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OCW load development need advice for a newbie
- Thread starter Frogman77
- Start date
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hey guys, my once fired brass is hard to chamber occasionally. This is after trimming and full length sizing. If I rotate the brass before chambering sometimes it's easy to close the bolt, and other times it takes a lot of effort. After a while I start to notice brass smearing on the bolt face from just closing the bolt down. After about 10 chamberings of the brass experimenting trying to see what's causing the hard closing bolt the rim of the case head has shiny lines on it almost all the way around it. Anyone ever run into this before?
Do you measure the headspace and compare the difference between rounds before and after being fired? And then after sizing to make sure you push the shoulder back a bit-.001-.002?
The rounds that are hard to chamber may be your higher pressure rounds that have expanded the case more. Measure the case at the base at case head and see the difference.
Try sizing the cases that are tough to chamber a bit more. Just turn the die down a little at a time , to push the shoulder back, and try to chamber a round each time until you feel just a slight amount of pressure.
If it is difficult to close the bolt it needs to be sized again and the shoulder pushed back some more.
The rounds that are hard to chamber may be your higher pressure rounds that have expanded the case more. Measure the case at the base at case head and see the difference.
Try sizing the cases that are tough to chamber a bit more. Just turn the die down a little at a time , to push the shoulder back, and try to chamber a round each time until you feel just a slight amount of pressure.
If it is difficult to close the bolt it needs to be sized again and the shoulder pushed back some more.
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jmason
Well-Known Member
Sounds like it's time to anneal your brass.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f94/annealing-cases-39987/
yup, ran out of room on the bottom. My chamber is also a tight chamber, I'm thinking about getting a small base die from redding to size the body down. New brass that's been full length sized chambers fine, but the once fired doesn't seem to get sized down enough in the shoulder. Thoughts?
also, what could be causeing the marks on the case rim? why would the bolt be cutting into the rim of the case head?
also, what could be causeing the marks on the case rim? why would the bolt be cutting into the rim of the case head?
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I've had this happen to me as well and I just bring mine to my smith/machine shop and he turns a few .001's off of the bottom of the die and it works perfectly.
You could also get a shellholder that is not quite as thick so that it will allow the case into the die a bit more.
The rim could be grinding off a bit because of the tight fit, or possibly your ejector is not retracting all the way and it putting pressure on the case head.
You could also get a shellholder that is not quite as thick so that it will allow the case into the die a bit more.
The rim could be grinding off a bit because of the tight fit, or possibly your ejector is not retracting all the way and it putting pressure on the case head.
