Wouldn't it be more cost effective to try a factory round ?
Just an idea !
It would indeed!
Thanks for the offer. I already tried that, along with checking headspace per Mike B***m's method. Here's my post from May 7, as you can see, I have exhausted all suggestions.
Okay, range update:
I took the 7-30 Waters to the range Sunday morning along with a box of Federal factory ammo. Out of the first 10 round sleeve, I managed to get 5 that fired. Out of the next 10 rounds, I got 2 that fired. Total fired, 7 out of 20 with factory ammo. I went to the M*** B**** website and read his articles on headspace and misfires. I took the barrel off the frame and dropped in a factory round and the head of the case was flush with the breech end of the barrel. I checked one of my rounds that had not been fire-formed yet. This was a 30-30 case that was resized in the 7-30 Waters die and loaded with a Remington Core-lock 140 gr bullet with the bullet seated to the cannelure and the case head on this round was flush with the breech end of the barrel. I then checked one of my reloads that had been fireformed and reloaded using the fireformed case. The case head on this round was flush with the breech end of the barrel also. Per M*** B**** this is the way it should be. Next, I checked for headspace per M*** B**** 's article. I put the barrel back on the frame, inserted a factory round in the chamber and closed the action with a feeler gauge between the case head and the breech. I was able to close the action on .001", .002", .003" and 004". It would not close on .005" Per M*** B**** , the tolerance is .001" to .006" and anything more would be out of specs. So, with the ammo fitting correctly and the headspace within tolerance,
I didn't really want to send it in either, but after all the tests I've run and after talking to the techs at Thompson / Center this morning and explaining all the things I'd checked, they agreed that the headspace was within tolerance and they wanted me to send in both of my barrels and the frame to check this out.
Thank you to everyone for all of your suggestions. This will be interesting to find out what the cause is.