Bullet Seating?

[Steve369ca]

This is more of a help question but I couldnt find a better place to post it. I have browsed around here a bit but this is my first post.

I recently bought some Federal factory ammo and running it through my 270 WSM Weatherby and come the second box my bolt takes about twice to three times the strength to close it. Now on an empty shell it opens and closes smoothly like before but with a live round it is hard to close and open. Could this be because the bullets are not actually seated properly? I havent had a chance to run to the store and buy a different brand but this is the first instance of this. I have another rifle that likes to get sticky like this and you run a wire brush and polish the chamber out but that did not work for the Weatherby.

Any help would be appreciated I am stuck pondering this in my head until about thursday when I can go run and buy another box.

 

[Mikecr]

I doubt it's bullet seating given the freebore Weatherby usually puts in place.
I would suspect that second box of Federal ammo is a tad mismatching in headspace.
Are the lot numbers the same on those boxes?

 

[BobbyL]

Easiest way to find out. I pull the firing pin to make sure no accidents happen. Then chamber the round and extract. If there is marks on the bullet then its the seating. I doubt thats the case and i would bet its a headspace issue with the brass but just to make sure i would check a round in the chamber.

 

[Steve369ca]

Yes there are marks on the face of the bolt it leaves a little brass on the face now. First time I have noticed this. I had one box of federal from before that worked fine. Now I ordered 3 boxes from CheaperThanDirt.com and half way through the first one I noticed the hard to close bolt. Rounds shot fine I shot 2 through the hard bolt then thought better of it. I will have to check the boxes and see if they are the same lot numbers. I feel like these probably aren't safe should I contact Federal about the problem or am I just SOL?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Steve369ca]

Thanks for the help guys. I contacted Federal and they just had me send them the 3 boxes back and are just going to refund it. I suppose I may found out if something was wrong with them I won't know until I get another box and see if it is that or my gun. Thanks again.

 

[Mikecr]

Last time I tried to ship ammo, I swore never to try it again!

 

[Steve369ca]

It was pretty painless you just take it to UPS, make sure they ship it ground, and write ORM-D on atleast two side (Other Regulated Material - Class D). I suppose living out in the praire of North Dakota makes it a little more normal, I know if I was still in California they probably would have kicked me out! haha

 

[Chas1]

It was pretty painless you just take it to UPS, make sure they ship it ground, and write ORM-D on atleast two side (Other Regulated Material - Class D). I suppose living out in the praire of North Dakota makes it a little more normal, I know if I was still in California they probably would have kicked me out! haha

+1-UPS will ship ammo. USPO will not.

 

[Steve369ca]

BAH I ordered another 2 boxes of federal from Midway (This time triple shok premiums) and had the same problem as before! I think it must be a batch that Midway has, a call to federal is in order to talk about this...The store bought stuff works just fine. Also havent heard anything back from federal after they said they would take a look and refund me.

 

[Steve369ca]

Ok so comparing these Premium Federals to my cheapy winchester I think I have the problem. The neck where it meets the shoulder isnt a crisp line its more rounded. I took one of the rounds just as a test and cleaned up with a pair of pliers just flattening the case against the bullet in the neck and that eased up a lot of the pressure. I cant believe the let ones that look that bad out of the factory.

 

[Chas1]

BAH I ordered another 2 boxes of federal from Midway (This time triple shok premiums) and had the same problem as before! I think it must be a batch that Midway has, a call to federal is in order to talk about this...The store bought stuff works just fine. Also havent heard anything back from federal after they said they would take a look and refund me.

Steve, heard anything back from Federal yet...it's been a couple of weeks and was just wondering.

 

[Steve369ca]

Yea they actually said it was within their specs. All be it on the high end. Sent me a refund of 95 dollars for the 3 boxes. I actually measured the length of the shoulder from the widest part of the case to the neck and the ones that were tight were noticeably larger in the calipers.

 

[Chas1]

Good to hear they made you whole.