Is this pressure or something else? LC Brass .308

[Adam0321/0306]

I always found the LC brass to be a little hit or miss. Anything out of a machine gun is too much effort. The lc match brass seems to perform better. Sort, anneal, turn the necks and you can get there. Likely not worth the effort, but you will learn something along the way. Might be to take the easy road and buy good brass.

I think learning is occurring

 

[divingin]

It has. Some are even a bit past 2.005.

As I recall the 2.005 is the trim-to length. 308 Max case length is 2.015, isn't it?

I'd suspect you're getting a bulge towards the base, but with moderate loads, you shouldn't be. Maybe from the first factory load firing?

I had problems with some once-fired (supposedly fully reconditioned) LC brass that exhibited the same problem you're having; turned out to be a bulge towards the base. Chambered fine, but would take a lot of force to open the bolt, despite a fairly mild charge. Hitting the brass with a small-base die solved that.

 

[BHP9]

Despite them stating not to use them in bolt guns?

Who says that? Not RCBS.

I use the for my .223 Remington, 260 Remington, 308 Remington and possibly my 6.5 Creedmoor. All bolt actions. No issues.

 

[Adam0321/0306]

Who says that? Not RCBS.

I use the for my .223 Remington, 260 Remington, 308 Remington and possibly my 6.5 Creedmoor. All bolt actions. No issues.

Good to know.

 

[Adam0321/0306]

Who says that? Not RCBS.

I use the for my .223 Remington, 260 Remington, 308 Remington and possibly my 6.5 Creedmoor. All bolt actions. No issues.

Who says that? Not RCBS.

I use the for my .223 Remington, 260 Remington, 308 Remington and possibly my 6.5 Creedmoor. All bolt actions. No issues.

 

[Codyway]

I'm betting Lapua cases fix it.
If the problem comes back, use a sharpie or dykum on the case to see where its tight. Color up a fired case and see where it rubs. Then size that area more
Finally, a clicker issue can be a rough chamber finish. Chamber can grip the case a bit too well. Most any gunsmith or experienced competition shooter with a bore scope can spot this issue

 

[StumpGrinder]

Good evening everyone. So I have been doing some load dev for a 308 of mine. The rifle is a custom Remington 700 with a 1:14 Hart barrel. The load is LC brass with 44.5 grains of IMR 4064, CCI 200, Sierra 2156 155 grain SMK. I am getting velocities averaging 2751. But I am having a hard bolt lift. The first 3/4 of bolt travel is fine, then it nearly feels like it has to cam over to fully open.

The picture showing the LC LR brass is having the bolt issue. The other brass, factory FC 308 is not causing any problems. I am well below the max charge. Even given the thicker case walls of the LC brass, I wouldn’t expect this to be a pressure issue.

Any input? Thanks.

I also use LC brass and I have had to neck turn them down to work properly. If the neck is to thick it will not be able to expand and release the bullet which will cause a pressure spike just like if the bullet was jammed into the lands. Also the LC brass Is thicker all over so you have to work up your loads from the minimum and they most likely will be over pressure before you reach book max. Measure your neck diameter with the bullet loaded. It should measure .344" or less, .340" would be better. I like a neck thickness of .015" to .012". If the neck is to thick however it should not chamber easily.

 

[StumpGrinder]

Good evening everyone. So I have been doing some load dev for a 308 of mine. The rifle is a custom Remington 700 with a 1:14 Hart barrel. The load is LC brass with 44.5 grains of IMR 4064, CCI 200, Sierra 2156 155 grain SMK. I am getting velocities averaging 2751. But I am having a hard bolt lift. The first 3/4 of bolt travel is fine, then it nearly feels like it has to cam over to fully open.

The picture showing the LC LR brass is having the bolt issue. The other brass, factory FC 308 is not causing any problems. I am well below the max charge. Even given the thicker case walls of the LC brass, I wouldn’t expect this to be a pressure issue.

Any input? Thanks.

If the case is to long it can also cause a pressure spike.

 

[Adam0321/0306]

If the case is to long it can also cause a pressure spike.

I am fairly certain that is not the problem.

 

[Adam0321/0306]

So I took my rifle into the shop today. I showed it to my gunsmith and he scoped the bore. He said that my chamber was very dirty and believes that is the problem. I am going to scrub it, reduce my load, try the Lapua brass and see if that works.

 

[BHP9]

I haven't seen that, thanks, but I haven't had any problems SB sizing for my bolt guns.

More than likely lawyer speak!

 

[Adam0321/0306]

Just wanted to follow up. I ditched the LC brass for some Federal brass and that seemed to do the trick. I had reduced the charge in the LC brass by three grains and was still have the occasional clicker. Loaded some of the federal brass to within .5 of max capacity and had zero issues. Thank you for all the help and replies.

 

[Murray Brook]

Nice of you to get back and let us know what you found.

 

[Adam0321/0306]

Nice of you to get back and let us know what you found.

Thank you. I try.

 

[kevinbritvec]

Lake City brass is incompatible with some chambers. I can't use it in my 95 Palma chambered rifles; the neck diameter doesn't allow enough clearance. Hard bolt lift with mild loads, i.e. 41.0 grains of IMR-4064 using 168 SMK's seated @ 2.800".

 

[kevinbritvec]

Load data using Lake City brass and Sierra MK's.

 

[divingin]

Looks like a clicker, case sizing issues.
Might want to investigate your virgin vs fired case dimensions at the .200 line.

Had the same problem after buying some once-fired LC 308 brass. Problem was just above the web. Small base die took care of it (I think being a little more aggressive on first sizing would have as well, but was trying to minimize working the brass.)

 

[DirtySteve]

I always anneal and use a SB sizer for LC brass for the first firing. Get a Teslong bore scope so you can inspect your barrel cleaning. Don’t worry about barrel imperfections we using a bore scope, you will go insane worrying over a flaw that has zero effect on accuracy.