Experts, please help with Ammo issue.

Just some background, I've put together a lot of SA Savages, but this is my first time owning a belted magnum 300WM.

I went to the range today to shoot my rifle for the first time. I loaded the ammo using once fired FC brass using Hodgdon's 3.42" COL. Dummy me didn't cycle the rounds prior to heading to the range.

While I'm at the range, the bolt will not close for me. I have dry fired the rifle a few times with an A Zoom snap cap and when using the snap cap, the bolt would close.

Would I be correct into thinking that headspace my be my issue? I have a GO gauge, but the company I bought my GO gauge was out of NO GO gauges, so I used the tape method to simulate the NO GO gauge.

When I came home from the range, I went to my reloading room and grabbed a virgin Winchester brass case. With the Winchester case, I was able to get the bolt to turn, but I could not get it to close.

I'm thinking it's a headspace issue or the brass needs to be FL sized.

I suppose it could be an ammo issue, but the ammo is in spec in terms of case length and OAL.

Please advise me of any suggestions to resolve my issue.

Does it close on the GO gauge. If it closes the HS is fine as long as it does not close on the GO with the tape added. The belted round HS's on the belt, not the shoulder like a normal case. Check the HS with the GO gauge again. It should close with no resistance.

Yes, it does close on the GO gauge. I understand that headspacing is on the belt considering the GO gauge was only like 1.5" long.

I"m stumped as to what could be my issue.

Full length size your brass. Than after you fire form to your new chamber just neck size. Get you a wilson headspace gauge for sizeing brass

Hawk is correct. You need to move the shoulder back with a full length sizing die. It sounds like it was shot from a gun with a longer chamber than yours. Most factory rifles are head spaced off of the rim and the chambers differ in length from rifle to rifle.

Some fl dies won't go down to the belt and.cause a slight bulge above.the belt. Just something to watch for.

If it won't close on a virgin piece of brass like he said, something else is wrong.

Make sure your ejector isn't frozen or limited in it's travel.

Get a hornady headspace measuring tool to measure off the base to shoulder and measure a virgin case and set your full length sizer up so you can duplicate the same length.Fire a few and remeasure and set the die up so you bump it .002 thou for easy chambering.The tool can be purchased at midway,sinclair,brownels etc.

I'm surprised that virgin brass won't allow me to close the bolt.

I'm going to take a piece of brass and run it through my FL sizer die to see of that resolves the issue.

Thanks to all the suggestions.

If virgin brass won't allow you to close the bolt. You can have correct headspace (off bolt to belt) in your chamber but be short to the shoulder.

Even virgin brass can be off,try seating a bullet a little deeper and if that doesn't work you then need to adjust your die and full length resize everything all over. That means pulling all the bullets already made and then re find your seating depth (do it 4-5 times and take the average, then start at about .020 off the lands and work from there. But I think some of the guys are right your shoulders are not set back far enough or you created a bump in the brass right at the shoulder - body junction and it isn't allowing the bullet to enter the chamber,resizing should get rid of that. Good luck I am pretty sure it is something simple.
I have been reloading for over forty years and the only time I really ever had a problem was when I neck sized only. I now fl size every time.

So once I FL sized it resolved the issue with the FC brass.

I FL sized my virgin Winchester brass and I'd say only 1/3 of the brass that I FL sized worked. The other 2/3 still will not allow me to close the bolt. I'm going to call Winchester to see if they have any recommendations for me for their virgin brass.

Measure from the case head to the bullet side of the belt and compare the measurements of the brass with brass that will work and the brass that won't work. I would bet you will only be off 1 or 2 thousandths which MAY be inside sammi spec but check and make sure. Head space off the belt may be on the tight side.

Winchester is awesome to deal with...woman I spoke to sent me UPS label to return my brass. They are going to pay me $40 per 50pcs since 300WM brass is OOS. I"m glad that I have enough FC brass to hold me over until I can pick up some more brass.

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Originally Posted by aubie515

Winchester is awesome to deal with...woman I spoke to sent me UPS label to return my brass. They are going to pay me $40 per 50pcs since 300WM brass is OOS. I"m glad that I have enough FC brass to hold me over until I can pick up some more brass.

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man you sure got lucky. I've been trying to deal with Winchester for over a month to see what they can do about 5/m LR primers I bought and turned out to be undersized. Almost ruined the bolt face on a fairly new Tikka .243. They keep ignoring me.

I called Winchester ammo as they have different numbers. I was transferred to a woman named Kristin and she was great to talk to about my brass issue.

I shoot several different belted magnum calibers and am always on the lookout for brass. One of the problems encountered with belted magnum cases is that the case just above the belt swells and a regular full length sizing die won't correct that. I found a collet die made specifically to reduce the case diameter at the belt. Here is a link to the website that I got mine. http://www.larrywillis.com/ The collet die is the third item on his page. I use it after about every third loading on belted magnums and I use it with any fired cases I get from other sources. It paid for itself in recovered brass for me in short order.

I started looking at the collet die and many say it's not needed...even from those that own the die. I'm torn if I should spend the $100 on the die.

You may have chambers that are enough on the large side that you won't need one, I know that in at least two of my belted mag rifles the collet die makes a difference. I had about a hundred rounds of brass that wouldn't chamber until I ran it through the die. After that, the brass worked fine. As a rule, I resize with the collet die after about 3 firings in all my belted mags just to keep from having problems. Not pushing the die, just letting you know that it is an option for you if you run into chambering issues.

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Originally Posted by aubie515

I called Winchester ammo as they have different numbers. I was transferred to a woman named Kristin and she was great to talk to about my brass issue.

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Do you happen to have the phone number?

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Originally Posted by Blitzfike

I shoot several different belted magnum calibers and am always on the lookout for brass. One of the problems encountered with belted magnum cases is that the case just above the belt swells and a regular full length sizing die won't correct that. I found a collet die made specifically to reduce the case diameter at the belt. Here is a link to the website that I got mine. http://www.larrywillis.com/ The collet die is the third item on his page. I use it after about every third loading on belted magnums and I use it with any fired cases I get from other sources. It paid for itself in recovered brass for me in short order.

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+1 I watch for the same propensity for significant flow in that area. I haven't had any problems with my 300 win mag reloads so far--but also routinely retire them after 3 shots. I'm going to get one of these belted magnum collets sooner or later.

Reposted bellow.

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Originally Posted by aubie515

I started looking at the collet die and many say it's not needed...even from those that own the die. I'm torn if I should spend the $100 on the die.

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you dont need that die....im not knocking it or anything im just saying you dont need it just get a quality body die and save $70 bucks...if this is a hunting riffle set the die to bump the shoulder back about .003-.004 if its a target riffle .001-.002 because you want the cases to fit tight as it helps reduce large FPS spreads...body dies are designed to size the body and bump the shoulder and have much tighter tolerances than the FL sizing dies and the bottom of the die is machined for the belt so yes it sizes the entire body.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/420...chester-magnum

another thing is buy quality brass if you can...ive shot every brass made for a 300wm and nosler is hands down the best...brand new winchester brass lasted 5-6 loads,new FC and remington lasted 3-5 loads before the primer pockets wouldnt hold a primer anymore.
also an easy way to see whats going on with your brass is to chamber a piece of unloaded unprimed brass thats giving you problems and open and close the bolt a few times WITHOUT extracting it then extract it and look at the brass...you will see shinny gold rings where the problem is as the problem area/areas will rub inside your chamber.the biggest thing to watch for on belted cases is the shinny gold ring right where the belt meets the case as that is where the case stretches the most.in the pics bellow you can see the ring im talking about from the inside...those are nosler cases that were loaded 15 times and the primer pockets are still tight and i could probably get a few more loads out of them but id rather not take the chance 3" from my face.

i know its a crappy pic but you can see the ring right at the tip of the bullet and how the case is much thinner at that ring...at some point the head will separate from the case and that $100 dollar die WILL NOT stop or cure that problem its just what belted cases do.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/photo-5.jpg