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.

There are a couple of possibilities. Most likely is that the way you are neck sizing is pulling the shoulder forward a bit. Are you using a FL die but only partially neck sizing? That will often do it, either as a result of the expander ball dragging the neck forward, without the shoulder being supported, or (depending on case shape) the die contacting the case body and squeezing it, again without the shoulder being supported.

I personally prefer Lee's collet dies, to avoid such problems. FWIW I only ever neck size.

Other possibilities (perhaps a bit less likely, but I've experienced these) include:

- your cases are seriously overlength, and are pushing into the leade;

- your seating die is adjusted down too far, so it is (excessively) roll-crimping the case mouth and causing it to bulge (this can also be a result of cases being over length, or of varying length - the over length ones get overcrimped);

- the chamber is loose, and when you fired the rounds they've bulged on one side, out of round, and won't fit back in the chamber properly if oriented any other way;

- your extractor has some fouling/damage/something stuck in it, so it is not able to slip over the case-head easily (a potential issue with Remington 700s in particular) or is not designed to slip over the case head;.

There are other possibilities too I guess, but I'd work through these first.

FWIW I do check loaded rounds through the action. Not always, but if I've changed anything or when they absolutely need to function. If you don't know how to do that safely you probably shouldn't have a firearm.

Measure the case OAL. Chances are they need trimming.

Then you live too close to your neighbors.

Regular neck-sizing ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Partial FLS is how I handle my hunting loads. Been doing it for a couple of decades. When brass sized that way no longer chambers, it’s time to FLS, and maybe anneal, or even toss the brass.

Pull the bullet on a couple of the tight ones and try to chamber the case again. Measure the outside neck diameter of them first. Check the case length.

^^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

One question, would you feel comfortable with your self-proclaimed gun expert neighbor checking loaded rounds with a rifle pointed at your kid’s bedroom wall? I wouldn’t. Mechanical things happen. Pins drop.
To the OP, learn how to measure headspace on YOUR chamber, full length size your brass to control the shoulder and base or you’ll fight it, end up with clickers, and ruin your brass in a few firings. Pop the primer out before measuring a fired piece of brass or it’ll give false readings.

If you’re neck sizing by backing off a FL sizing die a bit, what’s happening is the body of the case is being squeezed much like squeezing a long balloon. That moves the shoulder forward causing the hard chambering. It’s not the expander pulling the neck out.

I found this happening when I started trying the same technique with my first 243.

You can solve it by removing the expanding rod and incrementally turning the FL sizing die down a quarter turn or so, sizing a case and then trying to chamber it. Continue doing that until the case will chamber with very slight pressure. Then try another case or two to check your work. That will move the brass as little as possible. For that trial case(s) you’ll then have to run the expander down into the neck to load it.

I've got a Hornady case length comparator set and I will take some measurements and report back what I find in a couple of days.

This

God you'd have to be stupid to not be able to cycle loaded rounds without killing someone.

I know for a fact I cycle every last loaded 458 round for bears. Anyone but a fool wouldn't.

And I think I know just a hair about loading too. Enough to know when it matters check and double check.

Enough to know they only rule of gun safety is muzzle control.

Anyone pointing a rifle at their neighbor's house while performing that operation with live rounds is an idiot. But believe it or not, it's possible to cycle rounds with your muzzle pointed in a safe direction. It ain't rocket science.

That's what I'd check first, just to rule it out if nothing else.

Don’t do it. It’s For the children’s sake. FFS.

Headspace is really tricky .

Act like a dick much?

Yes, measuring the OAL of the cases is not a bad start. It is quick and easy and may identify or eliminate one potential source of the problem.

If that eliminates overlength brass as a problem, try this: take one of the cases which won't chamber easily, and cover it all over with permanent marker ("Sharpie). Let the ink dry, then carefully chamber and extract it it (try not to let it get marked by things like feed rails). You should be able to see whether there's hard contact, and if so where: on the shoulders suggests they've moved forward, for example.

Another quick and simple thing you could try is rolling a case on a flat surface, like a pane of glass, to see whether it is bulged or out of round.

A number of people here have suggested FL sizing, and that is one option, but neck-sizing, properly done, using brass fired in your rifle, should always result in your loads chambering easily. If not there's a problem, either with the brass or the way you are loading it. As I said earlier, I have for years only neck sized, and this is in a range of calibres and for a range of action types, with some brass withstanding many loading cycles with no more than the initial preparation and regular neck annealing.

Primers not seated all the way .

C.O.L. range from 2.33 to 2.36 out of the 20 or so pull-downs I sampled.

They're good.

That's what I was thinking. Although, if you "neck size only" using a full-length die (which is a misnomer) the die will squeeze the sides of the case and move the shoulder forward (since the case is not constrained lengthwise by the loose adjustment of the die) causing the problem.

The way to check for that is to chamber a fired case before sizing, and then after. If it chambers without a problem before sizing but not after, then the sizing operation is moving the shoulder forward.


Edited to add, apologies Dan, I see you already pointed this out.

This is where the body die or the trim die come in. They are very handy for fixing a bulged shoulder. But, it's better to trim everything as close to the same length and avoid it all.

kwg

That doesn't tell you where the shoulder of the brass is compared to the inside of the chamber. 3 thousands is a large number when trying to stuff a case in a chamber.

navlav8r suggested this
You can solve it by removing the expanding rod and incrementally turning the FL sizing die down a quarter turn or so, sizing a case and then trying to chamber it. Continue doing that until the case will chamber with very slight pressure. Then try another case or two to check your work. That will move the brass as little as possible. For that trial case(s) you’ll then have to run the expander down into the neck to load it.

If you reload a lot get a Hornady Comparator and then you don't have to guess. They are not that expensive. You will need a good set of electronic calipers to measure your case lengths. Once you get the length figured out with the comparator you can use it to set your full length resizer to get a minimum of resizing.

kwg

Brass was fired in the same chamber....only .270 I have. All Hornday factory ammo, some head stamps say Hornady, some Frontier...had trouble with both headstamps.

Your language is pretty offensive there, sir, and presumes a person is violating the primary rules of gun safety. If someone is not capable of insuring the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction while chambering a round, they have no business owning a firearm, much less handloading. For those who are capable of insuring the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction when chambering a round, then chambering that round is safe, period.
Even though 90% of my rifles have a middle safety position that locks the firing pin while working the action, I still make certain the muzzle is pointed safely before I ever chamber a round, in any circumstance, and with any weapon.
I wouldn't dream of hunting with loads I hadn't run through the chamber.

Respectfully,
Rex

Candle smoke or sharpie on fired case will tell you all you need to know.

Smoke or sharpie fired case run through action to see where its large, resize case to just bump shoulder using candle smoke or sharpie to set up sizing die.

On a fired case?

On occasion I do this as well. No danger to anyone including myself when done properly.

From time to time I get a hard chambering handload at the range. Since COLs are the same as those that chamber easily, the problem the shoulder did not get pushed back during reloading - likely due to short stroking the press. (I only FL size.)

You Might Also Check And Make Sure Your Primers Are Seated Fully.. Seen It Happen Before..

I'm certain you have drank a trunk load of liberal loads. Where do you idiots come from?

If you have a ground floor level, couldn't you just point the rifle toward the floor when you chamber the loads?

I've always only used FLS dies that I've adjusted so the case is a firm fit in the rifle (slight resistance when closing the bolt), so it's only sizing enough and not actually a complete FLS. I did this also with my M14 when I was alowed to have one. Obviously it doesn't want to be left too tight in a semi- auto, but I got it right. Case life has been good and they have ultimately died of neck cracks, or been pilfered by someone else.

I don't anneal any of my case necks because it seems like a pain in the backside, and case life has been good anyway. The only cases of mine that are subject to extra work hardening due to crimping are my 500NE but they still last really well. I never crimp anything else, even the 375H&H and 458WM - the projectiles stay put but then again the rifles are heavy so recoil seems to be below anything that might pull the projectiles out or pound them in (in the magazine), I know there is an arguement for crimping for uniformity but I've never really experienced it. I have a Lee crimp die (collet stylle) for the 458 that I had experimented with but found it uneccessary.

[I unscrew the firing pin/bolt shroud from my bolt guns when I try the cases when setting up the FLS die and always use a fresh fired case when trying rather than using the same case while making die adjustments in case that has an affect - start tight and then adjust down the die in small steps with a fresh case each time. The fired cases I start with have to be a tight fit of course and they generally are.]

Are these measurements using the Hornady gauge, if so, not a lot of help to us here.

If they are actual COL, cartridge overall length, (base to tip of bullet) then something is wrong.

It has been asked a couple times here, but I have not seen your answer.

How are you neck sizing?
Neck die, brand?
FL die backed out, brand and how it was set up?

Great thread!
I’ve had this happen with my 270 and was wondering if it was the expander ball stretching the case back out, when retracting out. It feels likes it’s hard to pull out.
Or as other said . Squeezing the case too much and Pushing the shoulder out.

A lot easier to check the fit on a resized case than a loaded one, gets quite interesting having a loaded round stuck in the chamber with the bolt unable to extract the loaded round.