I'm in need of a little advice as to how figure out an issue I'm having with a Weatherby 7 mag. I'm starting load development (for a friend) using the 120gr Hammer Hunters and here's my dilemma. First of all the brass is once fired factory ammo through this particular rifle. My process is to remove primers, clean, anneal, and size full length with .002 shoulder bump and trim. I check every case in the chamber with the firing pin removed to make sure there are no anomalies. Now here's the dilemma, when I seat the bullet (20 thou under mag length) the bolt is stiff to close. On nearly all Weatherby's, I start there and with the excessive free bore, it's not even close to the lands. The OD neck measures the same as a factory round loaded with the TSX and it chambers fine. I've completely colored a case with a sharpie and there are no marks whatsoever. Again I've taken every measurement possible and have no idea what's causing the issue. Also, I've cleaned the barrel and the throat to perfection that's verified by with the bore scope. Any advice or answers is more than welcome as I've thrown in the towel.
Stumped and need HELP!
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Mikecr
Well-Known Member
Did you color the bullets?
Was no need. I pulled the bullets and the brass without them did the same. The OD of the necks were identical to a factory round that's loads fine.
mtwarych
Well-Known Member
Is there a possibility that the resized brass is actually head spacing on the belt of the cartridge and not on the shoulder? Is the bolt unusually stiff on the lock-up? All of my reloads are slightly stiff on the camming action of the bolt.
I should have asked if the chamber of the rifle has been scrubbed clean and checked for anything that shouldn't be in there like a rough area or stuff built up.
I should have asked if the chamber of the rifle has been scrubbed clean and checked for anything that shouldn't be in there like a rough area or stuff built up.
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DUSTY NOGGIN
Well-Known Member
soot shows everything , DONT be sooting up any loaded rounds though , make a new dummy with a bullet to your longest touch to lands and full 0.000 headspace exact length no bump
did you remove the extractor and ejector plunger from the bolt also when you took the pin out of your bolt ???
any chance of pic of hh and tsx side by side -- tip end being equal
wondering how the the driving bands compare , as if one may have a valley at the shoulder junction and the other be the high
did you remove the extractor and ejector plunger from the bolt also when you took the pin out of your bolt ???
any chance of pic of hh and tsx side by side -- tip end being equal
wondering how the the driving bands compare , as if one may have a valley at the shoulder junction and the other be the high
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Mikecr
Well-Known Member
Check your story
dls guide
Well-Known Member
try bumping the shoulders back a little more.
No not at all. When I sized the brass with .002 shoulder bump, I chambered every round and there was no resistance at all. The resistance doesn't happen until I seat the bullet and it pretty stiff. I pulled the bullet and chambered and it's the same stiffness. The chamber is perfectly clean with no carbon ring and the entire OD of the neck measures the same as a factory round that loads perfectly.
Thank you all for the suggestions and input. With all other boxes being checked, I proceeded to bump the shoulders back in .002 increments, seat a bullet and check. At .006 it was close and at .008 it was perfect. After 30 plus years of loading this is the first time I've experienced this. Thanks again for the help and I hope I can return the favor to you all in the future!
eschafer
Well-Known Member
I'm missing something, I know it.... how does the case grow from base to shoulder from seating a bullet?.... can anyone please help me understand this?
I don't think that's the issue. You shouldn't have to size cases down .008" once-fired from that chamber. My money is on either peened case mouths that only cause chambering issues once a bullet is seated or a bulge just above the neck/shoulder junction, both of which being abated by sizing the shoulder back .006" past the original measurement. It could have either come from a bushing die (which doesn't explain why it chambered before seating a bullet) or from a donut that may have been pushed to the outside by seating the bullet. (Still can't explain how a donut formed after one firing). It just seems odd to me to have to bump a shoulder back .008" to get it to chamber freely
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Everything you all have stated, I've checked over and over and over. The rifle is an early 60's Mark V. When I received it, the first thing I did was clean the barrel down to bare metal and removed the carbon ring. Verified to perfection with the bore scope. Measured the shoulders with a comparator gauge. Then proceeded to anneal and all other steps before sizing. Using his new RCBS standard full length die, I bumped the shoulder .002. With the firing pin removed, the case fit perfect with zero resistance. I continued to do so for the entire batch (22 pieces) checking each one in the chamber. Once complete, I primed 10 cases to do a ladder test starting at 74gr of H4831SC. I seat a bullet into the first case and with the firing pin still removed, I chambered the round and that's where the problem began. The bolt was moderately stiff to close. Necks are perfect and every measurement on the case is correct. I've done this process for over 30 years and I'm overly anal. So last night, I took a dummy round that was bumped.002 and bumped it to .004. Seated a bullet and it was still stiff but not as bad. Pulling the bullet and bumped to .006 and there was still friction but very little. Pulled the bullet and bumped to .008 and finally there was nothing. I completely agree that .008 is a lot but after checking and verifying everything else what else is the to do? For example a factory loaded 180 TSX the comparator shoulder measurement is 2.111 and with a .008 bump on these rounds the measurement is 2.120 and started (once fired) 2.128.
