Primed loads wont chamber?

[114239]

Hey guys,

I bought some once fired nickel casings off the forum a while back and loaded a few up to test some rounds with them. When i got to the field not a one would chamber. Went home and started playing around and packed a bullet into and unprimed case goes in just fine. Put a primed case in without bullet in and it wont work. All the specks are the same only difference is primer.

It doesn't jam up, the bolt just wont close and it pulls out without forcing it. Gun is a 7mm wsm in browning x-bolt. Oddly enough i have some brand new federal 150gr factory ammo and it loads just fine.

Any help is appreciated

[Pathfinder76]

Primers aren’t protruding?

[Kurt505]

Do you have your bullets seared deep enough?

[Sashi]

I have big doubts, that it's a primer problem, unless you found some extra fat primers somewhere. Need more info on how you received the cases decapped or not resized, and what you did to them, to prepare them for loading. What caliber and what size of bullet are you using.

[6.5 shooter]

Are the primers flush? sticking out ? or recessed in the case?

[leo]

Did you full length resize and trim the cases? If you did, mic the case necks or belt. If they over expanded because they were over pressure in the previous gun they are junk.

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by 114239

Hey guys,

I bought some once fired nickel casings off the forum a while back and loaded a few up to test some rounds with them. When i got to the field not a one would chamber. Went home and started playing around and packed a bullet into and unprimed case goes in just fine. Put a primed case in without bullet in and it wont work. All the specks are the same only difference is primer.

It doesn't jam up, the bolt just wont close and it pulls out without forcing it. Gun is a 7mm wsm in browning x-bolt. Oddly enough i have some brand new federal 150gr factory ammo and it loads just fine.

Any help is appreciated

I believe the OP is saying primed cases will not function...but unprimed work just fine as well as factory.

[114239]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

I believe the OP is saying primed cases will not function...but unprimed work just fine as well as factory.

Yes exactly!

Primers are flush, i even packed a couple in too deep just to see and they still wont go. I realoaded the exact round with the same wrlm primers in a spent brass federal cartrige and it works fine.

The casings i have resized and trimmed, loading them with nosler lr btsp 150gr and winchester wlmr primers. All bullets are to the exact specs in the newest edition of the nosler reloading guide

[obsessed1]

What's your procedure for priming? On the press? Single stage or progressive? Or a hand held primer? Have you ever reloaded for this rifle before? What type of cases? Might just have to scrap the lot and move on

[barsik]

the only possibility I can come up with is that when you are seating primers, you might be putting enough upward pressure on the case rim in the shellholder to actually bend the the rim, making the length from base to the datum line longer, preventing the bolt from closing. do a careful visual, and measure with calipers or micrometer several times around the case circumference and see if the measurement changes.

[marxman]

Originally Posted by 114239

Yes exactly!

Primers are flush, i even packed a couple in too deep just to see and they still wont go. I realoaded the exact round with the same wrlm primers in a spent brass federal cartrige and it works fine.

did you try your nickle cases without the primer

[114239]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

What's your procedure for priming? On the press? Single stage or progressive? Or a hand held primer? Have you ever reloaded for this rifle before? What type of cases? Might just have to scrap the lot and move on

I reload on my horandy press, and i did 40 rounds with brass cartriges that worked fine.

I check with a micrometer the case length and went down it checking the width as well nothing i noticed there compaired to the factory ammo. I did get 3 primed nickel casings to chamber but they go in hard and the primer has a scuff in the shape of a half moon on it so something is off but the primer depth is good for sure. I also found a couple unprimed cases with the same issue. Could the nickel cases be thincker in the base causing this issue? I really dont want to scrap the lot since they are a pain in the ass to find

[114239]

Originally Posted by marxman

did you try your nickle cases without the primer

Yes and almost all of them cycle through no problem. Maybe 2 out of 50 are having issues. Once they are primed about 2 out of 50 cycle through the rest wont let thr bolt close...

[Pathfinder76]

Two observations. Get rid of anything nickel and anything fired previously in another chamber. Problem solved.

[114239]

Originally Posted by chuck

Two observations. Get rid of anything nickel and anything fired previously in another chamber. Problem solved.

If i was shooting a common round i wouldn't have wasted my time asking but since 7mm wsm is a very hard brass to locate id rather see if someone had an idea of what might be happening before i toss them. I paid good money for them and put in a lot of time trming and priming to just throw them away without figureing out if it is a me/ gun/ case problem

[double gun]

Originally Posted by 114239

Put a primed case in without bullet in and it wont work. Any help is appreciated

The “primed case without a bullet” was this a case you loaded, then pulled the bullet from when it wouldn’t chamber?

1)As a starting point I would take one of the loads that won’t chamber - pull the bullet, dump the powder, resize the case and see if it will chamber. This is just out of curiosity.

2)I would also dig through the cases you haven’t touched yet, find one that chambers easily. Now prime that case and see if it chambers. Again purely out of curiosity.

3)Resize your cases and try every one in your rifle, if it won’t chamber at that point it won’t after you load them. In my opinion it’s not a priming issue it’s either the cases aren’t resized properly or you’re bulging the shoulder when seating the bullet.

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by 114239

If i was shooting a common round i wouldn't have wasted my time asking but since 7mm wsm is a very hard brass to locate id rather see if someone had an idea of what might be happening before i toss them. I paid good money for them and put in a lot of time trming and priming to just throw them away without figureing out if it is a me/ gun/ case problem

The problem is, that they were fired in another chamber. Take you decapping rod out of your die and try to continue to size the case,with the primer in it that won’t chamber, until it does. Also take one that won’t chamber, recap, and try. Start eliminating variables.

[Bushrat]

This is fairly common with WSM cases and standard dies. Often the dies are a little long in the shoulder area. They come out of the gun after being fired and will fit back in it but then you resize them and they won't fit. This happens when the chamber is cut a few thousands shorter than the die is cut or vice versa the die is cut a few thou deeper than the chamber. What happens is the outside circumference of the shoulder gets narrowed/squeezed down as the case bottoms out in the die which forces the shoulder to move forward lengthening the case at the shoulder but is not going into the die far enough to push the shoulder back resulting in the case shoulder being made too long to chamber in the gun. To fix this turn your die down into the press with the ram up until it touches the die like the instructions say then let the ram down and screw the die 1/8th of a turn farther into the press, resize a case, then try to chamber it, you might have to do this a couple times before it fits. Often times some presses have a bit of flex and the die may touch the shell holder when there is no case in it but when you put a case in it and size it the press flexes/stretches enough when sizing the case that when the press is fully cammed over the shell holder isn't touching the die and not fully sizing the shoulder of the case back to where it should be. If this this doesn't work a few thou may need to be turned off either the shell holder or the bottom of the die face to let the case be sized properly. Seen this happen more than once with WSM's.

I see your using once fired cases shot out of another gun which probably has a bit of a bigger chamber, technically it shouldn't matter if the die is actually fully resizing them to minimum SAAMI spec they still should fit if they are actually being fully resized, nickel coated or not. On the other hand sometimes since they were fired in a larger chamber there is too much spring back in the brass that they won't fit, in that case you will need to throw the brass away or get small base dies.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by 114239

If i was shooting a common round i wouldn't have wasted my time asking but since 7mm wsm is a very hard brass to locate id rather see if someone had an idea of what might be happening before i toss them. I paid good money for them and put in a lot of time trming and priming to just throw them away without figureing out if it is a me/ gun/ case problem

Have reloaded thousands of nickel brass with no issues. If the brass was not fired in your gun as you say, that would be the issue. No reason to throw the baby out with the bath water.

[260 Rem]

Originally Posted by 114239

Yes and almost all of them cycle through no problem. Maybe 2 out of 50 are having issues. Once they are primed about 2 out of 50 cycle through the rest wont let thr bolt close...

If the resized, unprimed case chambers .... and the same case, with a primer seated does not chamber, the issue must be the primer. First, the primer should not be flush, it should seat below the base. If it is properly seated so it does not contact the boltface, it should chamber ——unless the firing pin is protruding?

[Bushrat]

Are these once fired cases cycling through your gun before you resize and remove the old primers? Or is it that they don't fit after resizing and priming?

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by gtr

Have reloaded thousands of nickel brass with no issues. If the brass was not fired in your gun as you say, that would be the issue. No reason to throw the baby out with the bath water.

https://youtu.be/ex_R4Lf681s

[32-40win]

I tend to side with Bushrat's observation of the shoulder moving during sizing as being most likely, need a datum line length gauge to check that and to check the ogive datum length for OAL. Bending the rim on seating the primer is a possibility, a low one, have to hit it pretty hard to do that. A straight edge across it with a light behind it, will show the gap, if there is one. Other than the base diameter being oversize on a few cases out of a batch, which is possible with factory rounds and MAP pressures, and your die not being able to size that area. You say you miked that though. Check that you don't have an issue with seating the bullets, and a slightly long case neck, hitting the crimp ring in the die. Usually you can see that on the case neck, and it will be measurable. You say you miked the neck though---with the loaded bullet in it?