tight chamber problem

[mjbgalt]

never had this issue before...

i own a remington 700 in .243. i have owned several .243's before and have some ammo left over. i tried to shoot some of that through the remington and about 2/3 of it chambers with slight bolt pressure needed to close the bolt, and shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yards. awesome.

but 1/3 or so won't fit. they literally will NOT chamber. i could stand on the bolt and it wouldn't shut.

i checked overall length, i checked the sizer, i chamfered them well, i adjusted the sier to push the shoulder back further, etc.

no luck.

these chambered in EVERY OTHER .243 i have owned. why not now?

-Matt

[LaOtto222]

I sounds to me that you are not pushing the shoulder back far enough. Once a case is fired in a different gun, you need to fully size again to "start over" with the new gun. If you are pushing the shoulder back as far as you can, you may need to get a small base sizing die, which will size cases back to original factory specifications including the chamber walls.

[Dave in WV]

If you have a .45acp carbide die, remove the capping rod and run the cases that won't chmber though the .45 die. It will squeeze the case in the web area. You can't run a loaded round through the die. I have a modified die the top end has been drilled out and I can run my loaded .243,7-08, & 30-06 ammo through. I got the idea from retired gun writer Steve Timm. As posted before the shoulder may need to be set back a little but it could be the case is a little wide in the web area if the case chambers almost all of the way. Steve Timm told me he used his .45acp die when his neck sized ammo got a little tight. He also told me you can use a .357 carbide die with the decapping rod removed for .223 cases.

[mjbgalt]

i don't want to have to squeeze the life out of every piece of brass i have.

this is ridiculous, that the variations from one reamer to another could be this severe. the savage i had before this, you could almost hear 'em rattling down into the chamber! 

this one shoots very well and is a nice rifle but if i have to mangle the brass i will trade it.

-Matt

[mjbgalt]

have's an interesting angle...i found some ammo i loaded with a different sizing die and it fits fine....



-Matt

[LaOtto222]

Full length sizing is mangling brass? You only have to do it once and then it will fire form to the new chamber. You can neck size after that for several loadings, but even then you will have to bump the shoulder back every once in a while. Even if you sold this gun and bought another, you may have the same problem, especially if what you said is true about the last gun having a large chamber. There are people that pay big money for a tight chamber. It usually means they have been carefully and accurately reamed. You can do what you want of course, but if you decide you do not want that @$%# Remington any more, send me a PM.

[GameHauler]

Full length sizing is mangling brass? You only have to do it once and then it will fire form to the new chamber. You can neck size after that for several loadings, but even then you will have to bump the shoulder back every once in a while. Even if you sold this gun and bought another, you may have the same problem, especially if what you said is true about the last gun having a large chamber. There are people that pay big money for a tight chamber. It usually means they have been carefully and accurately reamed. You can do what you want of course, but if you decide you do not want that @$%# Remington any more, send me a PM.

Second chance Please

[mjbgalt]

let me put it this way- full length resizing is not enough to get them to fit this gun.

is that more clear? i ran them through the sizer and it STILL wasn't small enough.

I am aware that a tight chamber is wanted, just that i am concerned that i may be overworking the 3 times fired brass i have on hand.

-Matt

[Kurt L]

I had the same problem I think you have with a 270  win model 700 I just picked up.
some fit some don't .full lenth resize with RCBS and still some fit some didn't.{NOTE this is from some once fired brass I picked up}.
A check showed the shoulder was FINE.
Next step I ran them through a RCBS SB=small base die and they fit with no problems.
I fired a few and they were tested to see if they go back in afer I shot a few,they all  fit back just fine
so I also know my chamber is good ,I neck sized these with a LEE collet die and they loaded fine and shot fine.
On anouther note I reloaded for a 30-06 before that factory ammo fit tight etc long story short on that gun I had to shave some of the shell holder to get the dies to bump the shoulder back a hair more.

[LaOtto222]

I apologize, some how I was under the impression you were not full length sizing before loading.

Die manufactures have different "chambers", just as gun manufactures do. You can use a small base die also. I have not run into your problem, where a full length die does not fit a gun chamber I have, but I can see how it could happen. They make small base dies, which are supposed to shrink the case back down to factory specs.

As far as resizing them to death, I have found that cases usually fail in the neck/shoulder area or right above the web from stretching. If you have a tight chamber, once you get them down to the proper size to fit your chamber, there should be very little stretching going on after that. I would think your brass would last longer. Only time will tell for sure, but I suspect that would be the case. If you feel that the neck shoulder area has been reworked too much, an annealing should soften them up enough to get lots more life out of them. There is not much you can do about stretching in the web area, but your "tight" chamber should help them from stretching in this area.

Good Shooting and Good Luck.

[mjbgalt]

yes, a tight chamber should reduce stretch and theoretically be more accurate. i just have not run into one THIS tight.

i will keep you guys posted.

-Matt

[huntswithdogs]

I had this problem with a couple of 7mags. I had to turn the full length die in until it touched the ram, when it was all the way up, then turn it in just a skosh more. I don't know if it got that last little bit of the cse or what, but it worked. I started using different brands of brass for each rifle after that and had no more problems.

If ya don't own another rifle to fire the questionable shalls thru, pull the bullets, dump the powder, pull the decapper from the die and resize them.


HWD

[victorcharlie]

Smoke the brass and run it into the chamber so you can see what's causing the problem.

My guess is you'll need to put another half turn on your full length resizing die.......and bump the shoulder back just a bit.

[onesonek]

Besides the headspace issues mentioned and cchecked, did you check the neck diameter with the bullet seated? It very weel could be tight enough in the neck area of the chamber. And if that's the case you may have to turn the necks, as just a few .0001"s variation is common in brass, and that would be more than to stop the round from chambering.

Dave

[Selmer]

I'm with victorcharlie.  Even if you full-length sized the cases, the shoulder may not be set back far enough.  I ran into this very problem with my .260 Remington.  I ran the loaded cases through a .308 Winchester sizing die with decapping rod removed.  Problem solved, they chamber fine.  I need to screw my sizing dies down to the shellholder with this rifle to size them properly.  They are Redding dies, so I'm confident that the dies are not the problem, it's just a matter of setting them up properly.
Selmer

[Luckyducker]

I ran into this very same problem with a 264Win only worse.  None of my once or twice fired brass would chamber in the new barrel even after full length sizing.  I could either buy and use a small base die or buy new brass.  I opted for all new brass and didn't look back.  Sometimes the chambers are just too tight to fit brass shot in another rifle.