Tight chamber: resizing loading ammo

[David Urasky]

I did some work on custom 300 and 338 RUMs. These were straight from the gunsmith and both guns would not chamber the go gauge. I don't know how the smith determined the headspace, but they weren't even close. I pushed the headspace forward to chamber the go gauge and both worked fine after that. They were both tight chambers but both worked fine.

I think this is another example of the lack of machining knowledge that the self proclaimed gunsmith have. Find a reputable smith and have them check the chamber.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Measure ammo if other factory ammo works. I agree with others, sounds like a chamber issue. If in a pinch and hornady ammo work "safely" get more of that and figure the rest out when you return. Wouldn't be my first choice, but an alternative.

 

[Mram10us]

I recent purchased a custom rifle and it seems like it has such a tight chamber that it won't chamber some factory rounds or my reloads out of my other 2 243s. I'm leaving for a coyote hunting trip next week and I picked up 150 rounds of 70gr 243 dogtown ammo because i didn't have time to load up ammo for the new rifle. The new factory rounds Will not chamber. I ran it through my resizer and I can get it to chamber but it feels like the bullets are loose now. Do I have to resize and pull all the bullets and start fresh?

What part of the country are you in? Everyone has a 308 go gauge to check this for you.

 

[okie man]

I've worked with brass from factory loads and I'll tell you this! Over all lengths , neck length and thickness and case head to datum length is all over the place . If you have a minimum spec custom cut chamber you may or may not be able to chamber factory ammo.

 

[Mikecr]

Your planning amounts to the worst contributor here.
With any new gun there should not be a starting over, but starting from the beginning.

 

[Dean2]

This gun is not safe to shoot until you determine what the issues are that are causing some factory ammo to not chamber. If it is a tight neck, you could easily have too little expansion room for even the ones that will chamber. If it is neck length, same issue. Both can cause sever pressure spikes. IF it is just headspace that isn't so bad but you really do have to know what the issues are. Until I could figure that out and correct it if necessary I would be taking a different gun on the hunt.

 

[CatShooter]

I recent purchased a custom rifle and it seems like it has such a tight chamber that it won't chamber some factory rounds or my reloads out of my other 2 243s. I'm leaving for a coyote hunting trip next week and I picked up 150 rounds of 70gr 243 dogtown ammo because i didn't have time to load up ammo for the new rifle. The new factory rounds Will not chamber. I ran it through my resizer and I can get it to chamber but it feels like the bullets are loose now. Do I have to resize and pull all the bullets and start fresh?

If you are leaving next week, it is probably too late to do the easy fix, so pull the bullets and start again.

But... you CAN salvage rounds that are too tight for a minimum chamber by using a Redding "Body die" - the body die sizes the body and shoulder, but does not touch the neck, even of a loaded round - there is "0" danger. I used body dies to salvage over a ton (2,000 pounds) of 223 reloads that were too long in the shoulder length to chamber... without a problem.

 

[Mram10us]

Your planning amounts to the worst contributor here.
With any new gun there should not be a starting over, but starting from the beginning.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean???

 

[okie man]

If Hornady ammo loads and Nosler doesn't measure every thing on both and see where the differences are! Is the Nosler ammo in nickel plated brass?

 

[freddiej]

Okay popcorn is done, I have to type now. :
I have a client, RJ, he has had several 243's with severe problems, these are off the shelf guns, one Rem, one Savage, and one Browning. certain lots of off the shelf ammo will not chamber in his gun.. PPU is the biggest offender. some Winchester, Some Rem, and some Federal have also had problems fitting into his chamber. we sent the Rem and Browning back to the factories to have them looked at. One came back with a note of, "Checked out ok with gauges and chambered all ammo." The other factory stated they had checked, failed the chamber, reamed the chamber and the rifle chambered ammo. This is where it gets weird. I tried PPU ammo again and 1 in 2 would not chamber in the reamed chamber, no PPU ammo would chamber in the other one that checked out OK at the factory. I had a set of 243 dies on hand and resized all fired cases of PPU, one in 20 would chamber. annealed all cases, and resized again, one in 5 would chamber, annealed again and resized, all chambered. bought a small base die set for 243. sized all recently fired brass with SB die set and every piece of brass chambered. 18 months of problems out the window with a SB die set. One drawback to the SB die set fix.. PPU brass really hates to be sized in that set of dies. now we use Win or Federal. R-P does some funky things in the SB die set.

 

[Skidly_50]

How does one size loaded rounds?

I think it could be done with a body sizing die

 

[okie man]

What if it's not the body that's the problem?

 

[Dean2]

First determine exactly what the problem is. Then solve for solution. Suggesting all sorts of remedies with no idea what the actual issue is may well cause far more problems than the OP started with.

 

[okie man]

Hence taking a round that fits and one that doesn't and see where the issue lies!