Trouble closing bolt
 

I am having trouble closing the bolt on some of my reloads. Some of them are kind of snug when closing the bolt but there was one that would not go in and I didn' t want to force it. The OAL is not the problem because these were actually shorter than what was recommended. Is this a headspace issue? I full lenght sized the shell but am still having problems. Can anyone give me some advice on other things that it could be. If it is a problem w/ headspace what can I do different next time.

Thanks
LAHUNTER

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Sounds like a headspace issue. Are these fireformed in that rifle your trying to bolt? Its definately not unheard of for dies to be off a tad also.

Here is what I would do. Hopefully you know a good gunsmith. Have him check the headspace or loan you a no go gauge. If all checks out well, have the dies sent back to whoever. Usually under warranty.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

If the rifle has been shooting factory rounds or other handloads OK - then the gun' s headspace isn' t your problem.......................but it CAN be your ammo' s headspacing that is off. If your die wasn' t screwed down into your press far enough, it could have set the shoulder too high, causing the feeding problem.

Also one other simple check.............did you trim the cases after resizing or at least check to make sure that the case length was within spec.?? If the case neck is too long, it can darn sure keep the round from entering the chamber all the way.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Thanks for your repies.

bigcountry,
I have not idea what fireformed means. Also I don' t have any gunsmiths as friends, I wish I did though. Life would be a lot easier. Hopefully there isn' t anything wrong with my dies.

Mark whiz
My rifle shoots factory rounds good, and these are my second batch of handloads (ever). It seems to shoot most of them OK, but sometimes I run into a really hard one to load. Maybe it has something to do with my die not being screwed down far enough. If I remember correctly the instructions say to touch the ram with the die and back it out a 1/4 -1/2 a turn (I think). Maybe I backed it out to much?
I did trim the cases after I resized the rounds, only a very few had excess that needed to be trimmed.

Thanks again for ya' lls help. I will try to be more careful when adjusting my dies and hopefully this will help.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

You shooting a Ruger 77 Mk II right? I have the same problem. I cannot fit any of my reloads into my Ruger but they chamber into a Remington just fine. I think the Rugers are a little short in the chamber. I was thinking about having a little milled off of the shellholder and use it only for my 270. Don' t know if it will work or not. Also I heard there is a company that you send them a fired case from your rifle and they make you a set of dies. Any ideas?

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

I thought RCBS would make you dies from a chamber casting

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

frizzellr
I am shooting a Ruger m77 markII, synthetic. I hope these problems can be solved with an easier solution. Keep in touch and let me know what you do to get your reloads to work w/ your Ruger.

frizzellr,
The pachymar (sp) recoil pad makes a big difference. As far as recoil goes it isn' t night and day, but the pad really makes a difference in how it fits my shoulder. I can actually hold the crosshairs steadier on the target and it does take some of the felt recoil out. I think since my gun fits better it feels like the recoil is less. I am happy with it.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

I put one on my Ruger last week but I didn' t take it to the range this weekend because I am in the process of bedding the action. Just out of curiousity what brand of dies are you using?

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

if full length sizing, you don' t want to back it out with most dies, but screw in more to cam down on the piston. After touching the piston at the top of the stroke, you want to screw in another 1/8 to 1/4" . What I mean by fireformed, is was they shot in your gun then you reloaded them. I thought you might be getting brass from someone else that was shot. Try screwing in that dies more. That should move your shoulder back. Also what another guy said about trimming is important also.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

I had the same problem with my RCBS dies and 270 WSM,I screwed it in 1/8 to 1/4 turn as directions says but had to go a little bit more in to get the bullets to chamber right,I couldn' t figure it out at first without help because all my other dies worked fine from 1/8 to 1/4.