More reloading issues

[dino foss]

I need some advice on my 338 lapua savage, After I tried to chamber some resized brass after being used once I could not get the brass to chamber smoothly unless I rotated the brass to the right position and only then it would chamber smoothly.
Here are some pics of some possible issues,

Here is a pic of new brass never fired.

here is a pic of once fired brass after resizing.

Here is a pic of one half of an inked piece

here is a pic of the other half

I have a bad feeling about this one, the factory ammo always loads perfectly, I have been using hornady ammo and brass. Im hoping that its just the tight tolerances the savage has and crappy brass that is creating this problem? I have gone over the die setup and Im sure Im good there ,I cant tell yet if I have a bent die. When I inked the shoulder and chambered it there was no sign of any issues there. Any advice would be great especially if its good news. Thanks.

[ZSteinle]

Sizer die set to over cam?

[Mikecr]

Have you tried chambering fired brass that hasn't been sized?

[dino foss]

Originally Posted by Mikecr

Have you tried chambering fired brass that hasn't been sized?

Yes I have and it does the same thing just a little stiffer.

[406pat]

I've heard of a few people having troubles with Hornady .338 brass. It was my understanding that they were using brass with a web similar in thickness to the parent case (.416 Rigby) while Lapua actually modified the internal case dimensions for a stronger web. I heard that Hornady had fixed the problem with their new manufacturing process but I think this was fairly recent and I don't believe enough time has passed to purge all of the old cases from supply.
(Open to correction, this is just what I've heard through the grapevine)

Maybe you have the old brass and it's stretching more on one side than the other?

With that said, I'd try a piece or two of Lapua or Norma brass and do the same process of firing once and then marking up with the Sharpie.

At the same time, you might want to get some Cerrosafe and make a cast of your chamber and check it on a concentricity gauge.

Those two tests should pretty well tell you if it's the brass or the chamber.

[Mikecr]

Is the fired brass oblong from circular form?
Is the chamber centered in the barrel?

[dino foss]

Originally Posted by Mikecr

Is the fired brass oblong from circular form?
Is the chamber centered in the barrel?

Its hard to tell all I have is a mic go by.I have measured a possible .001 or .002 difference on the resized brass which I guess would make it oblong. I have had brass from my 300 that showed similar pressure signs that would make it appear oblong but its in the webing so I hope its just crappy brass and not an off chamber to barrel issue.I will have to take it to smith for that. I have ordered some cerrosafe to see if the chamber is circular. I tried to explain my issues to savage but all they cared about was if it fired factory ammo fine and if it did it was basically the end of our conversation. I am going to try some lapua brass soon and Im going to cross my fingers. thanks for your help and keep it coming because lord knows I need it.