Need help in measuring chamber.

[Marchboom]

When I measure the chamber of my Remington 40 X BR to set up the sizing die I remove the extractor and the firing pin/spring. Without a case in the chamber the bolt will fall when closed.

But how can I take this measurement with my Savage LRPV? If I take the spring washer (that provides pressure on the bolt head) off of the front of the bolt the small pin will fall out.

Any help with trying to get this case measurement would be appreciated.

[sharpshooter]

What exactly are you trying to measure??

[Robinhood]

Take the whole firing pin out. But I don't think that is absolutely necessary. Bolt will not close on sized brass. Turn die small amount. Measure and reduce shoulder to base dimension by .005". repeat until the bolt closes, back up five on the next piece of brass. Size that until you get it where you like it. If you are trying to find the lands then the first suggestion I mentioned works.

[Texas10]

I simply sort through my fire formed brass by chambering them, and select one that is a slightly stiff bolt close. That one is kept as a standard for that chamber. My ejectors are already removed from my Savage Actions, so they don't influence this procedure.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Ejector removed? :cool: Firing pin? Don't bother. Bolt is cocked and pin won't stick out till you pull the trigger.;)

[yobuck]

I guess I’m still stuck on why the need for a gauge?
Why not just get some good new brass, fire form it for that chamber, then just use it in that gun?
I guess if i really wanted a gauge for whatever reason, id make a chamber cast.
BTW, i have a 40xB i bought new in the late 70s on a sale at Leslie Edelmans store for $320.
It’s simply a 700 Rem with a solid bottom action, a better trigger and a varmit weight Rem barrel.
I still have the gun, but it wears a better barrel and i opened up the back end of the port to allow for a longer case.
Also a Sako type extractor and bolt release.
About a year or so ago a friend bought a long and a short 40x clone actions from PTG for about $400 each.
The short became a 6mm Dasher, and the long a 300 Ultra Mag.

[Marchboom]

I'm trying to set-up the sizing die to bump back the shoulder just enough to chamber the round without having to put any pressure on the bolt handle (thus indicating that the case was too long). I had some cases that were slightly longer than desired so I kept trying those after slightly sizing them. Pressure on the bolt handle became less (as I moved the shoulder back) until the bolt closed without any felt resistance. I will use this die setting to resize my brass.

I did take out the firing pin and ejector before doing this.

[Robinhood]

I guess I’m still stuck on why the need for a gauge?
Why not just get some good new brass, fire form it for that chamber, then just use it in that gun?
I guess if i really wanted a gauge for whatever reason, id make a chamber cast.
BTW, i have a 40xB i bought new in the late 70s on a sale at Leslie Edelmans store for $320.
It’s simply a 700 Rem with a solid bottom action, a better trigger and a varmit weight Rem barrel.
I still have the gun, but it wears a better barrel and i opened up the back end of the port to allow for a longer case.
Also a Sako type extractor and bolt release.
About a year or so ago a friend bought a long and a short 40x clone actions from PTG for about $400 each.
The short became a 6mm Dasher, and the long a 300 Ultra Mag.

I don't know where this fits but I love it.

[sharpshooter]

That's just making a simple task complicated. You don't need to remove any parts on the bolt, or even go by feel. Simply measure a fired case with a shoulder comparator, and resize .002" shorter.

[Marchboom]

That's just making a simple task complicated. You don't need to remove any parts on the bolt, or even go by feel. Simply measure a fired case with a shoulder comparator, and resize .002" shorter.

That's true, I can do that too. I was just trying another method to see how the bolt felt compared to just doing the measurement method.

[mikeinco]

because some people size to a random number, and some size for THEIR CHAMBER.
brass seems to last longer when not abused by OVER SIZING.


That's just making a simple task complicated. You don't need to remove any parts on the bolt, or even go by feel. Simply measure a fired case with a shoulder comparator, and resize .002" shorter.

[mikeinco]

without annealing, you cannot be sure the brass will size THE SAME as it ages/more firings.

[sharpshooter]

And that's why you measure it......

[wbm]

Who knew?! :cool:

[Marchboom]

without annealing, you cannot be sure the brass will size THE SAME as it ages/more firings.

I agree. Annealing can definitely affect spring back and how the brass responds to being resized. I have an anneal machine and plan to anneal regularly.

[mikeinco]

every time is regularly, anything else is subject to hardening, variation is sizing


I agree. Annealing can definitely affect spring back and how the brass responds to being resized. I have an anneal machine and plan to anneal regularly.

[Marchboom]

every time is regularly, anything else is subject to hardening, variation is sizing

Yep. I plan to do it every time. Just easier to keep track of the annealing frequency that way. Once I have my annealer set up it's easy to do.

[yobuck]

In the more than 50 years the Original 1000 Yd Benchrest Club has been in existence, there has only been one man who has won the year end award for group size aggregate for all the matches in a year two times. And his son won it also while still in high school, using ammo loaded by his father.
He happens to be a very old and close friend, and to this day he has never annealed a case.
Note that I didn’t say he didn’t sort his cases, or that they never had been annealed before he got them.
Now do i think he did that because he didn’t himself anneal?
No I don’t, but the fact remains he did win twice, which is twice more than most guys ever will, wether they anneal their cases or not, and no doubt today most of them do.
Mind you i have no problem with whoever doing whatever with their loading process.
But to imply that annealing every time is necessary in order to produce accurate loads is over the top in my opinion.
Go win something worth winning, and then come back and tell us how you did it.

[mikeinco]

while some people blow a lot of smoke about what they "know",
i do things.
i shoot 600/1000 and 2000 benchrest.
when i say something most of it has been proven in competition.
i have a 600 yard national championship and a 2000 yard win behind my "opinions".
not some friend, not some buddy i know, but what i did.
things change, groups get smaller with change. those that refuse to learn new stuff,
get left behind.
there are a couple of smoke blowers on these forums



every time is regularly, anything else is subject to hardening, variation is sizing

[Robinhood]

Now Now Mike. I am in your camp on annealing and I believe you put the work in, but there may be a cartridge or some brass that does not need the annealing as often.Im not a bench rest shooter so I don't know.

As far as smoke goes, the 2000 yard win was against one other competitor. 2 people battling to hit a target at 2000 yards. You competed against one other rifle that was a 6.5 Creedmoor. If you include the other competitiors you were next to last. It is about time that you stop calling that a win. The chest pounding and punching on the resident old folks (yobuck) is unbecoming...especially when your claim to fame was outgunning a 6.5 Creedmoore at 2000 yards.