Slight stiffness closing the bolt

Lionel Boyd Johnson said:

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?

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Along with this, after you chamber a loaded round, remove it from the chamber and look for rifling engraving marks on the bullet. Measure the CBTO or COAL to ensure the bullet is not jammed into the lands.

After chambering one of these rounds, do you feel the same resistance when closing the bolt a second time on the same cartridge?
A close inspection of the case after chambering should reveal something. The fact that it only does this after installing a bullet suggests that it is length or neck diameter related rather than sizing related.

How many firings on the case?

Are you loading at or near max? Compressed loads?

Is there a possibility that you have a carbon ring forming in your chamber that the case mouth is hitting?

Chances are good that everything will be fine, but it's certainly worth checking a few things before proceeding.

Mega stink, are you there? Wake up! It's ok you passed out from info overload! Take a few breaths and focus

Lionel Boyd Johnson said:

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?

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Now replace the OP typo "that" with "than" and now it reads with more sense. Makes for a little less of a bread sandwich now.

Did you check the case length after sizing?

megastink said:

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.

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Perhaps slightly tight chamber, but… if I read and understand correctly, your brass fit before you prepped and primed.

Check you primer seating depth to make sure you have no protrusion beyond case head.

If so, you will get slight snug feel upon closing.

Common occurrence that will cause madness because everything measured and fit fine before loading… then slightly tight upon closing.

megastink said:

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.

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Make sure your primer is seated properly also

As you can see there are a multitude of possibilities. Back in the stone age neck sizing was a thing, so I bought a three-die set, RCBS I think for my Rem 700 243, and with my once fired brass I neck sized everything, and filled them back up, and shot them all again. They were definitely tighter than the new brass I started with, but the old generals of the day assured me I was OK, and I was. The rifle shot great, killed lots of deer, and emptied them all again. The third time reloading, and the second time neck sizing it was noticeably tighter and required more effort closing the bolt. Old timers still said I was fine, and I was, and am. I think I still have a few of those loads in my ammo cabinet. I have shot hundreds of rounds like this with no issues, but it's a shoulder issue I'm dealing with. I'm not bumping it back, and the cam action of the bolt is pressing it in there for lack of a better term. Neck issues are another PROBLEM all together. A carbon ring as mentioned earlier, or your case mouth protruding into your bore, and it crimping your bullets could create some pressure issues. The carbon ring can really create pressure issues, so, you're not crazy to check those out, but if you're just pressing the shoulder into the chamber that's not going to be a problem unless your load is overcharged. My 243 load is 38 grains of IMR 4064 behind Sierra's GameKing 85 grain hpbt bullet, and it is a maximum charge in my rifle. It's really too much if it's over 90 degrees outside, but I know that, so, I don't shoot it if it's too hot. Normal hunting conditions it's perfect, and as long as you are just dealing with a shoulder bump issue, and you're not overcharging your powder, you're golden.

Re-read your original post. Are you saying you never checked a resized case in your chamber? If so, your sizing likely lengthened your brass and the shoulder needs to be "bumped" back till it chambers freely. Alex Wheeler has a good video on the process.

Another check you can do is to remove your firing pin and then put in a sized case with no primer. if it still has a slight caming action to it you know 2 things. your primer seating is good. and your bullet is probably not into the lands. next would be to take the same case and add your bullet to it seat it where you have been and then put it into your gun if it still has the same amount of pressure to seat the bolt then your good to go...next i would try another case with out primer in it then add the primer did the pressure change? if not, then your doing a good job with the seating of your primer. After doing all this you should be able to deduce from you trials what is causing the force to seat the bolt.. and that would be your shoulder bump...if you want to stay there there are many that say your good to go. i prefer to not be able to notice a difference with case in it as compared to an empty chamber, but that's just me..but remember, all this is with out firing pin in...

megastink said:

So I'm good to shoot?

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Yes!

Watching! The only thing is watch what your coal case length is before sizing and after sizing.

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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This, plus Tiny Tim's post, reflects my experience with a brand new Weatherby in .308, where some batches of factory ammo were so hard to chamber that I had to cam the bolt really hard to get them to chamber. None of my other bolt action rifles behave this way, so it worried me. Doing the usual tests turned up nothing unusual, but when I decided to measure case length variations of factory ammo, I'm thinking that my Weatherby's chamber is slightly shorter than it should be. So ammo with cases on the long side of nominal cause too much neck contact.