reliability issues

[southpaw89]

Drove out to the farm today with the intention of doing a ladder test in my .308 for a new load. Problem was, the bolt was hard to get closed on many of the rounds. Load I tried today was new Nosler brass, CCI no 200 primers, IMR 4064, and 165 gr sierra game king with an OAL of 2.799. To ensure that it wasn't a rifle issue, I cycled some old loads of Hornady A-max also set at 2.799 that functioned flawlessly. Now that I know it isn't a rifle issue, it must be this most recent load. Any insight as to what this might be would be greatly appreciated.

 

[keystonecop]

The shoulder on the new brass needs to be bumped down a couple of thousandths.

 

[Rubberduck270]

You'll want to see how far off the lands the 165 Sierra's are and see how a piece of the new brass chambers without a bullet seated. Sounds like either the OAL is a little long or the new brass is a little large for your gun.

 

[GOODWIN]

The ogive of that bullet is probably different and needs to be seated further

 

[Deer Assassin]

seating error

or brass re-sizing error

 

[ADR]

Try running some of the new empty brass through and ensure bolt cycles well. If it does, it points to bullet seating issue. Usually OAL, but I have witness neck thickness of brass cause similar issues. New unloaded brass cycles fine, but once a bullet is seated into the neck it would be too thick (outside diameter) for the chamber.

A sharpie painted round is good at showing where contact is usually.

 

[southpaw89]

Thanks y'all, I will try this when I get home this evening.

 

[DaveB]

Just as a general rule when you set up a die or get ready to run a bunch through your FL die be sure you wipe the first two clean and try to chamber the brass.

Best to find out with only two to re-do than when you have a box of 50 loaded. Believe me.

 

[southpaw89]

Got home this evening and resized one of the pieces of brass. The brass itself cycled through the rifle properly. I seated a sierra gameking at the same depth as before with no powder or primer, would not cycle. I colored in the entire round with sharpie and attempted to cycle it through the rifle, the scratch ended up midway along the bullet as pictured below. Using another piece of Nosler brass a made another dummy round with speer softpoint seated at the same 2.799 and it cycled properly. put the calipers at the point of the scratch at it measured at .307. Any further advice will be greatly appreciated. For what it is worth, the rifle is a ruger american rifle.

 

[ADR]

Difference in ogive between bullets. OAL is different than ogive seating depth.

 

[mr.big]

seat them .010 deeper at a time until they will chamber,,the 165 SGK was made to reach the lands and fit the mag,,usually they have to be loaded shorter and shoot well about .025 off the lands

they shoot real well in my Model 7 308

 

[Jcalder]

I have no idea what gun you are loading for and no 2 are gonna be alike, but when I shot those same bullets I loaded them to 2.740. I shoot a savage model 10. A hornady oal gauge helps a ton along with a comparator but it's not necessary.


Big or small, kill em all

 

[user 14220]

Some rifles have short throats, some have long. Just adjust the bullet seating until it chambers. If you think the throat is really short give Ruger a call.

 

[southpaw89]

I started off seating them 0.010 shorter until I reached the minimum 2.750 per my lee manual. Chambering still took a good bit of effort and the significant scratch in the sharpie was recurrent (recolored after each resize). Should I just chalk this bullet up as a lost cause for my particular rifle? My loaded a-max, speers, and nosler ballistic tips function flawlessly.

 

[KPH]

Check bullet size as compared to one that chambers.

 

[Jcalder]

I started off seating them 0.010 shorter until I reached the minimum 2.750 per my lee manual. Chambering still took a good bit of effort and the significant scratch in the sharpie was recurrent (recolored after each resize). Should I just chalk this bullet up as a lost cause for my particular rifle? My loaded a-max, speers, and nosler ballistic tips function flawlessly.

in my 243 I'm shorter than listed data. It's not a lost cause unless is just won't shoot. Seat them a bit deeper.


Big or small, kill em all

 

[mr.big]

dont worry with the manual,,keep going shorter until it will chamber,,back off a couple grs and work up a load,,

 

[sll]

Some rifles have short throats, some have long. Just adjust the bullet seating until it chambers. If you think the throat is really short give Ruger a call.

This....I load for my son's Ruger American and I ran into the same problem. I am at work right now and can't recall how much deeper than spec I had to seat the bullets before they would chamber correctly, but it was quite a bit. Best I can tell from other gun forums, this is a common thing with this particular rifle.

 

[southpaw89]

Thanks for the replies. Sll, if you could it would be awesome to see what you seated yours at.

 

[sll]

I forgot to mention his was a .270 so it will not help you any.

 

[southpaw89]

Lol aw man! I finally got them to chamber without any extra force needed. Thank you all for your help!

 

[MUP]

So how deep did you have to seat them in the end? What was your final OAL, or ogive measurement?

 

[southpaw89]

Sorry for the long delay MUP, been out of town on a mission trip. I am going to have to tinker with it to find a load that works and shoots well. I am assuming it will be somewhere between 2.745-2.748.