Proven load now resulting in clickers?

[Jakeweb09]

I've got about 450 rounds through my 7 Saum now and have been shooting the same load for about 350 of them. 60.9 grains RL26 with a 180 vld hunting and Cci 250s with ADG brass. Shooting right at 3005fps. This loads given me es And SD's consistently single digits. And shot 1/2 minute consistently. I've even shot this sub 1/2 minutes at 1050 yards. This summer I began testing 184 hybrids and had solid results and worked up to 61.5 grains of rl26 for 2978 average with zero pressure signs. I then loaded some at 61.7 and once again had zero pressure signs and was shooting about 2995 FPS with an ES of 10.

Fast forward to the next range trip and that same load along with the 61.5 grain load gave me clickers. (Twice fired brass on these loads with 184 hybrids) I decided I'd try my proven load with the 180 vldh mentioned above (6 firings on this brass) to verify things are good, clickers with that load as well. Put over the Labradar and velocity was still exactly where I left it. With very tight ES, and SD. Only thing I did notice is that they were slightly tight on bolt close. I stopped shooting and returned home to investigate further. Only issue I could find was the primer pockets were fairly dirty, and possibly holding primers out more then normal. But with one set of brass being 2x fired and the other 6x fired have a hard time believing this is causing clickers in both sets of brass.

Any ideas or input? I've since unloaded all ammo, deprimed and cleaned all primer pockets. My next move at the moment is to load a ladder with both bullets and check again. Unfortunately I'm in Washington and bear opens Sunday. Leaving me nothing but my 6.5 creedmoor dialed in. I'll use it but severely cuts my distance down

 

[L.Sherm]

If I'm reading this correctly your using more powder in a 184 vrs a 180.
I'd say your getting web expansion your loads to hot, basically you expanded the web to far on the 184's.
Or your reamer,dies. And brass are mismatched similar to what Alex describes in the PRC die problem

 

[Bob Wright]

Whole thread going on, on this site. Alex has been doing a lot of research and reamer mods for similar problems.

The PRC die "problem"

There are a number of people experiencing sizing issues with the PRC case. When designing a chamber, brass, and resize die there is no one size fits all. We want good hard case brass, but its harder to size. We dont want sloppy chambers either. I have experience with designing reamers with...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[Jakeweb09]

If I'm reading this correctly your using more powder in a 184 vrs a 180.
I'd say your getting web expansion your loads to hot.

Yes actually. Which shocked me. I worked up very slowly to that load and had absolutely zero pressure signs. No ejector marks, no flat primers, no cratering, and buttery smooth bolt. I am going to start lower and work back up but that just doesn't explain why my go to load at the lower charge with the 180s is also now getting the same clickers. Like I said my plan is to drop back down and work up with both bullets but I've never had something like this develop with a load I've put 350 rounds down with.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Do you full length resize and use a collet die on the web area?

 

[Jakeweb09]

Do you full length resize and use a collet die on the web area?

I've always full length resized and no collet die. Might be worth a try. I understand that clickers are usually from web expansion, just was shocked to have it happen the way it did. 2 lots of brass with very different amounts of firings. And like I said 6 firings no issues. Now all the sudden when I get the clickers with one batch of brass and a completely different load, i also get it with a proven. If web expansion is the only explanation then the path forward is obvious, with reduced loads.

 

[Jakeweb09]

Whole thread going on, on this site. Alex has been doing a lot of research and reamer mods for similar problems.

The PRC die "problem"

There are a number of people experiencing sizing issues with the PRC case. When designing a chamber, brass, and resize die there is no one size fits all. We want good hard case brass, but its harder to size. We dont want sloppy chambers either. I have experience with designing reamers with...

www.longrangehunting.com

I've read most of this thread, just didn't see the Saum mentioned in what I read

 

[Rhovee]

Is the accuracy still there? They won't show up until after a few firings. Sounds like you need to clean the barrel real good and look for a carbon ring. If they chamber tight then that contributes to your issue. RL26 is dirty. I would clean every 50-100 rounds. Measure your fired brass to sized brass on the base. Put the case in your calipers length wise. I doubt Travis used a min saami chamber. But never know. Alex just claimed my last two custom 7 saum dies for himself. But I have some others that size to .5475-.548

 

[Bob Wright]

I've read most of this thread, just didn't see the Saum mentioned in what I read

It's happening to others. My 280AI for instance.

 

[Jakeweb09]

Is the accuracy still there? They won't show up until after a few firings. Sounds like you need to clean the barrel real good and look for a carbon ring. If they chamber tight then that contributes to your issue. RL26 is dirty. I would clean every 50-100 rounds.

I actually didn't clean for maybe 350 rounds. So this was my first thought. Accuracy was still there along with Es/sd. And velocity hadn't changed at all, literally within feet of previous chrono which was maybe 150 rounds prior. Cleaned through, borescoped, scrubbed, everything very clean and still persisted.
Only thing I could find different then previous range day was the slightly tight chambering. And when I went home I figured that to be the primers sitting just slightly out, if I gave a little extra pressure on them with priming tool they chambered smooth. So I pulled them all and cleaned all pockets. Have yet to try again since though

 

[Rhovee]

Next lower node is 2900 with both bullets and hammers. Did your shoot these in the heat?

 

[Jakeweb09]

Next lower node is 2900 with both bullets and hammers. Did your shoot these in the heat?

Yeah I would hate to loose 100 FPS but if it's what I gotta do then that's it..it was about 65 degrees

I've got plenty of brass so maybe I try some new and see what happens

 

[Jakeweb09]

One other note, measuring case web after sizing, and after firing shows brass being sized .0015 at the web

 

[L.Sherm]

One other note, measuring case web after sizing, and after firing shows brass being sized .0015 at the web

Not enough