Hornady 180 Grain JHP and the max reamer

[8uck5nort]

First time to ream a chamber so this may be a "no big deal" thing, but figured I'd ask anyway.
 
I got my 357 max reamed out last night. The encolsed max shell drops into the chamber and extracts/ejects fine. I have som sierra 158 JHP and some other max brass, so I seated that bullet to the cannelure and it seats in the chamber and extracts/ejects fine. I am not shooting any of these just dropping the cartridge in and then breaking open to test extraction/ejecting. I bought some reeds ammo with the 180 gr double cannelured bullets. These are seated between the bottom and top cannelures. They drop in the chamber fine, but I have to work the break a few times to extract/eject the cartridge and when it finally does eject/extract it launches it out of the chamber. I can shoot a short video and show what is happening this evening... I looked for rifling marks on the bullet face, but dont see any. Tried it with a coulple of different of the Reeds cartridges. Same result. What gives? Is the bullet not seated far enough down for my chamber? Do I need to ream a little more for a deeper chamber to accomodate more bullet length? Or should I just call it good and see how it shoots with some different types of ammo/bullets? I have some brass on order and have not really decided on a bullet for this rifle yet. I am looking for some good advice bourne of that hard won experience.
 
I am pretty sure my chamber is deep enough and I took my time when reaming. I cleaned it and inspected the chamber. It doesn't look egg shaped (That is what I am afraid of. I kept my hand/fingers as close to center of the t-handle as possible while rotating the reamer. I also only did 2 revolutions and then removed and cleaned chips, reoiled and performed that same cycle until the test case dropped flush.
 
Life has taught me if there was a way to screw it up I found it. 

[tom548]

If the test case seats in the chamber flush or just a little below the barrel face, I would be careful about going any farther in with the reamer. The Reed ammo may use a thicker walled case or their bullet could be a larger dia. and cause it to stick. Try pushing the round out with a ram rod and see if it has much resistance. You may also need to polish the chamber. Just remember going to deep or polishing to much can not be put back !!

[yukondog]

What you could do is take a sharpi and collor the head of the bullet and re chamber it and see if any of the rifleing is imprented on it, have you measured the reeds ammo? How long is it? I load the 180 xtp and have no trouble with it at 1.890". Does it do the same thing with .38 or .357 bullets?

[Klahtax]

Need to take your calipers and measure the differences between the components you are using.
If they check out ok then mark the bullet and chamber and look for marks as described by yukondog. I had my mag reamed out to a max and have plenty of room on a 180 gr Hornady SSP to seat at the groove or .015 off the rifling. Plenty to work with.
Try seating a bullet really long and measure how far you need for the round to be chambered fully and then take that measurement and add .015 and seat a bullet with a good crimp and then see if it is still hard to remove.
If the round goes into the chamber easy, it should come out easy if not firing it.
Good Luck.

[8uck5nort]

Ok. I am going to pick up a sharpie on the way home and try that. I suspect it is contacting the lands and sticking, but I just dont see it. Hopefully with the aid of a coloring agent I will confirm or rule it out. I'll do some measuring and post results. I am assuming a little longer chamber, if I did go too far, is not a show stopper. I don't think I over reamed it, but I guess I am going to find out. I hope to send some bullets down range with it this weekend one way or the other just to test function. I never shot it unreamed. Didn't want the whole "you ruined a great shooter" guilt complex just in case. 

[Fred McIntire]

I use a cast lead bullet that is .359 in diameter, with an overall length of 1.89, without any problem.

I would think that it would be more of an overall length issue with the cartridge than a diameter issue. If you stopped reaming as soon as you contacted the rim, you could not have reamed it too deep. Even if you went a few thousands into the rim, it would still be a cartridge overall length issue.

I'm sure you'll be fine. 

[8uck5nort]

All is well in 357 max land! I got out and finally got some rounds down range. Everything worked flawlessly. No problems with extraction of spent cases, no flaring or case marks from rough chamber. Shot about 10 to 12 rounds of the Reeds 180gr JHP. With the last three for a guage on accuracy at 50 yards. It was a little windy today, but should not have reallly affect bullet flight at that close of a range. It did a .980 inch three shot group in a triangluar pattern. This was from my caldwell plastic rest. So I believe I definitely have a rifle to work with and will begin load developement and accurizing. If I did mess it up it must have been in "good" way. 

[quickdtoo]