Frustrated with my brass

[muleman69]

Have a 6br that has been shot probably 40 times with all reloads. Made some up and went to range and noticed bolt tough to close and a bit tight on opening. Went home and checked oal,case length,head space and all seemed fine. Using lapua brass ,Redding dies. Resized some brass with body die and FL ,checked length and head space, seated bullets under book 0al and it is still snug fit. One thing I did notice is when using body die my head space reading can be .001-.0015 different, can't figure that out? Please help if you can thanks

 

[tn6br]

How many firings are on brass? How much are you bumping the shoulder back?

 

[tn6br]

Take a piece of brass Set the shoulder back for .003 clearance, color brass with a marker and chamber it quite a few times looking for rubbed places on the brass. My bet is your chamber is tighter in the head of the case than your die is sizing. I have a 6br with the same issue i had to get a small base fl die for

 

[Stan Taylor]

Well if it is a 6mmbr Norma chamber sounds like to tight of headspace may be wrong but with information here first thought.

 

[muleman69]

How many firings are on brass? How much are you bumping the shoulder back?

No more than three firings. Have body die set to Redding instructions. Using the Hornady gauge the brass is coming out about .003-.004 over Lapua unfired brass.I'm headed out now to try again,I will try and keep good notes.

 

[muleman69]

Take a piece of brass Set the shoulder back for .003 clearance, color brass with a marker and chamber it quite a few times looking for rubbed places on the brass. My bet is your chamber is tighter in the head of the case than your die is sizing. I have a 6br with the same issue i had to get a small base fl die for

I"m using a small base die ? I will color one and cycle it now and report back.I'm stumped

 

[jds holler]

Had the same problem with my 22BR. It's an early Remington Norma chamber. With Lapua brass, I run them through a small base die one time, and then I'm good to go. They seem to spring back to a comfortable chamber fit from then on. jd

 

[tn6br]

No more than three firings. Have body die set to Redding instructions. Using the Hornady gauge the brass is coming out about .003-.004 over Lapua unfired brass.I'm headed out now to try again,I will try and keep good notes.

What is the difference in Fired vs after going through body die length to shoulder?

 

[muleman69]

What is the difference in Fired vs after going through body die length to shoulder?

3.1600 vs 3.1625......new brass 3.1585

 

[Murray Brook]

If your case is 3.160 fire formed then I believe you should adjust your body die to size the case to 3.158 so as to achieve a .002 shoulder bump.

 

[tn6br]

If im understading correctly you are not pushing the shoulder back far enough to fit in your chamber.

3.1600 vs 3.1625......new brass 3.1585

 

[Zero333]

Maybe you don't have much freebore and bullets are going into the rifling ?
Some bullets can go in the Lands 0.030" and not jam. 80gr Berger FB Varmint bullets can go very deep in the lands with out jamming.

Maybe the bottom part of the brass isn't getting sized enough.

 

[muleman69]

Maybe you don't have much freebore and bullets are going into the rifling ?
Some bullets can go in the Lands 0.030" and not jam. 80gr Berger FB Varmint bullets can go very deep in the lands with out jamming.

Maybe the bottom part of the brass isn't getting sized enough.

You hit the nail on the head Zero. I have been all day trying to figure this out(pulled most of my hair out). I have been miking and measuring for at least 6 hours ,then wham after running cases in and out of the chamber I found the problem. Just above the extractor grove I noticed a mark on a case. Tried several and same result (Shazam) . Not sure what is going on but upon open and closing I get this drag on case. Ran body die down and FL die down and still have this problem? I have a box of Redding shell holders in different sizes, should I start there?

 

[muleman69]

Take a piece of brass Set the shoulder back for .003 clearance, color brass with a marker and chamber it quite a few times looking for rubbed places on the brass. My bet is your chamber is tighter in the head of the case than your die is sizing. I have a 6br with the same issue i had to get a small base fl die for

Thanks,you as well as Zero were spot on

 

[Zero333]

You hit the nail on the head Zero. I have been all day trying to figure this out(pulled most of my hair out). I have been miking and measuring for at least 6 hours ,then wham after running cases in and out of the chamber I found the problem. Just above the extractor grove I noticed a mark on a case. Tried several and same result (Shazam) . Not sure what is going on but upon open and closing I get this drag on case. Ran body die down and FL die down and still have this problem? I have a box of Redding shell holders in different sizes, should I start there?

As long as the shoulder doesn't get bumped more than 0.004" you can try sizing the brass more with a different shell holder.

If that doesn't work then a small base die will work.

If the barrel/action has a barrel nut you can shorten the working headspace a little if bumping the shoulders more than 0.004" is necessary to size the bottom portion of the brass.

But otherwise a small base die is the answer or something along those lines. Sometimes a different die from another manufacturer can solve the problem.

 

[243winxb]

I have a box of Redding shell holders in different sizes, should I start there?

Competition shell holders are to make the head to datum measurement longer. So No.

Turn the die down more and but some muscle into sizing.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Sounds like your chamber is a tad big. You should send 3x fired cases to whidden and get a set of fl dies made. You will get to keep your hair from that point forward

 

[muleman69]

Competition shell holders are to make the head to datum measurement longer. So No.

Turn the die down more and but some muscle into sizing.

Okay I'm going for it (muscle up) Hope something don't break....LOL

 

[muleman69]

As long as the shoulder doesn't get bumped more than 0.004" you can try sizing the brass more with a different shell holder.

If that doesn't work then a small base die will work.

If the barrel/action has a barrel nut you can shorten the working headspace a little if bumping the shoulders more than 0.004" is necessary to size the bottom portion of the brass.

But otherwise a small base die is the answer or something along those lines. Sometimes a different die from another manufacturer can solve the problem.

I have the FL small base as well as the small base body die.Going to run them down and try it until there is no more down...LOL

 

[retired]

get a die that fits your chamber.
over working the shoulder to get the base small is going to shorten the life of your brass.
try the reverse order. small base only then bump shoulder for a little clearance.