You said: sidenote: My first batch of hand loads had a fit problem. specs were correct, but couldn't close bolt on some, others couldn't extract without a lot of force on bolt. I've seen a thread on this issue, but didn't know if it is relevant to my problem.
And my response to that would be a "Yeah for sure maybe". Ummm.....you definitely have a brass sizing issue if you can't close the bolt on your handloads, and\or you can't extract the cartridge (I'm assuming a non-fired reload) once you chamber the round. OR....you have the OAL seated to long and your jamming the bullet into the lands when you chamber the round (which can create a dangerous initial high pressure situation) OR your brass isn't trimmed to the proper length, and this could also create a dangerous initial high pressure situation.
So....after all of that, are you full-length sizing your brass? If so, have you tried just chambering your brass only (no primer or bullet loaded in it) into the chamber? If your F\L sizing die is set properly, your brass (once sized...and then trimmed to length...and trimmed after sizing) should "slide" right in and out of the rifle's chamber.
Check your brass sizing and post your results.
Dave
PS: Have you ever cleaned your bore with a quality copper remover solvent such as Wipe Out? I find that "new" barrels will copper up fast until they get "broken in" and the chamber marks get worked out.
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