have I destroyed my barrel??

[tootalloutdoors]

I've got a pac-nor 6mm br barrel,reload Lapua brass which measures 1.555- 1.556 in length. I've been only neck sizing. After maybe 7-8 reloads the bolt had become hard to close and open. Someone said they needed f/l resizing so I did that and that piece of brass fit fine. I loaded 50 and went to shoot. Some, maybe half of them are still somewhat hard especially opening. Everything is seated well back from the lands and the loads are mild. I heard of a similar problem and the fella sais maybe his cases were too long and the edge of the neck was actually scraping the lands. I measured mine and they are long. The longest measures 1.570.. The neck edge looks rough but if anything the new brass looks rougher. Is this an example of "heck yes that's too long, idiot"!! If I am actually scraping my lands it seems I may have destroyed my barrel. Either way I'm gonna load the new brass until I pick up a trimmer. I've got a wilson trimmer. I just need what ever it is that supports the brass. This seems extremely stupid but I'm going to learn something here. I just hope it's not a catastrophic lesson. When to trim??? A long time ago???
tootalloutdoors

 

[Hans]

I would clean the chamber,neck to leade area) and take a problem case blacken it with marker - candle soot - layout dye . Load the case in the rifle and look for rub marks on the brass once removed.Try a new case after that.

Hans

 

[chino1969]

I doubt you did any damage to your barrel, I wouldn't worry about it. Here's what you need to do. Call Sinclair International or get online and order. They make an overall chamber length gauge, made out of leaded steel, that sells for about $7.00. It comes with instructions on how to use it and will tell you exactly what your chamber length dimension is. Using their instructions, it will tell you exactly how much to trim your brass to fit that chamber. Leaded steel will not damage your barrel and you'll have to sacrifice a case by trimming .200 off the neck. What you do is take this leaded insert and insert it into your case. The other end is a stepped larger diameter that is going to contact the end of your chamber. When you insert the case and cam the bolt down, this leaded insert is going to be forced into your case; similar to seating a bullet. Take the case out and measure the length of the case with a set of dial calibers for your exact chamber length. I believe you subtract .026 from this dimension, as a safety factor, and this is what you should trim your brass to. Hope this helps.
Chino69

 

[tootalloutdoors]

Thank You !! I will be able to breath easier at work today..
tootalloutdoors

 

[tootalloutdoors]

O.K. I colored the case and, both new and used. This is what I've got.. New case has no scraping, and measures at the shoulder,.0460.. Mid case is,.0464... Bottom,.0467...
Used case shows scraping about 1/4" below the shoulder mostly, and measures at the shoulder, .0462... mid case is, .0465... bottum of the case is,.0470.
What does this tell me?
tootalloutdoors

 

[Aussie_bob]

It tells you that it fits in your chamber what you should have been looking for is right at the case mouth if the case had started to push up into the projectile section of the chamber would have scraped and squeezed the end of the case down to projectile diameter when i didn`t have my case necks turned correctly and were too tight i had problems open and closeing the bolt and was tearing jackets on projectiles just make sure your necks have enough clearance as well as length.