What did you do today in the reloading room?

[Jcalder]

Sounds like pressure. There are a couple of things that could be at play. If you were seating .02 off the lands you could have had one that was a little long and it jammed in when you closed the bolt. That can cause pressure to go up. Another thing could be the powder being temperature sensitive. When it's hot some powder will generate higher pressure. Like Jcalder said, you can prob drop your charge a little bit and go back closer to the lands to see if the accuracy comes back. What is the round and load you are shooting?

I would also like to know if you're neck sizing or full length as well. If you're neck sizing, might be time to bump those shoulders. If you are FL sizing, pressure, or case length is where I'd start.


ETA. I know you're not the one with the troubles, just carrying on the thoughts lol

 

[TNBillyEarl]

More background:

I'm full-sizing. I'm using RL-22 in a 7mmRM shooting 175g Partitions. I have never had a round in this batch, or any with this recipe 'stick' before. Another thought I have had is that maybe my chamber is dirty? I'm going to go down .3g of powder and see what happens while putting my bullet .02 off the lands like usual. Also, my POI moved 3 inches at 200 yards. This also doesn't happen.

Again, the only variable I know of that has changed is the temperature. Thank you all for the suggestions.

B

 

[Jcalder]

More background:

I'm full-sizing. I'm using RL-22 in a 7mmRM shooting 175g Partitions. I have never had a round in this batch, or any with this recipe 'stick' before. Another thought I have had is that maybe my chamber is dirty? I'm going to go down .3g of powder and see what happens while putting my bullet .02 off the lands like usual. Also, my POI moved 3 inches at 200 yards. This also doesn't happen.

Again, the only variable I know of that has changed is the temperature. Thank you all for the suggestions.

B

Pretty sure r22 is temp sensitive so that could be part of it. If this is virgin brass, get it fireformed and see what happens. Is this the same headstamp you normally use or different. Couple different things may be going on

 

[nso123]

More background:

I'm full-sizing. I'm using RL-22 in a 7mmRM shooting 175g Partitions. I have never had a round in this batch, or any with this recipe 'stick' before. Another thought I have had is that maybe my chamber is dirty? I'm going to go down .3g of powder and see what happens while putting my bullet .02 off the lands like usual. Also, my POI moved 3 inches at 200 yards. This also doesn't happen.

Again, the only variable I know of that has changed is the temperature. Thank you all for the suggestions.

B

I'm going to go with temp sensitivity most likely, but you are dealing with a belted magnum that brings a couple of other possibilities in. Since the round is supposed to headspace off the belt you can run into issues with the length of the brass. You might want to measure the shoulder between a fired round and a sized round. A carbon ring can also spike pressure. I'll even throw in that a different lot of powder can change pressure.

 

[Remi]

Made 270s into 25-06. Got 40 finished, 160 more need trimmed and chamfered. Probably gonna anneal once I'm done

I anneal, size, trim and chamfer. Seems to make the process smoother and cases come out more uniform.

 

[Jcalder]

I anneal, size, trim and chamfer. Seems to make the process smoother and cases come out more uniform.

While going thru all these I found 4 that were new. It was amazing how much easier they ran thru the die than the fired stuff.

 

[Remi]

Yeah, that's why I anneal first. It makes the process easier and the softer brass works easier. I also had fewer neck splits and better accuracy out of the gate annealing first. Making the brass soft after sizing doesn't help much, it needs to be soft prior to sizing to form.

 

[rifle02]

What did I do today? I looked longingly at the bench as I walked by it to go out and water the tomatoes. And a new box of Nosler 280ai brass is still calling to me. It's hidden back where I save stuff I don't want to use up right away. But I could hear them calling my name. I will rescue them soon I promise.

 

[nso123]

What did I do today? I looked longingly at the bench as I walked by it to go out and water the tomatoes. And a new box of Nosler 280ai brass is still calling to me. It's hidden back where I save stuff I don't want to use up right away. But I could hear them calling my name. I will rescue them soon I promise.

Did you hear them saying that they wanted to reduce the life of your shoulder and barrel?

 

[nso123]

If I'm not too lazy I might do something with this junk.

 

[TNBillyEarl]

I'm going to go with temp sensitivity most likely, but you are dealing with a belted magnum that brings a couple of other possibilities in. Since the round is supposed to headspace off the belt you can run into issues with the length of the brass. You might want to measure the shoulder between a fired round and a sized round. A carbon ring can also spike pressure. I'll even throw in that a different lot of powder can change pressure.

Nos123 and Jcalder (and MUP):

I'm shooting RP Brass that I think MUP gave me. When fired through my rifle, the Headspace comes out at 2.124". I bump it back to 2.120" when I fullsize. I always trim my brass to 2.500" after every firing. So today I went out in the heat and shot with .3 grains less of RL-22 (62.2g) with my usual .02" off the lands. It was still sticky, but less so (1 stuck, 1 took a bit of a jerk to open the chamber, and the 3rd shot didn't stick). It has to be the temp. I also think the temp is changing my POI. Here's a pic at 200 from just now. All my groups the past 2 years with this recipe have been around .7 MOA.

Unless anyone else has any ideas, I think I'm just going to wait until I can shoot in the 60's or so and see what I get. I don't want to shoot up the last of my primers trying to find a good seating depth.

Many thanks, Bill.

PS - Almost all of what I have learned with this rifle has come from MUP.

 

[Jcalder]

Nos123 and Jcalder (and MUP):

I'm shooting RP Brass that I think MUP gave me. When fired through my rifle, the Headspace comes out at 2.124". I bump it back to 2.120" when I fullsize. I always trim my brass to 2.500" after every firing. So today I went out in the heat and shot with .3 grains less of RL-22 (62.2g) with my usual .02" off the lands. It was still sticky, but less so (1 stuck, 1 took a bit of a jerk to open the chamber, and the 3rd shot didn't stick). It has to be the temp. I also think the temp is changing my POI. Here's a pic at 200 from just now. All my groups the past 2 years with this recipe have been around .7 MOA.

Unless anyone else has any ideas, I think I'm just going to wait until I can shoot in the 60's or so and see what I get. I don't want to shoot up the last of my primers trying to find a good seating depth.

Many thanks, Bill.

PS - Almost all of what I have learned with this rifle has come from MUP.

View attachment 142582

That's one of the reasons I went away from r22. I still wouldn't be upset with that group at 200

 

[markwondi]

More background:

I'm full-sizing. I'm using RL-22 in a 7mmRM shooting 175g Partitions. I have never had a round in this batch, or any with this recipe 'stick' before. Another thought I have had is that maybe my chamber is dirty? I'm going to go down .3g of powder and see what happens while putting my bullet .02 off the lands like usual. Also, my POI moved 3 inches at 200 yards. This also doesn't happen.

Again, the only variable I know of that has changed is the temperature. Thank you all for the suggestions.

B

What's the OD of your brass right above the belt? Specifically the fired brass that is causing the sticky bolt.

 

[MUP]

Here's another instance I've encountered with a 300 WinMag. I was loading for a '71 model 700 WinMag, using RP brass, RL 22, and 180 gr NBTs. I was working up a test group when I encountered a sticky bolt. I thought hmmm, that's odd, I'm still a full 2 grains below book max, so, thinking it was just an odd event, I fired the next round of the same charge. Same result, hard bolt lift. This could also be the same situation you're in, that the powder charge you're using is just too much for the chamber specs of this particular rifle. I'd lower it by a full 2 grains and see what happens, then go from there.

 

[TNBillyEarl]

The OD of my my brass above the belt is between .509" and .512" for sticky and not sticky rounds. Also, MUP might be on to it - my rifle has very little free-bore. I can't follow the 3.29" COAL in the Nosler manual b/c I dont' have that much room.

Maybe I do just need to dial my loads back... But maybe they only do this when it's hot?

B

 

[Jcalder]

Do you have access to chrony

 

[MUP]

The OD of my my brass above the belt is between .509" and .512" for sticky and not sticky rounds. Also, MUP might be on to it - my rifle has very little free-bore. I can't follow the 3.29" COAL in the Nosler manual b/c I dont' have that much room.

Maybe I do just need to dial my loads back... But maybe they only do this when it's hot?

B

Eh, maybe, maybe not. I could have dialed on up with my Sendero to above book max, (I wasn't experiencing any pressure signs at that point) as I was closing in on another node, but I chose to back down to the previous node to give myself some room for hot temps that I might have to shoot in.

 

[TNBillyEarl]

Do you have access to chrony

Yes. The sticky loads were going 2875, no stick 2825.

 

[Sniper23]

Loaded up some 300gr 8.6blk tonight.

 

[Snowwolfe]

Loaded 100 .223 rounds. 24 grains of TAC, CCI 450, and Sierra 55 grain spitzer. Found 8 boxes of bullets I bought decades ago for $3.75 a box.