Slight stiffness closing the bolt

I have some .243 loads that I made up with 87gr VLD's. I loaded about fifteen for a ladder test. I used a case gauge to measure the prepped cases before priming. I did NOT check them in my rifle chamber. The bolt requires ever-so-slightly more pressure to close that with an empty fired case. I can still close it with one finger, it just requires the tiniest bit more effort.

I'm new at reloading, and certainly learned a lesson here already, but am I ok shooting these loads? Rifle is a Savage 11 action with a Shilen sporter barrel. Thank you all in advance.

Some desire this amount of "tightness" to limit shoulder stretch. I have shot thousands of rounds in this condition by design. If you are going to want insurance for feeding in field conditions, dirt & muck proof, give yourself 2-3 thousands shoulder set back with your FL die.

Brathany said:

Some desire this amount of "tightness" to limit shoulder stretch. I have shot thousands of rounds in this condition by design. If you are going to want insurance for feeding in field conditions, dirt & muck proof, give yourself 2-3 thousands shoulder set back with your FL die.

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So I'm good to shoot?

megastink said:

So I'm good to shoot?

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Ok, I'll put it plainly. Yes, you are good to shoot.

If you're still "closing it with one finger", yeah I think you're good.

Take your first fired round and slide it over the bullet of an unfired round. I've run into chambers that have a tight neck. Just make sure you can slide a bullet into a fired case. Also look at the case mouth and make sure it isn't contacting the chamber. Friction in bolt handle isn't always shoulder contact.

Critter Picker said:

Take your first fired round and slide it over the bullet of an unfired round. I've run into chambers that have a tight neck. Just make sure you can slide a bullet into a fired case. Also look at the case mouth and make sure it isn't contacting the chamber. Friction in bolt handle isn't always shoulder contact.

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Valid points. I read, "New to reloading" and everyone new to reloading gets the shoulder setback wrong by blindly following the manual recommended set up.

Your rifles chamber is the only case gauge you'll ever need and the only one that counts. It takes a few firings for brass to stop growing and it may get too tight. If so l, bump the shoulder back a thou or two more and lock it down.

You should be ok, but I don't know how old your reloaded ammo is.
Full spring back occurs over time, so your ammo could get tighter still down the road.

Just measure the case length to be sure you're getting tension from the shoulder and not the case mouth going into the start of the bore. Even still youre fine with that amount, it's just not good. Severe enough and you can be crimping your bullets.

But honestly it's probably not that, you're describing a stage of resizing that's totally normal. The case is squeezed from the bottom like toothpaste in the die before the shoulder gets crammed back down to length and it's definitely possible to not go back all the way to 0. The max amount it grows in this process varies, but most of my setups have been around .003 I think. I have a 25-06 with a poorly shaped chamber, kinda pear shaped, and that sucker will grow .006 because the base gets so big.

Anyway you probably just need to screw the die down in a tiny bit more. Like 1/16 turn maybe. Make witness marks on the die and press, then turn the mark on the die 1/8" at a time. It won't take much. But you're safe.

The OP said: The bolt requires ever-so-slightly more pressure to close that with an empty fired case.

More often it's the other way around. So, perhaps the slight resistance is due to the bullet contacting the lands. Have you done a test to determine the maximum length to ojive? Does the slight resistance go away if you seat the bullet a little deeper?

In the famous words of Troy Landry..,..CHOOOOT--EM

You didn't say but I assume you used a FL sizer die on the brass and it is newish brass? Assuming that is the case your brass is growing at the shoulder when you size. I always pull my firing pin, check the fired brass in the chamber. Invariably newish fired brass will fit perfectly and the bolt will close with no effort. Run it through the FL sizer die without a shoulder bump and that bolt doesn't close quite so well. This is more pronounced for me when I run 7PRC or 300PRC through a FL die and the Cortina sizing mandrel die to keep the PRC brass the right size at the .200 datum line. Personally I bump the shoulder, even on newish brass, as I load for field conditions only and I want flawless loading and a smooth bolt operation.

I use the Redding Competition shell holders. Set the sizing die using the +.010 so that you have just a bit of effort in closing the bolt after sizing. Then resize with the +008 and try, then the +.006 etc until you have that perfect bolt close. Then I know I bumped just enough butt not too much.

little stiff thats how the big boys do it