Thread: Newby wannabe reloader part 2

Ok , so just dug around in the resized rounds and found one at near enough spec length around 2.714/5 and one long one at around 2.724/5....




So that's the long one....and this is the short/soec one...

So I ran both through the action. I closely checked both mouths for marks etc and both fine. Short one came out as it went in....but the longer one came out with two flatish spots again pretty much opposite each other. Not as bad as the one yesterday and hasn't squared off the mouth as much. Very hard to photo but 1st pic is unmarked edge and second pic is slightly flattened edge. Note the difference in the size of the shine on the edge of the mouth on edge towards camera. The wide shine is from the mouth starting to flatten and the edge has slightly squashed...






The last pic it's hard to see but the closest edge has started to go out of round.
But wait !!..... The plot thickens.......

I have fished through the fired cases and found that they all seem to vary in size exactly like the resized ones so obviously not very good quality to begin with.... and I guess explains why every fifth or so round fired is very tight unlocking the bolt , and I mean really tight some of them. So found a long fired round the same measurements as the resized one and that also has a flat side as it came from the rifle... probably one I had found tight to eject after fired I would guess...




Crap photo I know but I am thinking maybe being a custom rifle it may be chambered a tiny bit short as the brass so far hasn't actually exceeded claimed max case length...... thoughts anyone ???

Sounds like some stubborn shit in the chamber or possibly a poorly finished one.

I guess you'd want to trim your brass to a uniform length. I use those lee tools for this

Hope trimming solves your issue. Unmarked short case indicates it will.

Odd crimp on the cases though aye? I thought it may have crimped around the whole case mouth if driven into chamber mouth. Any wise heads to comment?

I would have thought the same . Surprised how much variation there is in the as yet unsized brass too . All same factory Federal rounds .All fired through this rifle . As you said hopefully trimming all to same length will solve the issue and the binding bolt on ejection I have been experiencing . Should be more accurate and consistent to I guess .
I will have as close look at the chamber when I can and see if I can find any obvious reason as to why it is doing that to the longer cases . But will trim all to the specified trim length 2.714

There can be pretty big variations in factory brass.

If you don't have the "hand" for it, those dial verniers are going to cause more confusion that they solve.
Measure the same case five times and compare your results.

"Time" your cases. Put a mark at 12 o'clock, and chamber them like that. If the flats show up at the same place (12 and 2, ish - one from feed ramp, one from ejector bash) then you've solved the mistery.
Guessing yours is push feed, not controled feed.

Try chambering with a stripped bolt (no ejector) Try dropping into chamber and closing bolt, rather than feeding out mag.

Your chamber could be (very!) short throated. Heavy bolt lift is WAY over pressure IMO. Check lugs and recesses for peening/swipes.

Also I wouldn't even bother getting hung up on SAAMI numbers. You make ammo for your gun.
You may have a lot of brass flowed forward, aka, fat necks. Outside neck turning is standard solution.
You can check this with those verniers.

Thanks for the advice @mimms2. The rifle isn't mag fed , has the internal 2 roung box mag and floor plate so was just sitting the rounds on top and there's no resistance sliding them into the chamber like they are not feeding or catching on the way in. And fed them in and out nice and slow and controlled .Tried my best to have a look into the chamber last night but can't really see much. Need a bore scope tool I guess. Tried a 30 cal copper chamber brush , don't have a 338 one , but no obvious crap came out.

Oh , and have plenty of engineering experience so not to shabby with calipers. Used to machine high performance motor cycle gearboxes that were sold on the international market. Have made gearboxes for some very famous classic bikes and world famous riders.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

Oh , and have plenty of engineering experience so not to shabby with calipers. Used to machine high performance motor cycle gearboxes that were sold on the international market. Have made gearboxes for some very famous classic bikes and world famous riders.

Right. forgot that was you.

Would have to see the ramp angle. You get a fair bit of leverage on a steel bolt for a brass case, engineering hand or no, you might not pick it. (Or, it might not be the issue)

Colour a loaded round (or few), case and projectile, in with vivid and chamber and extract and see what's touching. Same with your naked brass.

I like the stripping the bolt idea too. Remove the firing pin and take the tension off the bolt handle as it closes might give a hint as to what is going on as well.
Thanks @mimms2.