New barrel advice

[JohnyRingo]

Same thought. Size it then put it in without a bullet and powder. A lot easier to tap it out with a dowel. Why not lube it up heavily too. That way if it doesn't fit it'll come out a lot easier!

What kind of lube would you use? Would using the lube for sizing the brass be a good idea in the chamber of the rifle?

 

[Beluebow]

The brass fired in the factory Browning chamber may never fit your new chamber regardless how much you resize them. Springback is a real deal, even with a small base die.

Your gunsmith gave you an extra .005 headspace for what reason?

 

[JohnyRingo]

He added the 0.005 because the bolt closed a little hard on the factory ammo.

 

[Rick Richard]

That's probably what I will do...pull the bullet, dump the powder and pop the primer out.

Could I put some type of lube on the brass to make it easier to come out if it's a little tight in the chamber?

There will probably be enough lube from running the brass back through the sizing die.

 

[bamban]

Not all full length sizing dies are the same. I have two 30-06 FL sizers that sizes the 0.200 point differently. Chambering sized cases into a Serengeti chamber I can feel the difference when the firing pin assembly is removed.

 

[30BR]

I just had my Browning XBolt rebarreled with a Bartlein barrel. My concern is getting my reloads stuck in the new chamber. My reloads were fire-formed to the Browning chamber and the new chamber seems pretty tight with some factory loads I have. I am just a little paranoid to even try to chamber one of the reloads. I had the same thing happen when I tried to use some of my reloads fire-formed to an older Remington 700 in this same Browning XBolt when it was new. I had to take it to a gunsmith because I couldn't tap the stuck round out of the chamber.

I would hate to waste nearly 100 rounds of reloads and fired brass. Any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks.

Get a small base sizer for the used brass and it should be fine.

 

[rem.xp100]

He added the 0.005 because the bolt closed a little hard on the factory ammo.

A chamber is cut to proper go/no go gauges. If they are in spec then factory ammo should fit fine. If he went .005" more then you will have excess headspace. As for the reloads, it's a new barrel so you should be working a new load not trying to use your old load.

 

[JohnyRingo]

Yep. I am more concerned with the size of the reloaded brass and it fitting in the chamber versus the actual loads from my old chamber. I can pull the bullets and empty the powder. I just can't find any new Nosler brass for this 300 H&H. I do have about 50 rounds of factory ammo, so I will have a good start at starting over with a new load.

 

[Harry Knutz]

The reloads should not be shot in the new rifle. The bullets should be pulled and you can probably reuse the powder, just bump the fired brass back to unfired spec and then reform it to the new chamber.

A .300 H&H doensn't have much of a shoulder to start with and it headspaces on the Belt, Not the shoulder. Brass fired out of one belted magnum chamber, A lot of times won't fit the chamber of a different rifle even with full length sizing.

 

[Harry Knutz]

And you never lube a case for inserting into a chamber, It will create way too much rearward bolt thrust, Especially on a case like a .300 H&H, It has a very tapered case compared to a 300 Win Mag, But putting any type of lubricant in a chamber is bad juju, It's a well known fact.

Try a go-gauge for a belted magnum, One gauge fits all belted magnums except those based on the .378 Weatherby. If a go gauge fits, Then you have other problems. Are your cases formed from .375 H&H? If they are, Then your necks are way too thick and you need to turn the necks or ream them, So the problem could be the necks are too tight.

Edit to add: There is one other Belted magnum that a standard belted gauge wont fit, And that's the .224 Weatherby Magnum, Kind of strange in that it has no parent cartridge, It's an oddball for sure!

 

[JohnyRingo]

And you never lube a case for inserting into a chamber, It will create way too much rearward bolt thrust, Especially on a case like a .300 H&H, It has a very tapered case compared to a 300 Win Mag, But putting any type of lubricant in a chamber is bad juju, It's a well known fact.

Try a go-gauge for a belted magnum, One gauge fits all belted magnums except those based on the .378 Weatherby. If a go gauge fits, Then you have other problems. Are your cases formed from .375 H&H? If they are, Then your necks are way too thick and you need to turn the necks or ream them, So the problem could be the necks are too tight.

Edit to add: There is one other Belted magnum that a standard belted gauge wont fit, And that's the .224 Weatherby Magnum, Kind of strange in that it has no parent cartridge, It's an oddball for sure!

Great advice on the lube. I think I will just stick with shooting the factory ammo and continue looking for new brass along the way.

 

[Harry Knutz]

Great advice on the lube. I think I will just stick with shooting the factory ammo and continue looking for new brass along the way.

Are your reloads brass made from .375 H&H? Just wondering?

 

[JohnyRingo]

Are your reloads brass made from .375 H&H? Just wondering?

Nope. 300.

 

[Harry Knutz]

Ask your smith to give you the specs for the reamer he used? He should at a bare minimum be able to tell you the neck diameter. Most reamers have a drawing number on them, Many are marked with neck dia and freebore right on the reamer or it is marked "Sammi" Or "CIP" which will be easy to look up.

Many reamers will also have revision numbers on them too.

I also agree with another poster who said that opening the chamber another 0.005. was not the right approach, Magnum chambers should be cut as tight as possible and still function. Magnum brass when it suffers a case head separation always breaks just ahead of the belt, This is because it headspaces on the belt, So different FL sizing dies may place the shoulder datum slightly differently but the case always flows from the belt unless it was neck sized.