Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Feeding issue

[mfburns]

I reloaded a bunch of 30-06 ammo. Very careful about everything. At the range I fired several rounds and then I had one that would not feed correctly. I could move the bolt forward but not get the bolt fully turned down. I tried several times, no luck. All other rounds fed and fired satisfactorily. When I got home I measured this round and cannot find anything out of sorts. All dimensions are within limits. I did not try to force the bolt closed.



Any suggestions what to look at?

 

[BIGNASTY]

Did you full length resize or neck size only

 

[mfburns]

Full length resize since this was the first reloads in this brass.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Is primer fully seated? It might have a ring mark on it from the firing pin hole if it touched the bolt face. Could be the wrong bullet... did you measure it's overall outside diameter? Is it fully seated? Measure the overall length compared to the other rounds. Also, did you measure the case head? I've seen some Remington brass that wasn't quite to spec. Is this brass fire formed? I know you said you measured it, I just want to double check. And did you measure the neck diameter of the case where the bullet is seated? If the case was unusally thick, it could cause it to bind up in the throat. The bullet could be deformed, as well. Certainly don't force the bolt closed. If you did happen to double-charge the round, it could possibly have kept the bullet from fully seating and even bulged the case. Do you have any loaded rounds to weigh that you can compare to this round? Lots and lots of possibilities here.

 

[GHarman]

A tough dimension to measure

Is this new brass? Was the brass fired in another rifle? How far into the chamber will the cartridge feed? If the bullet is the same as the others that were loaded (weight, point geometry, lot number, case head to bearing surface length)? You might have a case where the datum line ( headspace) is located at a greater dimension than the chamber will allow. That could happen even with new brass. Remote as it might seem and difficult to measure. Paint some dykem on the shoulder and try(in a safe place) to rechamber that cartridge. If the dykem is skinned off the case shoulder, headspace, for that case, is on the long side. Thats all I can add at the moment. GregH

 

[mfburns]

OK Havent been to the range. measured rounds in detail. Brass is LC 72. I decapped, cleaned, reamed/deburred the primer hole, fully sized the brass and loaded Hornady Interbond 150 grain bullets with teh red tip. Speer says OAL on BT spitzer is 3. 250 and 3. 295 on BT FMJ.



1. Primer is fully seated, however a straight edge across the base revealed a slight lip on one side. I can see more light on one side than the other. Maybe . 01inch?? AOL of the problem round is 3. 255 which does not appear to be too long.



2. Got the calipers out and tried to measure diameters and got the following measurements. I am not a machinist so these are the best measures I could get.



Location Fired round Problem round

Base 0. 470 0. 470

near base 0. 468 0. 467

shoulder 0. 446 0. 442

throat . 343 . 333



length 2. 498 3. 255



I may try to file down the lip a little and see what happens. I will aslo try to get some marker on the round and seat it to see where it is hitting. But I have to get to the range to try that.



Thanks for all the input here. I have done this for a little while, 3-4 years and this is the first problem I have had. Appreciate all the advice.



Merry Christmas to all and thanks agan.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Burns,



SAAMI specs on the venerable '06 are pretty close to what you have... . your shoulder is a little larger... . Shoulder spec's out at . 441, and the neck diameter is listed as . 339. All these are pretty tolerable, so a few thousands shouldn't matter unless your chamber was cut with a match reamer. The marker is a good idea. I use Sharpies. I'd also do the bullet, to make sure it is seated deep enough. It shouldn't have very long rifling marks on it; any more than a few thousands would explain the hard bolt. If you didn't fully cycle the round through your reloader, it might not have fully seated the bullet to depth. Your OAL is short enough you shouldn't be having any problems there, SAAMI specs are 3. 34 OAL. From what you're saying about the ridge on the rim, I'm gonna bet your cartridge is too long from the shoulder to the rim. And if it's got a distorted head, it'll exascerbate the problem. Filing the lip might fix it, if it's enough. Could be the cartridge was defective from the start, so you may just have to chunk it. When you chamber it after marking it, look for marks around the base of the shoulder. I'll bet it's hitting here and on the rim/boltface.



Merry Christmas to you and yours, and let us know if you have anymore questions.

 

[p-Bar]

I am sold on using case gauges it tell most all

 

[GHarman]

P-bar, IMHO, the best cartridge gage is your rifle chamber. Chamber dimensions vary widely over the decades with a cartridge such as the . 30/06. Brass fired in a gas operated autoloader will commonly be so oversized at the base that you cannot rechamber it into the rifle it just got ejected from, I found that issue with M-1 Garands. Even after full length resizing, the chambering was very snug.



SAAMI specs for older cartridges are very liberal in their dimensions. There is the Go, No-go, and Field gages that are used to measure and set head space. Go is the shortest dimension and Field is the longest. It is not unheard of to find a 1903 Springfield or an M-1 Garand that will close on a Field gage. I certainly would not want the brass, fired in that rifle, for reloading:-laf!

GregH

 

[mfburns]

OK Back from the range today. The problem round fired. I had filed down the base a little where it was warped. It was a little snug to close the bolt and when I unbolted it before firing I could see where the ink had been wiped off the base where I had filed it down. I had marked the base with a sharpie all around the base and where it was still a little high the ink was wiped off. I guess with the Lake City brass I will have to be extra careful inspecting it and then sizing it. I have a photo but not sure how to load it.



THanks for all the assistance and advice.

 

[mfburns]

There should be a picture here someplace.

 

[p-Bar]

P-bar, IMHO, the best cartridge gage is your rifle chamber. Chamber dimensions vary widely over the decades with a cartridge such as the . 30/06. Brass fired in a gas operated autoloader will commonly be so oversized at the base that you cannot rechamber it into the rifle it just got ejected from, I found that issue with M-1 Garands. Even after full length resizing, the chambering was very snug.



SAAMI specs for older cartridges are very liberal in their dimensions. There is the Go, No-go, and Field gages that are used to measure and set head space. Go is the shortest dimension and Field is the longest. It is not unheard of to find a 1903 Springfield or an M-1 Garand that will close on a Field gage. I certainly would not want the brass, fired in that rifle, for reloading:-laf!

GregH

OK you are the expert here and value your opinion . I'm sure with all the CNC technology today we hold to tighter standards than in the past. Merry Christmas, happy holidays is for terrorist

 

[CAPTPHIL]

From the looks of that primer your chamber pressure was up there.
Merry Christmas Capt Phil NRA Life 1967

 

[HHhuntitall]

I'd wager that particular round was fired in an old Garand or full auto, prior to you getting it. The entire head looks distorted from my perspective, which is easily possible with full autos. I'd also bet it was really hard to resize. LC brass is really good brass, I use a lot of it in '06, 5. 56, 50 bmg, and a few 7. 62 rounds. For it to be to only one distorted, I bet it came from a bunch of bulk brass, run through a SAW; they're really rough on brass, and after a few dozen rounds, the chamber is so hot, the brass is easily twisted, bent and manipulated to all kinds of shapes. I've seen them with diamonds in them from the diamond-plate decks on the practice range! I bet this particular round was later in a firing session. Anyway, be sure to inspect it before using it again. It SHOULD be reshaped and ready to go, if the case is not too stressed. Watch for hair lines and cracks about 3/8" above the rim.



Merry Christmas!!

 

[DSeamans]

Military Brass

Another thing to keep in mind - Military brass is quite a bit different from standard commercial. Military brass has much thicker walls and therefore less capacity. You usually have to stay back from the max loads. A big round like the 06 can be a full grain even. Weigh all brass and compare and check capacities and compare. Using a chrono can get you close by watching velocities. Be diligent studying brass after shooting for signs of excess pressure, most notable flat primers.



Dave