Problem with new wildcat

[mike33]

I just acquired a 25x284 ultra lite arms from a friend who really never shot it to much and i bought it right. I have been loading for 20 years wildcats, etc. and im making a mistake somewhere i cant figure out. This gun came with 50+ pieces of brass once fired i loaded and shot every thing fine working my load. Now i bought some new brass from midway run it through my full length die tried in gun bolt closes fine. I start to load seat bullet and bolt wont close. Okey i pull bullets and re-size again bolt falls shut like butter. Seat bullet and bolt wont close on 7 out of 10 cases. What am i mdoing wrong? Seating depth checking ogive is the same as previous 50 i loaded and shot. Bullet is seated 80 .000 off lands , same bullets out of box, also i tried setting my die off shell holder more than 1 turn same thing. Thanks,
Mike

 

[johnnyk]

Are the case necks too long or too thick? Sounds like the outside diameter of the case neck is greater than the chamber with a bullet seated and is causing a "pinching" condition. This sometimes happens when necking down brass. I have herd of .30-06 brass necks having to be turned when cases were used in a .25-06 rifle. JohnnyK.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Think johnny's got it, either the neckes need turned (which is probably the case) or trimmed.
RR

 

[Dano1]

Yep,

I agree, you have to turn the necks for this rifle. I have to turn them for my .243 AI as I use .308 Lake City match brass for it and I turn them for my 6.5-06AI as it has a match "tight" chamber.

The thing that tips this off is that you can load resized empty cases of the proper trimmed length into the chamber, but not the loaded ones. It'll help with accuracy and the good thing about this is that you only have to do it once.

Dan

 

[Ridge Runner]

The only other possibilities are the seater die set to low or the powder compressing during seating enough to bulge the case somewhere.
RR

 

[mike33]

Okey, i had a friend tell me about the die setting i tried that and even give it a 1/2 more turn with out any luck. But, i tried shooting the same load i was previous shooting out of fired cases which was 58 grains 4831 that brought the powder next thing to top of the case. Ridgerunner im going to try that before i neck turn. Btw i was shooting today because im leaving thursday for Colorado some of the new unformed cases that would chamber gave me eratic pressure today. I sat them aside and shot a few of what i had loaded from fired cases with no problem. I will have to play with this when i get home.
mike

 

[Ridge Runner]

the erratic pressure hints that its a tight neck situation, the case can't open up to release the bullet giving high pressures.
RR

 

[RockZ]

Mike,
What does a loaded round measure at the neck compared to a fired round ?

 

[Boss Hoss]

I just acquired a 25x284 ultra lite arms from a friend who really never shot it to much and i bought it right. I have been loading for 20 years wildcats, etc. and im making a mistake somewhere i cant figure out. This gun came with 50+ pieces of brass once fired i loaded and shot every thing fine working my load. Now i bought some new brass from midway run it through my full length die tried in gun bolt closes fine. I start to load seat bullet and bolt wont close. Okey i pull bullets and re-size again bolt falls shut like butter. Seat bullet and bolt wont close on 7 out of 10 cases. What am i mdoing wrong? Seating depth checking ogive is the same as previous 50 i loaded and shot. Bullet is seated 80 .000 off lands , same bullets out of box, also i tried setting my die off shell holder more than 1 turn same thing. Thanks,
Mike

Without going into finite detail as wildcats are just about all I shoot-----measure everything on the brass that works, do the math on the neck size from the chamber, turn the necks on the new brass to the thickness it should be. Should be pretty darn close to the brass you already have but who knows if it has the right neck size or not... Make sure you order the right size bushing for the sizing die..

 

[mike33]

Yes i will definity check out neck size when i get home from my trip. Im leaving thursday am and kind of hectic packing. This is my first trip west and going crazy with packing. I got a great deal on this gun it is : Ultra lite arms model 20 in a 25x284. With a 4.5x 14 30 mm tube 40 mm lens, sling, harris bipod, 3 loaded rounds it comes in weight wise at 7 3/4 lbs. A friend of mine had it built back in 1990 and i remember quite well when he first got it, but for some reason he sat it aside. Gun had less 120 rounds shot so for $1,000.00 i got a great deal including 60 pieces of brass and 3 piece redding dies. I shoot 100 gr. sierra fb 3460 averaging 3/4 moa at 100. I shot a 3.5" group today at 430 yards and a pleasure to shoot. Thanks every one for your help im okey for trip having 60 loaded rounds of previousfired brass. I will work on new cases later.
Mike

 

[MachV]

Adjusting the die and bushing may help but only after you measure the neck of a loaded new round and the necks of a couple of original rounds. The difference will be how much will have to be trimed from the neck to be able to safly use the new brass! Casting the chamber will also be a good idea?