Stiff bolt closing 204R

Chamber a fresh round and then take it out and inspect the bullet for marks from it hitting the lands. You may just need to shorten the OAL slightly. I had the same problem with some 308 loads a while ago and seating the bullet a tiny bit deeper fixed it right up.

Good luck
 
358Rooster said:
At some point the OP will need to bump the shoulder back, so just having a Lee Collet die and not a full length or body die is not enough (maybe he has these others - not sure). Yes, often you can get away with neck sizing only for several firings but that will only last for so long. I just ran into a situation where I had to bump shoulders on once-fired Remington brass for my .280. I thought it was a bit strange (and it is relatively rare, in my experience) but that's just the way it goes sometimes. New brass does not always come out of the factory presses spot on, at the very minimum SAAMI dimensions all the time, due to variations in lot-to-lot material hardnesses, annealing effectiveness throughout forming processes, machinery conditions & setup, etc. Add to this, the fact that all rifle chamber dimensions are not the same and all die dimensions are not the same.

Cartridge trim length is also a factor. OP has stated that all his brass is about the same - within .005. But is it the correct length? Personally, I've yet to run into a chamber where a shorter than book-recommended trim length is needed but again, it's possible. Try trimming a few of the ones that chamber hard another .005 further back to see if it makes a difference. It can't hurt. Without knowing the actual measured chamber length, it's hard to tell what trim length is required.

Of the few Lee collet dies I've had, none gave enough neck tension where the bullet wouldn't push back into the case if seated excessively long. I doubt this is a factor here but yes, it could happen.

Rooster
Click to expand...

I 2nd this quote bigtime ... i bought the forester bushing bump die's for all my cartridges. I can control how far i push back my shoulders.
 
Hmm, Forester Bumping Die?
I was thinking I can set up my Lee FL die to just ease the chambering problem. Try a few cases in the rifle, then set the die down a bit at a time, trying the cases in the rifle, until they chamber easy.
 
"Have about 350 Hornady cases to load. Neck resized and measured the lengths. Max. length is 1.85, trim length is 1.84(Barnes data)but all of them were under 1.84. Varied from 1.37 to 1.32."
So trim length is will below max.
It could be the bullet seating depth, the case trim length, or the shoulder needs pushed back?
 
Leatherstocking said:
"Have about 350 Hornady cases to load. Neck resized and measured the lengths. Max. length is 1.85, trim length is 1.84(Barnes data)but all of them were under 1.84. Varied from 1.37 to 1.32."
So trim length is will below max.
It could be the bullet seating depth, the case trim length, or the shoulder needs pushed back?
Click to expand...

OK. 1. - I hope your cases are not almost 1/2" below max length (1.84 - 1.37 = 0.47"):eek: 2. - Take a sampling of your neck-sized cases....say 10% of your total..... and run them through your rifle prior to priming, charging, or seating a bullet in them. I'll assume you mean the case measurements are 1.837 to 1.832. If you run an empty case into your rifle and it chambers hard, you have a headspace issue. Without a body die like the Forrester mentioned previously, there's only one other option until you get one - full length size. You can spend some time trying to sneak up on the right shoulder bump but in my experience, this can be a time consuming and frustrating procedure. For the type of shooting you're doing, set your full length die as yodave had mentioned earlier.

1. With your press ram run to the top, bring your die down to touch the shell holder.
2. Lower the ram, turn the die down an additional 1/4 turn, raise the ram so it cams over relatively hard against the die (ram handle bottomed out) and tighten the lock nut.
3. Run a case through and chamber it in the rifle (after wiping off the lube, of course).

If you find it is still chambering hard, first check your case length - the neck often grows a fair bit in length when full length resizing. Trim again if necessary and debur. Repeat steps 2 & 3 again with an additional 1/8 to 1/4 turn. You should find a happy place here somewhere. Once you find it, you can either run 'em all through or you can take the time to chamber each one to see which ones need the bump. Like I said before, you may just want to find the shoulders' happy place and run them all. This way they're all consistant and you should never have to look back.

Rooster
 
You know, I should have thought a bit more about the above post before submitting. I should have said to check case length immediately after resizing - this is standard procedure. THEN repeat steps 2 & 3 with a deeper die setting if it still chambers hard.

I know what I do, how I do it, and reasons why I do things a particular way, it's just that sometimes getting things from my mind through my mouth (or fingers) is a bit of a different matter!:bangHead: My apologies. Honestly, I'm a pretty decent kid - just not all that bright at times!:rolleyes:

Rooster
 
The problem may not have to do with your reloading. What rifle are you shooting? Is it a push feed or control feed? If your loading them 1 at a time and you have a control feed rifle then they are going to be hard to chamber. The reason is that the rifle has to be loaded from the mag, mauser actions for example.
Rule this out before you start looking at your ammo.
cooner
 
Rooster,
I'm away from home, so can't check the case length right now, but I was concerned that the cases were under length (after neck sizing), as I recall by about .01+/-. This is compared to the trim length, which is .01 less than the max length. I will definitely check the case length after FL resizing. Thanks for the heads up.
Looking at a post on another site, I think the shortest cases were (1.832), so 0.008 less than trim length of 1.84.
 
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What cooner is driving at is the big external claw extractor on CRF rifles. It takes quite a lot of grunt to get the extractor to climb up over that rim when the cartridge is in the chamber. Rugers aren't too bad but the Mausers and the Model 70's, etc. are really tough. You shoul have no issue whatsoever with this in your 700.

Don't worry too much about your cases being a bit short. When the .204 first came out, ammunition was hard to come by and fresh brass was even more scarce. I ended up re-forming .222 Magnum brass and some of them came out of resizing and fireforming about .02" short. I squared up the mouths and shot them anyway. On good days, that gun with those cases would shoot into .4 at 100 and on bad days, it would still go into .6 - .7. Same scenario with an old .358 Norma I have. Factory ammo is stupid expensive and good luck finding raw brass easily. I necked up a bunch of .338 Winchester brass that came out between .020 and .030 short. Loaded 'em up so that I had bullet in the entire length of the neck and that bugger will shoot inside 3/4" (after fireformed) - right up until the shock headache comes on (rifle weighs about 7 lbs & I shoot 250's)!

Let us know how you make out when you get home again.
Rooster
 
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