Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 30-06 Load Problems

I've been scratching my head over this one all day. Hopefully someone here can help me with it.
I've started reloading for a new to me 30-06. Ramshot's reloading manual lists 58 grains as a max load for a 168 Barnes and Big Game powder. I loaded up 4 at 54, 54.5, 55, etc. and went to the range. I shot the first 54 grain round and it ejected fine, the second round had a little more pressure to the bolt lift but it wasn't enough to concern me too much, the third round ejected smoothly and the fourth round slipped the extractor and stuck in the chamber. Any ideas what caused this?
P.S. I am using once fired Remington brass (fired in a different gun and full length resized and trimmed) and CCI 200 Primers. My first instinct is to go buy a new bag of Winchester brass and start over.
Thanks for the help
Rob

I forgot to mention there are no other sings of pressure on the cases. Also the rifle is a Weatherby if that makes any difference. Rob

Hate to say it but the cause of the stuck round might well be ignoring the increased bolt life on round two.

Miles.
I agree the two are definitely linked. I should have phrased that differently. The increased lift wasn't enough to concern me at the time. It was so minimal I first thought I might have been imagining it, until round 4. My concern is why I am getting stuck cases so far below the max load with the absence of any other pressure signs.

I've never seen or heard of a stuck case due to overpressure, but I guess it could happen. I have heard of a stuck case due to even slight rust in the chamber. The rust in the chamber allows it to "grip" the case after it has expanded. Take an oversized patch on the end of a cleaning rod, add a little oil and twist in the the chamber several times. If it comes out with a slight rust color this could be your problem.
Hope this helps,
Rick

I'm thinking this is the problem and answer.

Brass fired in another rifle, if it's full length sized shouldn't have any effect. I've fired thousands of rounds of brass in several rifles that were first fired in another. 30 years ago that was about the only source for brass for me for several rifles. I wouldn't pay the price for new brass back then. If once fired brass in another rifle won't chamber, that's certainly a possibility, but not extracting after firing is not an indication of that being the problem.
I think you'll find a light coat of rust as mentioned above.
Good Luck,
Rick

PS If so, let us know, and I'll tell you how to clean it up.

I've had that very problem. Most pronounced with aftermarket barrels, but with OEM barrels, too.

Unless there is an irregular feature in the chamber such as a ring, or groove, or as mentioned rust, there shouldn't be anything in the chamber to keep the case from extracting. I am assuming the rifle in question has functioned properly in the past. A case fired in an egg shaped or oval chamber (which is somewhat common) may not chamber in another rifle, or even the same one unless properly sized, but there has to be some feature of the chamber such as a ridge or ring or rust which would "hold" the case. Since I assumed the rifle had functioned properly before, rust is the most likely culprit for the problem.
I guess we should ask the original poster...Has this rifle extracted cases properly in the past, or is it a new or "new to you" rifle? If there is a ring or groove in the chamber a close inspection of the casings fired should reveal this.

Rick,
I checked for rust and nothing showed up on the cloth other than a little carbon. I also can't find any abnormalities on the fired cases. As for the history of the gun, I can't speak to that. These are the first four rounds I fired through it. I agree that the brass being fired in a different gun shouldn't have an affect. I've mixed 270 brass from at least 5 different rifles and never had a problem. Even so I think I'll pick up some new brass and try again.
Thanks for the advice and I'll give an update when I find out more.

A couple of further questions....You've got my curiosity up..How difficult was the brass to remove (I'm assuming you used a cleaning rod from the muzzle? or similar?) Did it release easily or was it to some degree "stuck" to the chamber? And, Are the fired primers flush with the bottom of the cases, or do they stand a little proud? Just wondering out loud......Did the extractor "jump" the rim..or never had a good bite on it to start with?
Rick

Will a bullet fit into the mouth of a fired case?. A tight
neck will put the pressure up with standard loadings.

I would guess that you did it correctly.

But if it were me I would check the simple stuff first--did you adjust the sizing die to size the brass correctly?

How do the pieces of fired brass compare in size (i.e. with your calipers) against another piece of brass?

It might just be a soft batch of brass.

Last year I finally ran out of a 500-round batch of Remington .257 Roberts brass purchased maybe 10 years ago, and bought some new Remington brass from a local store.

My wife had been using some of the old lot of brass in her NULA rifle, but when she loaded up the new batch brass with the same load (and powder, bullets and primers from the same lot) as previously used, it was very hard to extract fired cases. We tried a couple of different things, but then I bought some new Winchester brass and the problem went away.

Have seen and heard of the same thing from several people with recent batches of Remington brass. Some is simply too soft to be loaded up to 60,000 psi or so without sticking.

Couple of thoughts/ideas: in looking at Ramshot's 30-06 on-line data, I see the 58 grain max. for Big Game with the Barnes 165. Right next to it, they list 55.3 as max. with Big Game and the 168 Sierra. Going over to Barnes' site under 30-06 data, I see they list 55.5 as max. with Big Game for all of their 165/168 bullets. Barnes' data makes me wonder if you might be closer to the top end than you realized.

After FL sizing your brass, did you check to see how it chambered? Any difficulty closing the bolt? I've had chambering difficulties after just FL resizing brass fired in a different rifle. Turning the die down in small increments until the bolt closed with light resistance took care of it. The shoulder needed a bump and wasn't getting it from just FL sizing.

I use more Winchester brass than any other make, but when I have used Remington and compared capacities against Winchester, it usually holds a bit less which might get you to a top end load with 1 - 2 grains less powder.

It could be any of the things mentioned or a combination of several things, but I'd probably just start with new brass...

A new bag of Winchester brass cured the problem. I was able to go all the way up to the max load of 58 grains.
Rick-The primers were flush. When I removed the brass it took 6 or so pretty good thumps with a rubber mallet on the end of the cleaning rod.
Hawkins-a bullet fit into the fired case.
Joe- that crossed my mind, I had that happen once in the past.
Mule Deer- I think you might have nailed it with the soft brass.
Gray-that is interesting that the Barnes and Ramshot data varies so much.

Thanks everyone for all the help
Rob

I hate to say I told you so, but:











I told you so.... Glad ya got 'er fixed.

Rather than abandoning the brass you have, why not reload a few of them and see if the problem persist.

Glad you got it worked out. I was going to suggest shooting some factory ammo in it just to see how they functioned.