Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Difficulty closing bolt on reloads, why?

Tell me what I did wrong. I reloaded about 50 cases of brass that I had fired in my rifle. 270 Winchester. I only neck sized the cases and then loaded them with 130 grain Hornady SST. About half the rounds feel like they are binding when I try to close the bolt and about 10% of them the bolt won't close at all. I don't recall whether I trim the cases or not as I loaded the ammo couple of years ago. I'm thinking the cases probably grew in length and aren't able to chamber. Tell me what I did wrong and how to correct it, please.

After reading an article by German Salazar, I quit neck sizing a long time ago. Didn't see the need.

Are the cases all the same brand/headstamp? Is there anything that the ones which don't chamber have in common? You might take one that won't chamber and Sharpie most of the thing, then carefully insert it in the chamber and see if you can figure out where the sticking point on the case is. You can also measure the cases of the loaded rounds to see if they should have been trimmed.

With once-fired brass from my 270 (and several others), I will generally use a Lee collet neck die, then measure and trim (if necessary), then run a handful of empty brass through my chamber to make sure they chamber just fine, before I prime and load them.

It does seem like a brass problem, rather than a bullet/seating problem, unless you've got a compressed charge of powder that is causing bullet creep over time.

I'll be curious to hear what you come up with.

The shoulders have grown (most likely) or the case head spacing is long. Full length size your brass and check the brass length to ensure they are not long. Old school thought used to be that neck sizing was more accurate, but not so as the chamber is not 100% round and headspace issues like what you experience cause the case to be misaligned.

Don't try to can the bolt over on these cases as you run the risk of falling the bolt lugs, an expensive problem.

You either didn't bump the shoulder back enough, or your bullets are hitting the lands.

You need to full length size.

Same thoughts

pull the components on 2 that don't fit, FL size and recheck the fit by closing the bolt.

If he's hitting the lands, and unable to close the bolt, wouldn't that indicate some serious neck tension?

Did they chamber when you first reloaded them? I NEVER reload without checking the cases in my chamber.
I check at least a few cases while setting up the sizing die and then at least a few after seating the bullets. If they are going to be used for hunting I run every round from the magazine and into the chamber.

Maybe it's the neck tension. The OP needs to pull the bullets and full length resize since he said he only neck sized. Like others said, I think he needs to bump the shoulder back. Or lube them up good and run them through a body die. Keep in mind you will be playing with loaded ammo. Pull the bullets and full length resize. Using a Hornady case comparater has been a real eye opener for me.

kwg

What Blacktailer said!

Reloading isn't hard with the correct tools. It's a game of measurements. You can measure to datum line, oal case length, and to ogive length. One of those will give you the answer...

Until one goes off through the shop wall and into the neighbors house, killing a kid. I get sick and tired of hearing about you stupid fu cks doing this. Yes, check your brass for fit. You should never have to check your loaded rounds unless you have no concept of how to set your dies or know where the lands are. What you guys are doing is a rookie move. Not a great suggestion

That would depend on how much powder is in the case.

Ok Karen. Make sure you wear your mask too. If it troubles you so, remove the firing pin first, or have someone do it for you.

Good Lord, no wonder this country is being run by binary people.

Another thing that has bit me is having the bullet seating die set to low where it is “bulging” the shoulders out. Back the die out a bit and lower the seating plug to get the correct oal.

If this is what happened, you can pull the decapping pin out of the sizing die and run the loaded rounds up into the die slowly to push the shoulders back in. It depends how bulged they are, whether it will work or not.

O don't believe there's enough neck tension to prevent a bolt from closing, that bullet will slide back enough to allow bolt closure,

Pull the components, and FL size correctly, the bolt will close.

If his loads were from two years ago, do we even know if the brass was fired in the same chamber?

He is here to learn. Take it easy dude!

If it was a mixed lot of brass the amount of spring back will vary and the cases will be different sizes. Next loading you may consider annealing the cases. If the above suggestions are not successful then I might be tempted to go all the way and even de-cap the primers and start at square one with annealing, case trimming and champfering, FL bump size and maybe collet size as well. Then double check the seater die especially if it has a crimp feature like RCBS. Make sure you have clearance of the crimper and check over all length to make sure you are not into the lands.

Might not hurt to clean the chamber and barrel, I have had a carbon ring cause bullet jam when a clean barrel had clearance.