Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles HELP!

If I was over expanding the case neck wouldnt the bullet not seat right. I have gone back and loaded dummy rounds for the 3rd time resetting the dies each time and am still having the same problem. If there was a burr wouldnt it scuff the factory ammo too?
thanks for the suggestions guys, youve all been a big help.

When you trimmed your cases too much, did you also deburr the inside & outside of the case? If you have a large ring of brass on the outside of the casemouth it could cause tight seating.

I did chamfer and deburr. The thing that is confusing me the most is the sized brass chambers fine but once a bullet is seated the problem occurs, no matter the seating depth.

Measure the case neck after seating a bullet. With a .284 bullet, the neck diameter should be about .314". The would mean the neck wall thickness is .015, which is about normal for SAAMI dimensions. If your case necks measure more than .314", your brass could be too thick, causing it to contact the neck recess in your chamber. Too thick neck wall thickness and an undersized neck diameter in your chamber can cause the problem you are having.

Measure a fired case at the neck. It's diameter should be about .316" to 318". Add .001 to your measurement and this will give you your neck dia. in the chamber.

When a cartridge is a tight fit into a chamber, it means that, somewhere, the cartridge is either longer or larger than the chamber. Carefull measurement will tell you where.

To determine your neck wall thickness, seat a bullet and make the measurement as described above. Subtract .284 from this measurement and divide by 2 and you will have your neck wall thickness. Measure in two or three places around the circumferance of the neck, in the event that the brass is thicker on one side than the other.

IIRC, neck wall thickness on factory cartridges is supposed to be about .015".

While you are at it, on a re-loaded cartridge, measure your shoulder diameter and compare it to a factory load.

Another problem could be that your seating die is too deep in your press, causing the mouth of the neck to contact the crimping shoulder, causing either the neck or shoulder to bulge.

When this happenes, the die is trying to crimp a case into a bullet with no crimping groove, causing the neck and/or shoulder to crush.

The scratch on the bullet? Is the bullet not seated deep enough and the ogive is contacting the rifling?

Throughly examine a re-loaded cartridge, using a magnifying glass if you have too. Check where the neck joins the shoulder, to make sure this area is not bulged or deformed, or the neck not pushed back into the shoulder.

You might want to try partial sizing a case that was fired in this rifle and see if this remedys the problem. If it does, then the problem is definately in the sizing operation. It just remains to determine where.

Something else that could be wrong is that the expander ball is too large, and when it is pulled back through the neck, it is stretching the neck and deforming the case at the shoulder.

Maybe some of the other readers can tell you the correct dimensions, but I don't know the correct diameter for an expander ball. My guess is .002 to .003 larger than the bullet diameter, but I don't know for sure.

Or, the expander ball can be too small, not expanding the neck enough and the case neck is being deformed when you seat the bullet.

Was the brass you are trying to re-load originally fired in this rifle? If not, then sizing die might not be sizing the case down enough to fit your chamber. This is a common problem. I have only had it happen once, but Mule Deer said he has seen this happen several times with various calibers.

I measured the neck and it was .310 so the brass is not to thick.Also on the fired and ejected brass there is a flatened side of the case neck, on factory ammo and reloads. Could whatever is scraping the bullet be causing this too.(Its not the magazine, It does it with the magazine in and out.)There is no evident buldges anywhere on the cases. I belive I will ourder a Full length die and see if this makes a difference.

OK now...diamaiter is good to go. What kind of seater are you using? Something almost has to be changing the shape of the case in the seating process if it chambers without problems after just sizing because there is no problem with the size of the neck after seating bullet. Are you feeling a lot of pressure when you seat your bullet? I had a set of dies that the seater was actually so tight it was doing a partial case sizing on neck sized cases and that will make you case longer because it doesn't bump the shoulder back down. If you have ever just barely tightened you FL sizer and measured to the shoulder at each turn you will see that it actually lengthens the case until you get to the point where it starts bumping the shoulders back down to the proper size. I've done this with many calibers and many dies and the process is always the same. The case will lengthen as the walls are pushed in and you have to hit the top of the die to push the shoulders back into place. I had a die custom honed for my 308 that only sets the shoulder in and back .001 and in .002 at the web. I thought this was the answer to over working brass. I found however when stepping it down to get it set right to do the minimal sizing I was looking for I was still moving the shoulders forward nearly .003 before it set it back where it should be and would chamber without problems. That's one reason I have a problem with the term "partial full length sizing". Only way you don't work your brass is to neck size.

I think you`ll find this the ejector slamming the case mouth against the side of the receiver prior to the case reaching the port. I`ve a couple rifles that do this and most of the semi-auto handguns I`ve had do it too.

Once my FL die arrives I will try that and see what happens. Im using a regulare rcbs seating die. Is it possible the case neck is being bent slightly causing the bullet to seat slightly off center? When seating the bullet there is little to no resistance at all, everything feels fine when working the ram. I did shoot 5 of these reloads and everything was fine, I was worried about the loss of accuracy with the scrape on the bullet, but they still shot 3/4 moa.

ol joe do you think it is the side of reciver that is scratching the bullets too? If soo why doesnt it scratch the bullets on factory ammo?

Was the brass you are re-loading originally fired in the rifle you are working with?

Mark one of your re-loads with a magic marker. Carefully orientate the cartridge in your rifle, making note of the mark.

Chamber and eject the cartridge, closing the bolt completely, and examine for the scratch. Carefully check the chamber, with a small light if you have to, and the feeding ramp for roughness or a burr in the position where the bullet scratched.