Thread: 7mm-08 reloads extraction issue - thoughts please

The rifle had about 30 factory rds thru it before we started reloading for it. Finished the second box off so 40 total. Total round count is still under 100. To all intents and purposes the rifle is new. I am unaware of the problem happening with the factory ammo but it may have. Need to check with owner. One of the current marked problem cases is reloaded factory brass, PPU.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @Jhon and all,
I am with @No.3 with the need to have brass with the same headstamp and round count, preferably of the same batch. From my notes the Sako brass is about 10 grains heavier than the Winchester so should develop a little more velocity and pressure. The Hornady brass was about the same weight as Win. Another thing to include in your next range session would be to chronograph your test loads which would give you a better understanding of how pressure is related to the problem.
The interesting thing with handloading is that you more you learn the more profound your ignorance seems to become, at least it was that way for me. It is now over 50 years since I loaded my first cartridge and I am still learning. Stick with it.
Regards Grandpamac.
PS. Almost 50 years ago I almost tossed my handloading kit out of the cot. I was having endless problems loading for the .303. After I got my first .308 I vowed never to load another .303 round in my life. Today there are .303 rifles in the cabinet and I loads for them happily. Perhaps I have learned something in the years between.

Haha, thks @grandpamac for the encouragement, yes, there are times when I just have to go do something else to let the steam evaporate. I think there's more art than science in reloading for sure. We will run the current batch of reloads thru and see if we learn something. After that we will separate his factory brass and stick with that for a while. The used stuff I gave him we can sort and maybe take a 20-30 count out of the mix with the same headstamp. Any brass that sticks we can just drop. At this stage it's probably less than 15 %. At some point he can go buy a bag of new brass from what's available. Even a bag of 50 will last him a while at current rate of use with 5 or 6 reloads, as noted by someone above.

Yep, you'll get there. A possibility to keep in the back of your mind, if in fact it turns out that the rifle has a slightly short chamber and that is causing the issue (i.e. not being able to resize the case shoulder back enough) is getting a couple of thou quietly trimmed off the back of a full length die (the opposite of what competition shellholders that are stepped up in 2thou length increments do).

This is different to the small based die which squeezes the case head in more down by the rim.

If you have to go down this track, make a point of removing the caliber ID off the die and replacing it with the rifle's serial number so it doesn't cause anyone else an issue!

Update - we got there!!

Quick summary
- the Ruger Ranch has a three lug bolt design (for a.short throw?) Along with other similar lower cost current brands. The design is weaker re extraction than a traditional 2 lug Mauser design. The extraction is is a known thing.

What happens is you fire the round, the bolt lifts to a hard stop and will not move rearwards to extract. Place the butt on a solid surface, grip rifle firmly with left hand, force bolt further up with right hand. There is a definite click and the case extracts no problem

What seems to cause this? First it is intermittent. Perhaps one or two rounds in 5 but rarely consecutive. With us they were all reloads but online there are stories of the same happening with factory ammo in brand new rifles. With help here and from the dealer we identified two suspect areas, sizing and pressure. We were using latest Hornady Custom Grade dies. The 2208 load was under book max but not by much. @grandpamac made an observation we were still too high and recommended a drop to 42gn for a 139gn SST. We did that.

The dealer had a used set of the same Hornady dies. We used those to FL size 10 cases including 3 that had locked up. We did this on my RCBS Summit press with Cam Over to be sure the cases were fully sized.

We shot those 10 with no issues. Shooting a few of the previous loads we immediately had the issue.

The dealer had a set of as new Lyman dies. I bought these and returned the Hornady ones.

We pulled all the remaining rounds and reloaded them with the Lyman dies on the Lee Classic Cast press. Previously the rifle owner, learning reloading under my watchful (yeah) eye had sized the last batch of cases. The Lee press arm has a long travel from past vertical up to below horizontal down. This is the only handle position that allows all functions including priming. It is possible on some cases the handle was not being forced the final few thou. Thus time I made absolutely sure.

We went out today and shot over 20 rounds re-zeroing to the new load. The last 4 shots he got a nice a sub-moa group at 100m. No extraction issues at all so we are chalking that up as a win.

Thanks to everyone for your imput. He is off hunting next weekend. Fingers crossed.

Funny I had similar issues with a Tikka T3 7mm-08, Max Adi loads and the camming was really poor with the short bolt throw and occasionally extraction was also poor. Pissed that rifle off and went back to using my Howa 308.

Originally Posted by Billo

Funny I had similar issues with a Tikka T3 7mm-08, Max Adi loads and the camming was really poor with the short bolt throw and occasionally extraction was also poor. Pissed that rifle off and went back to using my Howa 308.

I load for sons new Tikka TX3 Lite ( or somesuch)..everything has to be just so to chamber a round. On his complaint GC where he bought it demonstrated 2 out of three off-the-shelf factory loads refusing to chamber. Go figure! tack driver tho.

Pleased you have it sorted.i feel your pain as we had issues with BLR in 308 except that would not shut properly without lots of effort ...again Hornady dies were PART of issue.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings,
I am pretty sure the problem in not head space. The quoted loads are pretty stiff so the cases will be expanded to snugly fit the chamber. Very light loads can produce extraction issues if the cases are under size to start with or the chamber has excessive headspace. The pressure is not high enough to fully expand the brass. This is not the case here. Reducing the load to 42 grains for the SST projectiles may help as this will slightly reduce the case expansion.
GPM.

One query here, was the brass checked before and after FLS? If is was newish brass you could have resized it excessively.

I only began to encounter stuff like this when mates got me to use cheap brass. After one stuck in the rifle, eyes were kn me as I was teaching them to reload. Lesson, always use good brass and never bother with cheap stuff. Not worth it imo. You get less performance and more trouble. All the while wasting expensive projectiles, powder and primers