then tumbled and reloaded. When I try to chamber them again is when it is tough. I think I have found my issue though. I ended up re adjusting my die to the point where the shoulder is bumped back a decent amount. Because of this they now chamber properly. I will see how it goes from here.
 
(Post #1)
Round going into chamber, easy to close bolt. Round coming out. Sticky.
Click to expand...

vs

(Post #16)
The stick bolt is after they have been fired but then tumbled and reloaded. When I try to chamber them again is when it is tough. I think I have found my issue though. I ended up re adjusting my die to the point where the shoulder is bumped back a decent amount. Because of this they now chamber properly. I will see how it goes from here.
Click to expand...

OK, I am confused. Can we take it from the top?

Your first post seems to say that it's easy to chamber a reloaded round, but difficult to turn the bolt to eject the brass after the round's been fired. Post #16 seems to say that chambering the rounds is difficult and says nothing about extracting fired brass.

Those are exact opposites. Which is it?

If the problem is chambering ammo you have reloaded, then the other suggestions like cr*p in the chamber or your not having properly sized the brass might be the cause. (BTW, the sizing die should always be screwed down as far as it will go and then, with the ram lowered, screwed down another quarter turn.) If that's the case, then it's an easy fix and good on ya.

If the problem on the other hand is with extracting fired brass, then none of those are likely to apply because the problem would be apparent while chambering.


If the sticky bolt is after firing, the brand of brass might be the problem, but I would again point out that you are - at best - at the absolute top end of maximum recommended loads and, according to one very reputable resource manual, well over the maximum load they recommend after scientific testing in their lab. Again, it's your rifle and your body parts, but top-end loads are always pushing the envelope.

Take two identical, new, modern, well-maintained rifles and put the same maximum or even near-maximum load through them. One may be fine, the other may develop dangerously high pressure. There's no way of telling by just looking at the rifles. If your rifle is like that second one, you're on thin ice with 91 gr of H-1000 and a 300gr bullet.

If, on the other hand, the Lyman manual is correct, and you're overloading by 5 grains, you could be in considerable danger of a catastrophic failure without warning.
 
Atom,

I may have miss typed. The issue was putting a loaded round into the chamber. This of course made it hard to come out. Sorry I never proof read my first post.
 
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