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.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

frizzellr,
I am using lee dies.

bigcountry,
Thanks for explaining what fireformed is. Most of my reloads are from other guns.I bought some bulk once fired brass. I have a few that were from my gun. I will definately try screwing in my die a little more next time. Hopefully that will work.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Thats what it is. Especially, if your not screwing in your dies to cam over. Thats why some work, and some don' t. Now your only suppose to cam over (screw in 1/4 extra turn after adjusting the die to touch the piston), if you have steel dies (most rifle dies). For carbide dies, you can' t do this which is usually what you get with pistol ammo or straightwalled.

Now after you full length size them and then shoot them out of your rifle, you can do what you was doing which is partial Full Length size, and then it will be fireformed just for your gun. Usually this is beneficial for accuracy and low spreads in velocity.

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RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

it could be that your bullet seater die is trying to crimp the bullet way before it is seated properly causing the shoulder to bulge slightly. try seating some without crimping and see how that works. good luck,ive had that problem before.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

I have this proble with both of my MarkIIVT in .308 and .243. I have found that the way I have my dies (RCBS .308 and Hornady .243) That work on the bras sho from my rifles or new brass. If someone brings me brass from the range, I have to do the FL resizing with the camover with the smallest trim to length dimension. It is probably from the other brass without seeing the problem in person. I really doubt that it is the gun or your dies. Spend a little money on new brass. It gave me more confidence on reloading and troubleshooting my reloading problems. And the last bit of advice, find a buddy who reloads too.

Burn more powder!

Dana

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

LAHunter, did you ever figure out the problem? Curious to know.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Big Country is right if you are backing out the sizer die then that is your problem The way you explained it sounds like you read the direction for setting the seating die. That one you ussually do back out just a little.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Bigcountry,
I have been out of town and recently got back home. I haven' t re-sized any more cases yet. I am very new to reloading and when I got all my reloading stuff, I resized all my cases (200+). So I am still reloading the originals, I think I didn' t screw the sizing die in far enough. I was reading the instructions and it said to turn the die 1/4 to 1/2 turn in after touching the shellholder. Maybe I didn' t fully follow the instructions. When I resize some more I will post the results. Hopefully my problem will go away. Thanks again for helping.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

I' ll bet iowabuckslayer has it right. I' ve had this problem before and it took me about 7 years to figure it out. This question comes up periodocally on these forums and 90% of the time this is the problem.

The problem is with the way the bullet seating die is adjusted. Most standard seating dies have a crimp feature built in, they' re designed to crimp the bullet into place at the top of the ram stroke. The problem with that is that most bullets we load don' t have cannelures on them, and the ones that do often aren' t in the correct place for crimping after we play around with our bullet seating depth. What happens is that if your seating die is adjusted down to where it hits your shellholder at the top of the stroke then the case is shoved far enough into the die to hit the little crimp " lips" as I call them. These will try to crimp the mouth of the case into the bullet. If there isn' t a cannelure there to allow some give in the system then it puts a lot of stress on the case and bullet. What happens is that something has to give and the typical place for this to happen is right at the top of the case where it meets the shoulder, the case will get a very slight buckle in it, not enough to be obvious but enough to make the round not chamber or chamber hard. If you run your fingernail over a case that' s been buckled you can feel the bulge at the top of the case. You might not even be able to see it but you can feel it.

The fix for this is to screw the bullet seating die out until there' s about a 1/16" gap between the shellholder and the bottom of the die when the ram is at the top of it' s stroke. Now use the seating stem adjustment to set your bullet seating depth. If the shellholder isn' t hitting the bottom of the die then it won' t try to crimp. This might not be your problem, but I' d take a $100 bet that it is.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Boltman, you would lose a 100 dollars.

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

You should always decap your brass in a separate operation. Then thoroghly clean your brass inside and outside. The dies should be checked and cleaned as well. I use Imperial sizing die wax, its the consistenciey of shoe wax, you can apply it with your fingers to each case and touch the case mouth to the wax, this will lube the expanderball as it goes in then out of the case. Clean the wax from the newly sized case and check to see if it chambers. A lot of case strtching occurs when the expanderball gets pulled out of the case. The bullet seating die is best adjusted by useing a factory loaded shell as a dummy case. Back off the bullet seating stem then lightly screw the die down till it makes contact with the dummy case. Lightly screw down the bullet seater till it touches the bullet. Mark this setting on both the die and the press with a pencil. Now see if you can make a round, and see if it chambers. You may need to adjust the die again slightly to get a crimp on the bullet. If you marked the die you will have a reference point to work from, just turn the die a few degrees at a time till the crimp is right, a quarter turn of the die might buckle the shoulder of the case at this point while a sixteenth of a turn may not. When the die is adjusted correctly mark the die and write down the correct adjustment in your load book and inside the die box so you can set up the dies in an instant next time. I check each round for overall length and to make sure that they will chamber in the gun, a hunting trip is the wrong time and place to find out that your ammo isn' t going to work in your gun. Good luck hunting!

RE: Trouble closing bolt
 

Has anyone mentioned OAL? Someone mentioned ogive, but if the OAL for the bullet is too long it will definetly be hard to close (especially if it is crimped).
My son and I both have .30-06' s and we prefer fire formed cases, but his is a little bigger than mine and his requires a less headspace, so we mark the cases and keep them seperate. I know right away if I get one of his cartridges. Mine will fall into his gun though.