6.5 PRC bolt click?

[BrentM]

I talked to my smith today and he didn't think altering the chamber was the best solution. He felt a custom die was the best way to go. I use all Redding dies so I gave them a call this morning, they are not doing any custom work at this time because they are trying to catch up on their backlog of orders. I will contact Whidden and see what my options are. Thanks for all the good advice.

Look at spec'ing the whidden to .5275. Brass will likely spring back to .5295 giving you around .0025 chamber clearance. They are very familiar with this issue at whidden. They just need to make a huge run of them and sell them as needed.

 

[JAYgs8163]

I talked with Whidden last week. They want 3 pieces of your fired brass to make the die.

 

[can1010]

welcome to the wonderful world of the 6.5 PRC. the best and easiest is to polish the chamber. the saami reamer will be .533 at the .200 line it really should be .535-.5355. I tried .5355 and it solved my problem

 

[BrentM]

Sorry I said MGM earlier. The reamer is JGS precision. 6.5 PRC AW 2.

 

[spin-one]

Ok I talked to Whidden And they were very helpful. They want me to mail them three pieces of my brass that I am having issues with. They will measures it. Their standard die is basically a small base die. Depending on the size of the brass, many times their standard die will correct the problem and there won't be the long lead time. If not then I will need to go the custom die route.

 

[BrentM]

Ok I talked to Whidden And they were very helpful. They want me to mail them three pieces of my brass that I am having issues with. They will measures it. Their standard die is basically a small base die. Depending on the size of the brass, many times their standard die will correct the problem and there won't be the long lead time. If not then I will need to go the custom die route.

I doubt it will do it. Couple of us went down this road before. Had to spec a .5275 die. If you get the spec off the die that'll tell you. Measure your brass as well.

 

[spin-one]

I did go ahead and color a piece of brass with a sharpie and the color was scratched off only at the very base. I am getting ready to mail Whidden three pieces of brass.

 

[Roninco]

Take the time to read the entire thread listed in post #2. Many people have tried the custom die solution without success. Sizing dies can only squeeze the case base so much as the web is solid. Production gun manufactures will not address this issue since they meet SAAMI specs and new ammo works fine. Custom smiths don't like dealing with this since it requires a non-standard reamer and potentially reworking the chamber.
Please report back if the custom die solves your issue.

 

[spin-one]

when I hear back from Whidden I will let you know what they recommend. The tech at Whidden told me that he talked a couple of guys that had purchased Lapua 6.5 PRC brass and have five reloading on it with no clickers yet.

 

[BrentM]

Take the time to read the entire thread listed in post #2. Many people have tried the custom die solution without success. Sizing dies can only squeeze the case base so much as the web is solid. Production gun manufactures will not address this issue since they meet SAAMI specs and new ammo works fine. Custom smiths don't like dealing with this since it requires a non-standard reamer and potentially reworking the chamber.
Please report back if the custom die solves your issue.

Interesting. Hadn't heard people had issues with the custom dies. Do you know if that's right off the bat or after a certain amount of reloads? My die is working very well so far. Fall back is the reamer.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Ever think Hornady built this with such a tight tolerance as to be more of a "off the shelf Precision Rifle Cartridge" so to be able to sell more factory ammo and new brass and limit the reloader. If the chamber is that tight it must shoot factory or first firing custom ammo very well. I've experienced great results with factory ammo in both my 300 and 65 PRC. I used factory ammo to break in both rifles. Just saying, Hornady does great marketing but this could be part of their overall business plan with the PRC. Maybe or maybe not.

 

[BrentM]

Ever think Hornady built this with such a tight tolerance as to be more of a "off the shelf Precision Rifle Cartridge" so to be able to sell more factory ammo and new brass and limit the reloader. If the chamber is that tight it must shoot factory or first firing custom ammo very well. I've experienced great results with factory ammo in both my 300 and 65 PRC. I used factory ammo to break in both rifles. Just saying, Hornady does great marketing but this could be part of their overall business plan with the PRC. Maybe or maybe not.

Possible. I've never shot factory ammo but seen a few Prc's run it and they shoot. I tested hornady brass this week for fun with a new barrel and it shot very very very well. Load and go and shot 10 for 6.7 sd, bug holes at zero and .5 or better.
Now does the prc literally have tighter tolerances than a creed? Does a prc have issues with lighter brass like hornady? I'm going to load this hornady brass and find out. Adg had issues at 4x in my rifle.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Possible. I've never shot factory ammo but seen a few Prc's run it and they shoot. I tested hornady brass this week for fun with a new barrel and it shot very very very well. Load and go and shot 10 for 6.7 sd, bug holes at zero and .5 or better.
Now does the prc literally have tighter tolerances than a creed? Does a prc have issues with lighter brass like hornady? I'm going to load this hornady brass and find out. Adg had issues at 4x in my rifle.

I've never experienced the "clicker" yet in any rifle. When does it exactly take place in the cycling of the action, upon chambering a round or upon ejection of a spent round?

 

[BrentM]

I've never experienced the "clicker" yet in any rifle. When does it exactly take place in the cycling of the action, upon chambering a round or upon ejection of a spent round?

It usually starts as a click right at the top end of the bolt lift just before the extraction ramp and into it. So basically the bolt has to kind of pop the case loose from the chamber. Next level is the case sticks and you experience hard bolt lift. The final level is the sob sticks in the chamber and you need rod to tap it out.

I experienced most of this around stage1 3x, stage 2 4x, stage 3 5x. Stage 3 I was in panic mode and digging into the issue. Like you, I've never had this issue before. In talking to whidden, they said it is more common in short magnum style cases and heavy web brass. I think because the whole issue is so weird people are struggling with the premise. For example, why does a SAUM or WSM not have this issue. On another note, there is a reason small base dies are made. It addresses this issue in other cartridges as well.