trouble closing bolt with reloads

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sheepless

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I've been having trouble closing the bolt on my rem 700 with my handloads. I've used the exact same load/dies in the past and have had no trouble. I am using the same brass but have not measured theirs lengths and thus not trimmed any. Could it be the case is too long through repeated firings. It's also a pretty hot load and I understand this can be a sign of excessive pressure. What should I do? Thanks for any help.
 
Hello,

I always measure my rifle brass after resizing - you may be surprised by how much it may have stretched beyond the max OAL only after one or two times reloading. Really, you should NOT be reloading rifle brass without checking AOL. This can be dangerous. Get a caliper and a cheap Lee trimming tool.

Other than the above, you may need to check the adjustment of your sizing die. With rimless cases, it's best to have the top of the shell holder firmly "kiss" the bottom of the sizing die.
 
yup trim an check lenth to be sure ...........as to hot loads thats a common name fer dangerous loads in my opinion. gotta be careful when near the max limits , mostly not worth the danger .
 
You have to check the length of your cases after re-sizing. That's just the way it is. Hard to imagine that's causing your problem though. Look at the end of a fired case and see if it looks like it was pressed against the end of the throat in your chamber.

Are you using different bullets? Or have you changed the length of the cartridges? The bolt would certainly be harder to close if the bullet is pressing into the rifling....

Also, as someone above said - STOP when things seem odd....
 
did you go all the way in when FL sizing?i had the same problem with Lee FL die for 223 Rem.i found that die was made .005 too long
 
Check you Loaded overall length, you may have the bullets to far forward and are hitting the lands.
Also check to see if just an unloaded case will chamber if it wont then you need to re-adjust your die down further.
I re-check everything each reloading session, those lock rings on those dies don't always hold well and things could work there way out of adjustment
 
Are they belted Magnum cases? Some times you need to over size them a bit.
My guess you dont have your dies set up right.

Second guess OAL to long.

3rd Guess trim your cases.
 
sillymike said:
When in doupt, STOP!

Measuring and trimming brass is part of the reloading process... if you do not want to go thru all the steps, just buy factory ammunition. It will be safer for you and the shooter on the next bench at the range.

Safe shooting,
Mike.
Click to expand...

True enough..Do it all or dont do it,and above all watch the pressure..Now having said that,the most accurate loads you'll ever make will be a HAIR,(notice the emphasize on HAIR) snug to close the bolt..If you dont move the shoulder with your sizing die this is the result...It will lead to better accuracy but is no good for use in anything but bolt action on bench
 
If you have correctly set up your dies, and your cases are the correct length here's a couple of ideas. If you neck sized your brass you may need to "bump back" the shoulder by full length resizing. If you have full length resized, your shell holder could be out of spec, or you could be using the wrong one. Check the shell holder depth with a caliper, if it's too deep your "head to shoulder" length will be too long, and it will be difficult to close the bolt. At one time I had a dozen shell holders which were out of spec - now I try to get Redding.
 
zedex said:
I trim each and every time i reload. It only takes a few seconds to run it through my trimmer. Some need trimming, some dont.
Click to expand...

Same here. If I reload 50 rounds, maybe 5 or 6 need trimming, but at least I know before shooting that they are all the same length.Lee arbor, shell holder, trimmer and chamfer tool less than $20...........cheap for peace of mind.
 
I have noticed that some bullet companys have changed the position of the ogive on the bullets (to improve ballistic coefficient) and never told anyone. If your previous load worked fine check the length of the bullet itself. The length will be different if they have repositioned the ogive. It is very possible that what used to 5 or 10 thou off the lands is now into the lands. To be sure, size a casing and put it into the rifle and see if the bolt closes with no extra effort before adding the other component parts. Hot loads will create an overall case growth situation. Always monitor that condition.
Carry on!
 
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