My 308 has me baffled

Im betting smith removed barrel for threading
any good smith will remove the barrel so it spins concentrically on the lathe. Then the barrel would be reassembled on the action. So most likely it's a headspace issue. It might even be that the rifle was oversize from the factory without you knowing and put back to proper spec - I've seen a few like that, most recently a m70 300WM.

try to chamber some of your fired brass from before the operation. I bet they'll be very tight.
 
Looking at the pictures, I'd say excessive headspace, that brass stretched way too much and caused that case head separation. Will also cause extremely high pressure because the case isn't supported. Ask me where I've seen it before!
 
Looking at the pictures, I'd say excessive headspace, that brass stretched way too much and caused that case head separation. Will also cause extremely high pressure because the case isn't supported. Ask me where I've seen it before!
Oh geez louise, this! Reread and seen it was a Savage, was thinking that if a gunsmith put the barrel on (shouldered) that surely he would torque it correctly and the headspace would be right (especially if he checked it). However from the looks of it Farmboy is probably spot on with the Savage headspace, the good news is that you can fix it...if you didn't want to take it back to the smith.
 
morning, u said u had the barrel coated? did the person
that coated the rifle coat the chamber? this could cause
chamber and pressure problems. justme gbot tum
 
any good smith will remove the barrel so it spins concentrically on the lathe. Then the barrel would be reassembled on the action. So most likely it's a headspace issue. It might even be that the rifle was oversize from the factory without you knowing and put back to proper spec - I've seen a few like that, most recently a m70 300WM.

try to chamber some of your fired brass from before the operation. I bet they'll be very tight.

You may be on to something here. I need to ask if the barrel was pulled, although I dont think it was as my smith has a cnc lathe with a spider bit. I will say i my cases do seem extra tight and now i really have to run them all the way down with a full length die to get them to chamber without a pretty tight bolt closure
 
Well that's new info! It seems that would rule out excessive, if it is the case... may need to rework your load now.
 
Really the only way to thread a barrel for a suppresser is to take it out if not you are taking a chance for a baffle strike in the suppresser
But that doesn't have anything to do with a tight chamber
It's nearly has to paint in the chamber or wrong head space IMO
 
Can you take a case measurement with a head space gauge? Ideally fired old case, fired new case and loaded? How about case neck OD for the same 3 cases?
 
As stated above, I would suggest simply asking your smith if he removed the barrel for threading. If so, then head spacing is your likely culprit. A phone call is all takes to explore this.
 
I'm a custom Smith of 30 yrs so I will give you my take on this.
Got a break.
Got ceracoat
You can eliminate the ceracoat by looking in bore by the crown with light and magnifier. I have seen ceracoat and ceracoat in bores.
Nobody I know would dial a barrel in for threading and not taking the 1 extra minute to touch the crown. This wouldn't raise pressure anyway. As far as getting setup for threading for the brake goes as long as the barrel will reach through the chuck there is no reason to take it off. Shorter barrels are much harder to do in the headstock so I take them off and do them in a custom figure. Basically a double spider setup. None of this would give more pressure. Now here is the only thing I think could. The barrel was removed and put back on with less headspace. This would be able to raise pressure. If the barrel was put on with more headspace it essentially would have more volume.
When loads were put back in gun after all the work were they very hard to close the bolt on? Or maybe the loads were right on the edge of being hot and there is a temperature rise causing the excess. All I got for this.
Shep
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top