Difference In Effort To Open And Close Bolt; Federal vs. Hornady Factory Loads.

[David Milisock]

So far, all the measurements of the rounds appear to be in spec. Just an interesting occurrence, I think, but would still like to know why. I have some of those bullets being hand loaded into Hornady brass , so that may tell me a lot as well.

Clock them and see if the Federal loads are faster?

 

[Turkeytider]

Clock them and see if the Federal loads are faster?

Indeed they are according to my chronograph. Then again, the box MV for the Federals is higher than the Hornady or AAC.

 

[David Milisock]

Indeed they are according to my chronograph. Then again, the box MV for the Federals is higher than the Hornady or AAC.

Can you hear of feel the powder shake when you shake the cartridge? Could be compressed load in thee Federal.

 

[AICS308]

I had the same problem when shooting Federal Gold Match 175 grain 308. About 1 or 2 per box would chamber very hard, had to really press on the bolt to get it to close. After shooting a few boxes the ones hard to chamber would hit the target about 3 MOA high. Measured the brass OAL and found the problem rounds were 2.018 to 2.020. The maximum length should be 2.015. After trimming the brass back to 2.010 and reloading the problem went away.