Rookie reloader problem

grizzler · #1 08-20-2007, 04:37 PM

Help... i've only been reloading a short time and have come across a problem. i am trying to reload for my 300WSM. With case trimmed and measured ( doulble ckecked numbers a few times ) the reloaded shell in chamber, i can hardly close the bolt. All the lengths and diameters match factory ammo and reloading manuals. Any ideas of what i'm not doing right would be appeciated. The gun is custom made based on a Rem 700 action.

Dick284 · #2 08-20-2007, 04:43 PM

Been there done that.
The WSM's by nature of the case design have but one fait du complee. When sized often the base of the shoulder will bulge slightly.
Set your dies so you are having the press cam over fully and the case going totally into the die (shell holder touching).
If that does'nt solve the situation, you have two things you can try.
Shave a couple thousanths of an inch off the shell holder, or remove a few thou off the bottom of the die.
I shaved the shell holder, first one two much, worked for about 2 months till I got a poorly lubed case and tougher extraction, and tore the shell holder apart. go slow with the shaving take only as much as you need.
good luck.

ABwhitetail · #3 08-20-2007, 04:44 PM

I am fairly new to reloading too, only been doing it for about 4 years or so.....and beside some other members on this board....thats new! I load for a 300WSM also.....and have gotten some great advice from the guys here....

One thing you may want to check is your Primers...if your primer pocket wasn't cleaned well and your primer is not seated fully in the case....you could experience exactly what you are referring too here.....

If you run your finger over the primer, you should not be able to feel it protruding from the case.....

ABwhitetail · #4 08-20-2007, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick284

Been there done that.
The WSM's by nature of the case design have but one fait du complee. When sized often the base of the shoulder will bulge slightly.
Set your dies so you are having the press cam over fully and the case going totally into the die (shell holder touching).
If that does'nt solve the situation, you have two things you can try.
Shave a couple thousanths of an inch off the shell holder, or remove a few thou off the bottom of the die.
I shaved the shell holder, first one two much, worked for about 2 months till I got a poorly lubed case and tougher extraction, and tore the shell holder apart. go slow with the shaving take only as much as you need.
good luck.

I have noticed this before too, but thought it was damage done to the case, that I had missed upon inspection, prior to being put in the die.....

So if I understand what you are saying.....by allowing the case to go "further" into the die, you have avoided this issue by giving the neck more support....correct???

Prdtrgttr · #5 08-20-2007, 05:01 PM

Grizzler, I had a similar problem with my 204 reloading, and it was a simple fix. Perhaps your problem is similar. While seating my bullets, my die was too far in(only like an 1/8 or so of a turn), and this was pushing the shoulders back just enough to make chambering difficult and sometimes impossible. When I backed the die out a little more the problem was solved. Let us know how you make out.

grizzler · #6 08-20-2007, 05:33 PM

Thanks Dick284 i shaved a little off the holder and my new loads are just like butter sliding in and out now. Now another question. I was going to try the Barnes TSX in this gun, but by the time i got a middle of the road amount of powder in the case it was preety much full to the lip. With the TSX being so long i would be compacting that powder. Will this lead to disaster??

Dick284 · #7 08-20-2007, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grizzler

Thanks Dick284 i shaved a little off the holder and my new loads are just like butter sliding in and out now. Now another question. I was going to try the Barnes TSX in this gun, but by the time i got a middle of the road amount of powder in the case it was preety much full to the lip. With the TSX being so long i would be compacting that powder. Will this lead to disaster??

If you follow judicious reloading practices and work your loads up and the pressures are fine, why not have a compressed load.
In other words, nothing is wrong with a compressed load if it is worked up and proven safe in the given rifle.

Unregistered user · #8 08-20-2007, 07:40 PM

How does the 300 WSM case respond to neck sizing?

Dick284 · #9 08-20-2007, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered user

How does the 300 WSM case respond to neck sizing?

Not very well in my rifle, and obviously in a few others.

Now, read my sig line.

bearbuster · #10 08-21-2007, 08:31 PM

I' ve been having the same problem as the other guys. Especially when loading polymer tipped, accubonds and ballistic tip bullets in my Browning 300wsm. It did not matter how deep i sat them ( tried well below factory length) to see if it made a difference and no go. So it's been said that the shoulder squishes out/ deforms case? I haven't had the problem with hornady or speer lead tips. I will try adjusting die but how do you shave shell holder?

Cappy · #11 08-21-2007, 09:53 PM

One problem I ran into with my 270WSM was that the case necks were getting too thick from repeated resizing. Couldn't get the bolt to close and couldn't pull the bullet out with the impact puller.

catnthehat · #12 08-22-2007, 05:53 AM

Dick and I have been reloading the WSM's for some time and were bothh members of shortmags.org, the foprrum dedicated to the WSM and WSSM cartridgees.
My mainstay was the wildcats in 6.5WSM and WSSM, and the 300WSM.
The brass on the WSSM cases is extremely thick , and this tends to casuse problems in some rifles, besides the unique situation of full length sizing working better than neck sizing ( not ALL time , mind you).

The best adivice I can give you on the brass is to watch your trim length on every reload, and keep them at the minimum - .010" back from SAMMI specs.
I also turn my necks to keep them uniform.

WSM brass WILL last a long time in a well chambered rifle ,sulljr has some in his 6.5WSM that are upwards to ten times reloaded, and I have some about the same.
Our rifles have custom cut chambers however.
I do not know about factory chambers.

As far as compressed loqads go, I shoot several calibers with compressed loads, and as long as you have the same amount of powder , there is no problem.
I use a drop tube for mine , and tend tap the powder down by putting my index finger over the case mouthh and tapping the edge of the casee on the side of the bench.
This setles the powder a bit.

Cat

Dick284 · #13 08-22-2007, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearbuster

I will try adjusting die but how do you shave shell holder?

I used a 120grit belt on my belt sander.
Put the sander upside down in your vise, lock the switch on plug it in, take the shell holder by the base with a pair of gloves on and simply place it on the flattest part of the sander and use a twist of the wrist motion to keep it uniform. Dont let it get smoking hot, and go slow, measure the height to start and remove only a thousanths of and inch at a time, till your at the point of proper fitting cases.

BTW: All the typical safety precautions apply to this as with any cutting or grinding procedure. Such as face and eye protection and proper guarding.

Bushrat · #14 08-22-2007, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Our rifles have custom cut chambers however.
I do not know about factory chambers.

Have a 270wsm, factory chamber, so far got 14 loadings on one batch of 50 pieces of brass and its still going strong and by the look of things I expect to get several more. Got some 6 ppc that has 36 loadings, havent even been annealed yet. If you size your brass right it can last a long time. I usually get at least a dozen loadings with pretty much anything.

sullijr · #15 08-22-2007, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered user

How does the 300 WSM case respond to neck sizing?

Not worth a damn,,,,take a resized case and put it into the chamber backwards gently,you will see that it easily slides in 1/2 inch or more (GENTLY) this should mean that case expansion means nothing,,BUT shoulder means almost everything it must be set back by full length resizing.I found that my Lee press had too much spring to set them back the RCBS will now, no problem.After all this has been tried and still problems clean the chamber of your rifle.One 1/4 inch piece of thread from a patch in the chamber will cause all the problems you're asking about....jack

Unregistered user · #16 08-22-2007, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sullijr

Not worth a damn,,,,take a resized case and put it into the chamber backwards gently,you will see that it easily slides in 1/2 inch or more (GENTLY) this should mean that case expansion means nothing,,BUT shoulder means almost everything it must be set back by full length resizing.I found that my Lee press had too much spring to set them back the RCBS will now, no problem.After all this has been tried and still problems clean the chamber of your rifle.One 1/4 inch piece of thread from a patch in the chamber will cause all the problems you're asking about....jack

How did you know my name is Jack?

Dick284 · #17 08-22-2007, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered user

How did you know my name is Jack?

His name is Jack.

209x50 · #18 08-22-2007, 11:56 AM

Chamfering the inner lip of the case mouth will stop neck bulges caused by bullet seating.
I used to load for a whole bunch of .338 mags for myself and buddies. All the brass was resized and trimmed exactly the same. One gun - a 700 - would bind on bolt closing on 1 or 2 rounds out of a dozen. The same rounds would run flawlessly though the other guns. Back then the only answer I got was the gun was one of the last made with a nearly wore out reamer causing a tight chamber. Don't know if that was truth or fiction but it sure was head scratcher!

Dick284 · #19 08-22-2007, 12:03 PM

Probably not a worn out reamer but probably the headspace was right on minimum, just allowing the go guage to fit.
You bring up an interesting point about cross loading for diffrent rifles. The only thing any rifle has in common is the manufacturer and the caliber. Even consecutive seriel numbers can have wide ranging diffrences in headspece, chamber tolerences and barrel quality.
Mass reloading is not overly safe in my books, every rifle should have lodas worked up and have the dies set for optimum results.

209x50 · #20 08-22-2007, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick284

Mass reloading is not overly safe in my books, every rifle should have lodas worked up and have the dies set for optimum results.

In general you are likely right. What we were doing here was loading a bullet not available in factory loads. The load we settled on was sub par comparable factory rounds in velocity and was shot in all the guns to check for visible signs of pressure. We settled on a powder charge that was 7% off max in the book and everyone was happy with the results. It wasn't a blind mass loading.

Dick284 · #21 08-22-2007, 12:22 PM

Thanks for the clarification Rich.
As an aside I wonder if the dies were tweeked for each individual rifle if that tough chambering one would have popped up. that's all.

209x50 · #22 08-22-2007, 12:35 PM

There was no tweaking to be done that I could see. Everything was full length resized and trimmed to just under factory specs. What else do you do other than modify your shell holder? And I'm not sure that would have corrected the problem. At the time no one had an answer for me and while the gun had a roughly 10% fail rate on the handloads it had just as high a fail rate on Rem factory ammo. Win was the only other available at the time to us and it never failed him. I told him many times to return the rifle.

Dick284 · #23 08-22-2007, 12:40 PM

Yup, wonky headspace would be my best guess.
Well I guess we can all learn from those sort of problems.