reloading question

[william101]

I have a 300 WSM and have been reloading for it using brand new Winchester brass,well now Ive shot up all of the new brass and am on the second round use of this brass,the reloads load well and fit well into my magazine,as well as chamber into my gun,its when I go to close the bolt I encounter a little stiffness.Can this be a problem?and what would cause this?thanks for any help.

 

[Guest]

More than likely the resize die isn't set correctly and the shoulder of your cases needs bumping back a tat! Also...if the bullet is "jammed" up into the lands....it could make for hard closing of the bolt! When resizing your cases make certain that the shellholder is touching the bottom of the die when the ram is at the top of the stroke. And as an added precaution against pulling the shoulder forward due to an oversized or rough expander button use some graphite on the necks of the cases and this will let/assist the button to pull back through the neck quite easily!

 

[kraky2]

DO NOT SHOOT THOSE LOADS.....till you make sure that they didn't need trimming. If they are longer than spec you could pinch the case mouth onto the bullet causing a very high pressure spike.

Othere than that Ray has given you great advice--either the case needs a tad more "resizing" or the bullet is seated too long. Neither of these will cause a problem for loads that aren't loaded to the max.

 

[abinok]

Just a few thoughts...
Some of them will echo RMulhern's post, some will contradict it...
With ony one firing on the brass, you are probably not having problems with your shoulder to base dimension... its more likly that you aren't using quite enough lube on your expander, and are pulling the neck/shoulder junction forward a bit when its extracted.
What dies are you using, and with what brass?
Whatever you do DO NOT set up your sizing die with the bottom of the die touching the shellholder!!!!!!!!!!!!
This will result in excessively setting back the shoulder, and will substantally shorten brass life.
Also, is the pressure present if you chamber, extract, then rechamber the same rounnd? if not, long seated bullets aren't the problem.
A hard closing bolt in and of itself is not a major problem in most rifles. Some of my longer lived brass in my 300WM fits the chamber very snugly and continues to deliver superb accuracy. The whole "bump the shoulder craze" that has taken hold in many circles ignores what it is that bumping the shoulder was intended to do... and thats reduce stress on the action that might produce uneven stress and degrade accuracy. if your "snug fitting" cases shoot well, don't worry about it.

 

[william101]

Thanks guys for the help.Dammit I just loaded 50 of theses suckers last night too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif.I am using winchester brass,and am using 190 grn smks with 68.5 grns of RE-22, max loading 2900 fps.
My bullets are seated just enough to fit into my Tikka t3 lite magazine with a tad clearance. 5 of the very first 50 I loaded last night cases I loaded were very first loadings,and when I closed the bolt on these there was no slight stiffness like the second loaded ones.

 

[kraky2]

If you love reloading put the stoney point headspace measuring kit on your Christmas list...about $30-35--very wonderful tool. Then go to sinclair and get the shim kit for your sizing die called "skips shims". Then you can set your lock ring for total "factory sizing" and add shims under your sizing die to make ammo perfect for any chamber.
HAVE YOU CHECKED THE CASE LENGTH--ESPECIALLY ON THE ONES THAT ARE "snug"?? (You can still do it). A guy at work here was lucky on a Sako rifle where he had the cases too long....he sheared a couple lugs on his bolt but it didn't come out and rearrange his face!!)

 

[Guest]

abinok

<<Whatever you do DO NOT set up your sizing die with the bottom of the die touching the shellholder!!!!!!!!!!!!>>

You're right! WHAT I MEANT TO ADD...to my post....which I didn't do because of an incoming call...and I did't proofread was....."once the die is touching the bottom of the shellholder...back the die up approximately the thickness of a nickel!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[HoytemanPA]

"I just loaded 50 of theses suckers last night too"

I recently pulled a pile of bullets that I had loaded up and bought three different pullers so if you don't have one I can offer a little insight on your choice.

I use some pretty substantial neck tension and the whack type puller developed some cracks in the head of it, makes alot of noise and to me was cumbersome. The thing is fully warranteed but shipping and handling is within a buck of a new one if I wished to go there. Throwed it in the junk drawer.

The Forester one mounted in the press has the neck/bullet go up into a collet that I couldn't see real well and destroyed two for two BR quality prepped cases. Now in same junk drawer.

RCBS is the cats butt, but if you want to reuse bullets.... Take some 220 grit paper and thread it through the slots of the puller and sand/deburr the internal edges of the caliber specific head. Then roll up some more to where the roll fits snug up into the puller head and chuck the roll into a drill. Buff the bore. I followed this with a undersized brush a couple of patches and JB chucked up to polish the inside of the puller. Spray all of the grit out and use. If you have prepped your case necks, the bullets will still look as they did out of the box. If they are gouged to hell where they went down in the case, well thats another issue.

Yanking bullets ain't all that bad for me now. Good luck.

 

[BountyHunter]

Forget the shim thing.

Instead buy a set of the redding competition shellholders. Come with set of five at .002 intervals. Will solve the shoulder bump issue without touching your die setting once set. www.sinclairintl.com part number # RD11606 for mannums and $36.45

normally setting the die to touch the shellholder will make excessive bump back.

BH

 

[kraky2]

Bounty hunter.....I have both....the shims and the redding shellholders. I'll take the shims anyday--more versatile---much cheaper....one set for about $12 covers any caliber--not just magnums.

 

[BountyHunter]

You are right the shims are cheaper, but I hate having to hunt the micro down to measure all the time. The redding comp shellholders are simpler and that works best for me.

If you like the shims and measuring all the time, great, both will work.

BH

 

[jmden]

If you do not adjust your die down to the shellholder (using the redding comp shellholders or shims is the best way to get a custom fit that I know of, but that's just me--otherwise you are working that brass way more than necessary and my be losing accuracy in the process) you will likely be incurring a number of inconsistencies that adjusting the die down to the shellholder keeps from happening. The vertical axis of the die is is "zeroed" to the shellholder by screwing down the die ring tightly when in contact with the shellholder. This is a necessary step when using 7/8-14 presses and dies. If you have a concentricity guage, try a few rounds either way and then check case and bullet concentricity. You are much more likely to have more runout when the die was not adjusted to the shellholder. You may be aware of this already, but I didn't see anyone else mention it. Sorry if I just missed it. Good luck.

 

[jmden]

Also...be impeccable about keeping the top surface or the ram clean and free of debris--same goes for dies, die ring surface and it's mating surface on the press body. In addition, if you don't do this already, consider removing the snap ring that holds your shellholder in place. (I'd really reccomend the Redding comp shellholders as a simple and quick way to get a custom fit and still be able to zero the die to the shellholder.) Some folks then use an 0-ring to hold it in place but I make sure the bottom surface of the shellholder in contact with the ram and the top of the ram have a bit of good, lightweight lubrication and do not use the snap ring or an o-ring to hold the shellholder in place. It just floats and finds it's own "zero" in the die. My understanding is that this can help align the case more evenly side to side with the die and result in less runout. I got these ideas from Sinclair's book on precision reloading. Between these steps and neck turning, I usually average just under .001 case and bullet runout on my RCBS Rockchucker with Redding dies. Benchrest numbers on a 7/8-14 press... I check concentricity using Sinclair's guage. Good luck.

 

[wapiti13]

Only problem with shims is that a new reloader can get messed up if changing dies, etc. Competition shell holders are easier to begin with and repeat when changing out dies, etc. Just a thought. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif