Tough Problem that needs a solution (May be SOLVED)

[JJFly]

Here goes...

Factory 338-06 Weatherby ammo (210gr Part.) fired in my Encore.  GREAT groups and super velocity.  1st resize on brass chambers fine, add primer, powder, and bullet... chambers very difficult.   :evil: Same seating depth but with virgin Lapua Brass it chambers fine.   :shock:

Does this explain the problem???  Why can't I chamber a reload but I can with virgin fodder, and on top of that, why would the resized brass chamber but not the full round?   :roll:

Thanks... I'm hoping!

UPDATE:  Tested the above problem with once fired Lapua brass.  Everything chambers fine.  I double checked the trim length of the once fired Weatherby brass and trimmed it to the Lapua, it still chambers hard.  I now wonder if the neck area is thicker in Weatherby brass and thus would need to be neck turned?  Measuring a loaded round revealed the Weatherby is .001-.002" larger in diameter from the mouth to the first shoulder angle.

[Javelina]

Hello JJFly,

Just an initial thought, but did you trim your brass during your reloading process?  Brass that's too long after one or more firings can give you chambering grief as can brass that flows toward the neck making it a little thicker in that area.  Lapua brass may not have lengthened during firing, whereas your Weatherby brass might have grown too long and possibly too thick in the neck area (yes - it can happen in one firing).

Check the neck diameter of your reloads against some Weatherby factory ammunition, your reloads due to neck thickness might be just a little to large in diameter to chamber after the initial firing.  If that's the case, there might be some necking turning requirements in your future.

It sounds like you tried the case in the chamber after putting it through the die and it chambered fine, so I think you can probably rule out the possibility of not having sufficiently resized the case body itself (including the shoulder setback).

I hope one or more of these ideas helps you out.  

Javelina

[223Larry]

First thing I would do is make sure  the press is bumping over the resized round,then used a marker on the neck area of a resized round and see if it is too tight.you might try miking the neck of a fried round then a resized round with a bullet seated.A marker can work wonders.

[Lone Hunter]

The only thing I can think of would be as you fire the virgin brass,  the necks normaly get thicker.  As you resize,the neck is squeeezed to normal size.  Then you seat a bullet,   it pushes or bulges the neck out.  If the loaded cases neck is to big it will not chamber.  Measure your resized case neck and a reloaded case neck and see if they are different.  
  You also may want to color the neck of a resized case and a reloaded case with a black magic marker.  chamber them and remove them and see if the marker is wiped off.  This should tell you if it is hitting in the neck area.
  Your barrel may have a tight neck.  I don't know if this will help.

[KN]

Are you crimping this load? If so you may be crimping too much and causing a slight deformation. If your bullet runout is too severe it can do this. Roll the round along the table top and see if you can see very much "wobble" at the bullet.If its not seating depth thats the only thing I can think of right off hand. What feels like it's hanging up? The case body, bullet? How about a little more info. This ones really got me wondering.   KN

[Lone Hunter]

4 replies in 7 minutes.   Must be everyone got on the forum at the same time.

[JJFly]

I haven't measured the factory loaded neck diameter against the reload.  That is one thing to try.  With the barrel off the frame the case pushes in very hard and leaves half the rim exposed.  There are now marks on the neck area of the case and no land grooves on the bullet.  I have markered the case neck and noticed no rubbing.  I haven't checked the runout yet either.  I'll try those tomorrow.  Thanks for the start.

[KYODE]

what kinnda dies you using? i assume it's a custom chamber?
i had a problem very similar with a 6br vvcg encore. turned out the redding die was not squeezing the case body down enough. redding replaced the die with one hand picked by them, after sending them some fired cases. havn't tried loading the again yet. redding also makes a small base sizer for tight custom chambers. i may have to try it, if the new die doesn't work.

[Tony D]

One other thing to check:  Are you full length resizing?  On lower intensity rounds, you can get by neck sizing in the Contender and Encores, in the 338-06, you have significant pressure that causes the frame to flex and the brass to lengthen from shoulder to the case head.

[Lone Hunter]

With the barrel off the frame the case pushes in very hard and leaves half the rim exposed. There are now marks on the neck area of the case and no land grooves on the bullet. I have markered the case neck and noticed no rubbing.
 

   Just a question.  If you are showing marks on the case neck, How can there not be any rubbing off of the marker

[JJFly]

Lone Wolf... that was a typo... it was to read, there are "NOT" any marks on the case neck or land markings on the bullet.

Measured the outside neck diameter of the two loaded rounds this evening.  They are exactly the same.  The factory and once fired are identical.  I took several other measurements from factory and fired cases.  The biggest difference I see is the web area of the fired case is .002 larger than the factory one.  This should be normal expansion with a firing.

I'm thinking of getting a 30-06 body die and see if I can squeeze the taper back into the case a little.

Just not sure what is going on? :?

[KYODE]

once again,sure sounds like the same problem i had! my 6br brass is lapua also. i think it's heavier brass. i'd guess your die is not squeezing the body enough to go in your tight chamber.

[JJFly]

I contacted Redding today about a small base body die.  Not sure if I can use a small base 30-06 die or if I would have to use a 338-06 body die.  No word back from them yet.  Anybody out there use a small base die of the parent case for a wildcat?

[KYODE]

if that doesn't work, maybe see if they(redding) could hand pick one that would sqeeze it back a little more. thats what they did in my case. i sent them a few cases to measure. evidently, there is some slight tolerance difference between dies.