Quote Originally Posted by zilla View Post
Thanx for the replies.. I full length size every time and trim to length. I'll check the face for brass.. To clarify: It's not that the bolt is hard to lift. It isn't. The problem is after the handle is raised the bolt will not slide back.. I thump it a few times with my hand and it opens.. I loaded some new brass and had issues still. Note, it's not every round.. Sometimes it doesn't occur for 15-20 rounds..

I read elsewhere that one fella had this problem and cured it by replacing the bolt handle.. On a whim I swapped bolts with my son's Savage 12 in 223. I fired close to 200 rounds today P-dawging and not one issue.. One box of reloads was on it's fourth reloading.. Now I am wondering if the issue isn't just the bolt handle.. FWIW there are a lot of people with this issue it seems, as I was googling ..

FWIW I am using a Redding competition die set. I am familiar with bushing dies, just do not own any
Redding is a good die, I have a few in pistol calibers. However the base on a Redding, just like an RCBS is long to the point where, even with an interference fit between the shellholder and the die base, it's impossible to bump a shoulder. There are 2 solutions, you can purchase (from Sinclair) a reduced height shellholder. The machined distance from the top face of the shellholder is less that an off the shelf (standard one and you can buy them in 2 thousands increments or, you can grind off the base of the die a bit, you can even do that with a grinding wheel if you are careful. I chuck mine upside down on a surface grinder in the shop. You need to check the bolt face for brass transfer that will be the giveaway as to a headspace issue.

Typically, when I build a load for any rifle (I just happen to build loads for a lot of clients), I always start with a no bump situation on new sized brass and work up from there ascertaining bolt lift, drawback and brass transfer and then start bumping the shoulder to where the symptoms disappear and no more. That is typically 0.002-0.003 (measured with the appropriate headspace gauge).

I have no idea how hot (or mild) you load and don't care really, but, 4 reloads is pushing a case, especially if you are resizing with an expander ball on the die stem. That neck is getting brittle.

All my long range rifles and medium range ones as well have dedicated custom made die sets, made by John Whidden expressly for that rifle. I send John 4 fired cases and he machines the die to match the fired case dimensions or to a reamer print. I'm of the understanding that RCBS will do the same with their Gold Medal dies. That way, you size with a die that has internal dimensions exactly that of the fireformed case because every chamber is different, just like fingerprints and stock dies are made to SAMMI dimensions which probably aren't the dimensions of your actual chamber.

I do the same with my client's rifles. When I do a build I order a custom die and that dies goes with the rifle plus I do all the load workups using that one die.

Your bolt face will tell the story. Even faint brass transfer is a headspace issue. There should be none unless you are really running hot loads and then issues usually show up with the primer cratering.

People attribute all sorts of issues to everything other than inadequate headspace and headspacing is an easy fix. I know a guy who literally knocked his bolt handle off trying to get the rifle to come out of battery.