Handi rifle problems

[Dinny]

Hello everyone,
   With the vast amount of knowledge assembled here, I know I will get some great answers to the problem I recently experienced.  So here goes.  I have a new SB2 rifle frame, never shot since the factory tested it.  It originally had a .243 ultra barrel on it that has since been sold.  I put a .357 Mag barrel on it for testing some new .360 DW loads.  The empty DW brass fits the chamber with some room to spare.  I determined that the COAL with a Hornady 180gr XTP is 1.895".  I loaded mine to 1.788".  A little short, but this was my first batch.  I loaded them with CCI BR-4 small rifle benchrest primers.  When I dropped in a loaded round, it fits snugly and the action closes tight with just a small amount of force.  Yesterday I went to the range to fire them and 4 out of 5 of them did not fire.  The firing pin did strike the primers, but it was off-centered.  Mostly strinking at the 1 o'clock position and just barely on the entire primer. So what gives?  Do I have a handloading problem, primer problem, or receiver/firing pin problem? 

Thanks,

[quickdtoo]

Sounds like the barrel isn't fitted well, or the chamber isn't centered. Is the firing pin strike low in relationship to the position in the chamber? How's the barrel fit?... Latch engagement?...Gap between barrel face and standing breech? Is a chambered loaded round flush with the chamber face?

Tim

[OBXPilgrim]

I agree - sounds like the barrel isn't fit very well.

Hold the closed action up to a bright light, looking at it from the side.  See any light between the barrel and receiver down in the lower (near the side of the frame) half of the barrel?  If you do, you may have it over rotating closed, locking on the latch, with the center of the bore lower than the firing pin.  If there is no vertical play in the breakdown release, that would indicate the latch is swinging as far closed as it can.

Is the barrel loose on the receiver at all (side to side/up-down)?

You might be able to use a piece of a feeler gage (very thin, .0015",.003") between the pivot pin & front lugs & see if the gap (assuming there is one) near the bottom disappears.

[Dinny]

 I knew I would learn something from everyone here.  The barrel does have some side to side play while open, probabaly alot.  I would guess it is as much as 1/16" or 3/32".  Overall, the barrel does fit loosely on the frame, but that is how it was fit to my original frame.  At the time I had 2 barrels factory fit to the same receiver, .45 LC and .357 Mag.  The .357 Mag barrel was fit much more loosely than the .45LC.  Since then I have designated that receiver to the .45LC only.  I have another SB2 receiver in the mail , perhaps the .357 Mag barrel will fit it better. The latch engages fine with a .357 Mag round loaded, but when the DW case is loaded, it takes more force to close the action and more force to extract the case.  I have also noticed that a very small amount of brass is being shaved off the case head when the action is being closed. I pulled the barrel off of the frame and pushed in the extractor.  The loaded DW round must be seated flush with the chamber face with some pressure/force by hand. That's not the case with the .357 Mag rounds I have recently loaded.  One last thing, I tried firing some of the DW cartridges twice. I did rotate the cartridge to avoid striking in the same spot and now the primers were struck twice with both strikes hitting entirely on the primer. So do you think there could be more than just a barrel fitting issue?

Thanks,

[OBXPilgrim]

  The barrel does have some side to side play while open, probabaly alot.  I would guess it is as much as 1/16" or 3/32". 

That's not the same - that's pretty much normal, depending on how tight the forearm is fit

The latch engages fine with a .357 Mag round loaded, but when the DW case is loaded, it takes more force to close the action and more force to extract the case.  I have also noticed that a very small amount of brass is being shaved off the case head when the action is being closed. I pulled the barrel off of the frame and pushed in the extractor.  The loaded DW round must be seated flush with the chamber face with some pressure/force by hand. That's not the case with the .357 Mag rounds I have recently loaded. 

That's not normal.  Can you see any rifling marks on the bullet after it's extracted from the chamber?  It could have a long freebore (mine did), that also happens to be tight.  I'd blacken a bullet with black marker & chamber it, take it out & look for scrub marks that would show it's fitting tight in the chamber.  If you seated a bullet shorter, will it chamber as easy as a 357 MAG?

The empty DW brass fits the chamber with some room to spare.

[quickdtoo]

Dinny, I have to trim 360 DW brass about .010" shorter so it doesn't stick in the chamber of my 357mag barrel, it's just a tad too long. Some 357mag chambers are long enough to use slightly trimmed 357 Max brass, but not all em are. Read the barrel fitting instructions in the  FAQs so you can determine what needs to be done to get the barrel fitted good, then work on the brass, a well fitted barrel should have no looseness whatsoever when the action is closed with the forend removed, the forend can mask that looseness, so you want to check it without the forend installed. 

Tim

[Dinny]

Dinny, I have to trim 360 DW brass about .010" shorter so it doesn't stick in the chamber of my 357mag barrel, it's just a tad too long. Some 357mag chambers are long enough to use slightly trimmed 357 Max brass, but not all em are. Read the barrel fitting instructions in the  FAQs so you can determine what needs to be done to get the barrel fitted good, then work on the brass, a well fitted barrel should have no looseness whatsoever when the action is closed with the forend removed, the forend can mask that looseness, so you want to check it without the forend installed. 

The empty DW brass chambers fine.  I am away from home turkey hunting this week and don't have access to my reloading equipment.  I will try both your suggestions and blacken a bullet along with shortening the brass. The 357 Mag barrel better fits a SB1 frame that I have.  I will also try firing some of my reloads through it just to see if there is any changes. If none of that works, I have a strong feeling that this barrel is going off to see the 357 MAX doctor sometime soon while I'm deployed. In that case I think it would probably be wise of me to sell this barrel and have the factory fit a new one to the SB2 frame I have. That way I'm starting off fresh with a new factory fitted barrel on the stronger of the two actions.  Thanks again guys, I'll post my findings as soon as I get a chance to try it all out.

[quickdtoo]

But with a bullet seated the case mouth is slightly larger and may very well be pinched  where the end of the 360DW case meets the end of the chamber, 357mag chambers have very long throats, so the bullet itself isn't going to touch the lands, a chamber cast would be in order here, or just trim the brass a little and see if it's still a problem. 

Tim

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,125780.msg1098446320.html#msg1098446320

[Dinny]

But with a bullet seated the case mouth is slightly larger and may very well be pinched  where the end of the 360DW case meets the end of the chamber, 357mag chambers have very long throats, so the bullet itself isn't going to touch the lands, a chamber cast would be in order here, or just trim the brass a little and see if it's still a problem. 

Tim

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,125780.msg1098446320.html#msg1098446320

Thanks, that was a concern of mine as well.  I never had an issue with that before. I actually considered it, but chalked it up as a crazy thought of mine.  Thanks for confirming that I do have some analytical (sensible) thoughts.

~Dinny