Proven load now resulting in clickers?

[Muddyboots]

I would bet new brass will not be a problem. The Saum is a 65,000 pressure round and when you start to get deeper into case life, I believe web expansion can start showing up. I have a 300 WSM that does same thing in 6-8 firings on Hornady brass. I just accept the web expansion as part of the short fat cartridge characteristic. I have just never had long case life with WSM's and bet SAUM's can be the same. If you are shooting these types of cartridges in upper spectrum of loads, I bet the webs do not last. Just my experience with them. If someone can show me how to get more case life out of them without sacrificing performance, I am all "ears"! I've even tried to get a small base die but did not find one.


Sounds like you are confident there is no carbon buildup in throat.

 

[L.Sherm]

New brass won't be a problem untill 3 firings again, if OP is confident his loads are not overpressure then the fix is more sizing at the web with different die or open up the back of chamber.

 

[GLTaylor]

Had same problem with my 25-284. Die wasn't sizing web quite enough. At Sherm's suggestion, i opened up the rear of the chamber. Problem improved immediately.
G

 

[blacktail 8541]

I am going to have to ask what a clicker is. I have never heard that terminology before.

 

[jrg]

I had the sa

New brass won't be a problem untill 3 firings again, if OP is confident his loads are not overpressure then the fix is more sizing at the web with different die or open up the back of chamber.

I had the same problem after 3 firings, Clickers, I changed sizing Dies & problem solved!

 

[emp1953]

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

Pardon my ignorance, what are clickers? My knee jerk reaction to clickers is a misfire. but it sounds like your rounds were firing.

 

[Jakeweb09]

Pardon my ignorance, what are clickers? My knee jerk reaction to clickers is a misfire. but it sounds like your rounds were firing.

It's the result of expansion on the case in the web area. Your bolt comes up easy as normal but gets very stiff at the top and when it breaks free it makes a clicking noise

 

[James DeTorre]

Slow ,I am . 50 years of doing this But Not sure what a "clicker" is or "web expansion"
Thank you for helping.

 

[Raffy]

What is the best way to fix this in the reloading room if it happens? I saw mention of a lee collet and a different sizing die? Can someone please elaborate on which and how they changed their process to fix the problem?

 

[James DeTorre]

What's a "clicker" and where is the "web.
sorry be dull.

 

[Ckleeves]

It's a very distinctive "click" at the top of bolt lift. You will know it when you see it. It's not a heavy bolt lift like you would get with a round thats a little warm, but in the worst cases you almost have to take the palm of your hand and give the bolt a little smack upward at the primary extraction.

 

[spin-one]

I have just gone through this with my 6.5 PRC. You are not doing anything wrong. What's happening is after the second or third firing, your brass is not able to be resized small enough at the base. ADG brass is heavier than most and seems to have the most issues. I am having Whidden Gun Works make me a custom die that will resize the base a little bit smaller than a SAMMI spec die. The research that I have done, shows there are two ways to correct the bolt click. One alter the size of the chamber or have a custom die alter the brass.

 

[vancewalker007]

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.

If you're near the book max of a cartridge you can be overpressure and not necessarily detect it precisely at times. Clickers and bad case measurements before and after resizing can also be pressure signs.

I'd measure those clickers cases really carefully before and after you size them. I usually knock the primers out with a punch before I measure the base to center shoulder datum. Then do the same measures on a fired case that did not click and a fresh unfired case to get some baselines.

It's a pain but you will have a better understanding of the source of your click. I just went through this with my 6.5 PRC. I had a bunch of cases that were fitting tight after sizing with a .002in bump. With a lot of measuring and moving the die up and down I found if I went away from the .002in Dogma and bumped my shoulder .004-.005in the web, which was my main issue, came in line as needed. Once I had my die set to that position I re-ran all my sticky cases and tada, they run like butter.

Note, my cases that closed snug and I fired, were over pressure. That's one thing that drove me to go through this measuring process.

 

[L.Sherm]

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

He has, one other thing to keep in mind a die can only size down only so much close to new brass so measure carefully the back of the chamber may need to be opened up also is my suspicion.
Example my Whidden die sizes at the base .001 bigger than new.