Bulged chamber

[LHitchcox]

A friend of mine brought me his .308 Rossi to load ammo for. The first thing I noticed is that the brass has a bulge on one side just ahead of the web. Obviously hte chamber is bulged. I have told him that I don't want to load the brass in this situation. What is the chance that Rossi will replace the barrel for him? I have never owned a Rossi so I have no knowledge of their service reputation.

thanks in advance.
Leon

[John Traveler]

You need to determine that brass that is bulged on one side is normal or due to firing in a slightly oversized chamber.  The chamber itself may not be bulged damaged), but if the brass is somewhat undersized and the chamber is somewhat oversized, the cartridge will seat on the bottom of the chamber, and firing will produce that one-sided "bulge".

Using a micrometer, determine what the diameter of the cartridge base is.  It is nominally 0.473" at the rim, but manufacturing tolerances can make it plus or minus 0.001".  Next, measure the bulge.  If it is truly bulged, the base of the case will be egg-shaped, not round.  If your "bulge" is definitely a chamber defect,  it will measure significantly more than the base diameter  and be oval.  If it measures say, more than 0.475'-0.476" contact the manufacturer or dealer.

HTH
John

[trotterlg]

What you see with the brass is probably normal.  The ejector holds the brass up against the top of the chamber, so the brass expands first at the bottom when sealing against the walls.  The break action also lets the barrel open up some.  This is a normal look to the brass from either a Rossi or NEF.  Larry