Reloads sticking in chamber

[NHshtr]

Hi,
Hoping the reloaders here can help me with a problem.
I have a new Savage 110 Storm in 7mm-08. I've had a problem from the get-go with ammo that I reloaded being difficult to extract after firing. The rounds go in and come out prior to firing very easily. But after firing, the bolt is difficult to raise and once raised is difficult to extract the round. When it comes out, the brass has some ding marks right on the corner of the shoulder. I've trimmed the cases to spec (2.025") full length sized the brass, set the CAOL (2.750") well below max and still have 50% of the rounds stick after firing and come out with the ding marks on the shoulder. I'm well under the max load for H4895 at 40.0 grains. The primers don't look flattened, so I don't think it's a high pressure problem.
Would an eccentric die cause this? Perhaps the die isn't setting the shoulder back enough? Has anyone had this problem and maybe a reason for it? Not sure why there would be ding marks on the shoulder.
Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

[TXCOONDOG]

There are all kinds of things that can cause this. First of all, Have you cleaned your chamber ?

Have you tried factory ammo ? If so, same issue ? If so, could be a combination of the head spacing being set wrong and a rough chamber with tools marks, etc.

A picture of the fired brass’ neck, body, head with the primer still in it would help!

Any ejector marks ?

Any carbon leaking around the primer ?

What brass are you using ? Brass captivity can vary. Hornady brass holds a grain or two more than Peterson brass i.e. You can get a heavy bolt lift without flatting the primers in brass with small primer pockets. Seen this in a 6.5 Creedmoor.

What primers are you using ? Winchester and some CCI primers are hard and you won’t always see flatting or cratering of primers.


What bullet and weight are you using ? Do you have a OAL gauge ? Did you check to ensure your bullet is not in the lands ?

At this juncture, I don’t think your die is the issue since you full length resize and your loaded rounds chambers easily (assume bolt closes easy) which brings me to the next question.

Do you have a headspace gauge aka comparator ? This is a great tool for measuring your fired brass and setting your die to bump the shoulder back .002-.003. You still have to check the brass in your rifle to ensure the bolt closes without being forced or has too much resistance.

Anyway, If you don’t have one buy one as Hornady’s L-N-L Comparator System is cheap and every reloader should have one.

These are things that come to mind at the moment.

[Robinhood]

Since this happens only after firing it is not your sizing. Clean your chamber really well.

If the dings are scratches you may need to polish the chamber. I have discussed how to polish your chamber on other threads.

[sharpshooter]

The scratches on the shoulder didn't come from the chamber, it comes from the sharp corner on the lug abutment when the case is tipped from the ejector.

[Doubs]

Try factory loads that are close to your reloads and see if they have the same problems. If not, your reloads may be at fault.

A rough or poorly cut chamber could cause your problem with the case sticking. Thick brass with lower than normal internal capacity might cause high pressures even though your load isn't maximum.

I'd look at the chamber first if it happens with factory loads. Have a gunsmith look things over and check headspace.

[Texas10]

A picture of the case damage would help diagnose. Sometimes a too low powder charge will not expand the neck properly and some of the combustion gas will go past the neck into the chamber, frequently denting the cartridge case. But don't be guessing, purchase a Teslong borescope camera, or a genuine borescope and get to know your rifles chamber and bore. Most of your questions will be answered once you done a visual inspection. I had a new Savage rifle that chewed up every case I put through it. I ended up sending it back and had the chamber scrubbed and honed and that fixed the problem. If I'd had the camera back then, I may have saved myself the trouble of sending it back, and performed the cleanup myself.

As Sharpshooter wrote, some cases, the 223 most particularly, will be dented by a sharp corner on the lug abutment. To investigate this possibility simply remove the ejector on the bolt head. The case will then remain on the bolt head as you extract and then picked off by hand and should not be dented.

You can also take note of the position of any dent relative to the case rotation. Mark an unfired cartridge with a sharpie and chamber with the mark at 12:00. Fire and remove, then note where the dent is relative to the chamber. A sharp dent on the 4:00 position as viewed from the shooters position is likely caused by the bolt lug abutment. You may also be able to perform this test with an empty case. The only way I know to fix this is by removing the barrel and blending the sharp corner of the lug abutment with a dremel tool. I've done this to all my Savage actions when changing barrels.

If this is indeed the cause of case damage, removing the ejector, weakening the ejector spring by clipping off a coil or two, or replacing the entire ejector are other options short of removing the barrel as described above.

It'll be looking forward to seeing a pic of the damage case.

[bsekf]

If a unfired case chambers and ejects with no problem, I would look at pressure. Because of brass "spring back" a fired case usually extracts with no problem..... unless you have pressure. Are your reloads near max?

Bill

[NHshtr]

Hi.
Thanks to all for the replies and info. Sorry for the delay in response. When I posted, I got a note that didn't stay on the screen long enough for me to read. I checked to see if it was posted a couple of days later and didn't see it; figured I screwed it up.

Anyway, here's what I did and have found since.
First, I'm shooting 120 grain Nosler BT, using 40.0 grains of H4895 and Federal 210 LR primers, and Hornady cases. This powder charge was from Nosler's website and is a moderate load.
I reload for a 7mm-08 Encore handgun (15"). As you know this is a single shot and the round simply drops in and no bolt. Never had a problem. Cases I fired in that gun are the ones I full length re-sized and loaded for the rifle.

I have looked in the chamber (which I cleaned very well) with a borescope and saw a couple of burrs, but on further shooting, I don't think the burrs have anything to do with it.
So I bought a box of Nosler BT loaded ammo and fired 10 of the rounds and they didn't stick. So being sure my chamber and cases were clean, I annealed 10 cases, resized, reloaded and fired them; 4 of 10 stuck. I reloaded 10 rounds of new Hornady cases and they all worked well.
So I suspected my dies. Bought new Hornady Custom Grade dies and reloaded with those using resized previously fired Hornady cases. Six of 10 of those wouldn't chamber. that was at the very end of insertion, so I suspect I may not have re-sized to the very bottom of the case since the other 4 fired well.
Summary: new Hornady cases enter, fire and eject fine.
Commercial ammo enters and ejects fine.
Using new dies, my previously fired FL re-sized cases 6 of 10 wouldn't go fully into battery: bolt handle hard to close, but when carefully and a bit forcefully closed, they fired, and ejected OK. The 4 "good" ones were OK, both in and out.

The rifle fires less than MOA with this round - when I fire it! :)
My next step I guess is to be sure I have my die set properly to be sure the case is resized right to the bottom, reload and try them out.

[bigedp51]

A case fired in your Encore handgun chamber is fire formed for that chamber. And when you full length resize these cases they want to spring back to their fired size.

I buy bulk once fired Lake City 5.56 and 7.62 brass and resize them with a small base die the first time to reduce them to SAAMI minimum dimensions.

You can try and size your cases again and pause for 4 or 5 seconds at the top of the ram stroke. This reduces brass spring back after resizing and "MAY" fix you problem.

NOTE, when resizing for a semi-auto the resized case should be .003 to .005 smaller in diameter than its fired diameter. This allows the case to spring back from the chamber walls and extract reliably.

Below three types of Forster .308 dies.

https://i.imgur.com/gFCObJR.png

[NHshtr]

I should add that there are no marks, rifling or otherwise on the bullets. They are set at 2.750" OAL which is .050" less than OAL of the load data. But they group very nicely at that setting.

[charlie b]

I had the same kind of problem when I set the dies wrong on a rifle one time. I was setting for neck size only and didn't get it right. About 1/4 of them were very hard to chamber. Then I went back to full length size and everything was fine.

[NHshtr]

Thanks charlie b,
I had full length resized all the cases. But to your point, I went back and rechecked the die setup to make sure it's correct. I just reloaded the 1x fired Nosler cases (9 ea.) and 1x fired the Hornady cases (8 ea.).
As a "control group" I also disassembled the rounds that wouldn't chamber and resized them again and made sure the cases went easily through the action, then reloaded them. Put all of them through the action after completed. They all went in easily and ejected easily. I'll fire them on Sunday afternoon and see how they compare and if any stick.

Funny, the last batches I fired didn't stick at all. I had used some steel wool on the chamber and when I looked with the borescope, the burrs were smaller and the cases don't show dings on the shoulder anymore.

[NHshtr]

Thanks biged51,
When I reloaded this next set of cases, which were previously fired in the Encore, I paused at the full insertion and on some, put them thru a couple of times. When reloaded, they do go in easily and eject easily. Hopefully, they will fire form to the Savage chamber and be more easily resized next time around.
I will not be mixing brass between the two firearms going forward.

[bsekf]

Reloading for the Encore is a different ballgame. With the break open gun you get a little frame stretch and the cases come out a little long and usually oversized at the base. That is why you should FL size the Encore brass every time AND keep them segerated.

Bill

[NHshtr]

Thanks bsekf. I fired reloads of all the mixed (but re-sized) cases this time and they were not a problem now that I took some of the steps suggested here (getting shoulder bump right, pausing during re-sizing, getting the base completely in the die (after being fired in the Encore), and others.
Even though I'm not just neck sizing, I plan to keep the brass for each gun separate anyway.

Thanks again to all for the help.

[rerun5]

I found the same problem with some of mine with my then new Axis 6.5 Creedmoor. I tried re- full length sizing and some still stuck. So I decided to hold the ram at the top of stroke for a few seconds and it solved the problem.