6.5-06 ai HELP!!!

[j3564wost]

So I have finally got around to reloading some rounds for my 6.5-06ai that I purchased on here around a year ago. The rifle came with 100 rnds, so I order a set of redding FL 40 degree dies to reload once the rnds were gone. Well that time has come.....

I had a few rnds left so I based coal off of them. I ran the shells through the FL die and loaded them with 59 grns of retumbo and a 140 Berger. I'm using 280ai brass by the way.

I went the the range today to try out the new reloads and it was almost impossible to close the bolt! I was single loading them by hand and they entered the chamber just fine. But I had to push forward hard on the bolt hand and push VERY hard to close. I tried to eject some of the unfired shells that I couldn't get the bolt hand to close on and it was VERY difficult to do.

The rounds I did get the bolt closed on shot excellent .25-.5 moa just like the rounds that came with the rifle.

The only thing I can think of is that the chamber is not a 40 degree chamber???

Thanks in advance for any advice, kinda takes the fun out of shooting...

 

[Dano1]

j3564wost,

I have a 6.5-06 AI and you problem is simple. You are using the wrong brass. The .30-06 is the parent for the 6.5-06 AI, Not the .280 Remington. The .280 Remington/.280 AI Neck Shoulder juncture and shoulder is not in the same place as a .30-06 or a Standard 6.5-06. That means that the finished shoulder is further out on a .280 AI than it is on a 6.5-06 AI and you need to go back to using necked down .30-06 or necked and trimmed .270 Win (which is what I use) and then fire-form the stuff. There is no getting around this unless you buy some pre-formed stuff. Which is really expensive and nearly impossible to find.

I'm actually surprised that you were able to chamber the stuff at all even if you had used a hammer.....

Hope this helps,

Dan

 

[j3564wost]

Dan thanks for the reply.

I guess I may need some more clarification.

I started out with 100 loaded rounds that were already formed for the 6.5 and they cycled fine. (These were 280ai brass) then I fired them, FL sized them and loaded again. This is were I ran into the problems..also note that when I did get the bolt to close and fired them, they ejected like they should.

I guess I'm having a hard time understanding, why now? They cycled fine before....? My thinking is that they share the same parent case and have already been fire formed by the previous owner...

Thanks again


Jesse

 

[MagnumManiac]

Not wanting to sound harsh, but, how much reloading experience do you have?
It sounds to me that this a simple fault in how you are sizing your brass, causing over long brass from base to shoulder, or base to case mouth.
Have you trimmed the cases back to .010" below max length?
How are you sizing the brass?
Are you screwing the die in until it touches the shell holder, then sizing?
Have you tried sizing by removing the firing pin assembly, sizing a case, chambering it and seeing how much resistance there is?
Try adjusting your sizing, per the above, by sizing and checking in the rifle until a case chambers with very slight resistance, the bolt should fall 90% of the way before it just stops. If you like, from this point you can turn the die in 1/24 of a turn down for an additional .002"-.003" clearance.
The easiest method by far is to actually measure the amount you are sizing, the Hornady Headspace gauge or Forster Headspace gauge are both fantastic tools for this.

Cheers.
lightbulb

 

[embork]

I would use 25-06 brass first choice. then 270 brass second choice but a lot more trimming.

 

[eshorebwhntr]

If you shot the brass once already and had no issues, then reloaded it and it was tight there is a chance that the bullet was seated too long and was significantly into the lands.

Take one of the rounds that you've loaded, pull the bullet, dump the powder, and try to chamber the empty brass. If that chambers easily it's not your brass. If it doesn't you'll know you didn't size something right during reloading or that the brass grew too much and is too long.

You should also be able to load a round then pull it and look for scarring on the brass or bullet.

 

[Shooter264]

j3564wost,

I have a 6.5-06 AI and you problem is simple. You are using the wrong brass. The .30-06 is the parent for the 6.5-06 AI, Not the .280 Remington. The .280 Remington/.280 AI Neck Shoulder juncture and shoulder is not in the same place as a .30-06 or a Standard 6.5-06. That means that the finished shoulder is further out on a .280 AI than it is on a 6.5-06 AI and you need to go back to using necked down .30-06 or necked and trimmed .270 Win (which is what I use) and then fire-form the stuff. There is no getting around this unless you buy some pre-formed stuff. Which is really expensive and nearly impossible to find.

I'm actually surprised that you were able to chamber the stuff at all even if you had used a hammer.....

Hope this helps,

Dan

I am pretty sure the rifle he owns is my old rifle. I have always shot 280AI brass through it and it works excellent as long as you bump the shoulders back and trim the necks to the proper length. It is far easier than starting with raw brass and fireforming or hydroforming. The chamber is in fact a 40* shoulder with a .296" neck. I had a set of custom Hornady dies built for the rifle based on three fired cases.

J3464wost,
Is the rifle you are talking about a LH remington 700 with a 26 1/2" pacnor bbl and a bansners ultra light stock? If so, It is my old rifle and you are right it is a 1/4-.5 moa gun all day long. Couple questions: 1. Are measuring your seating depth at the tip of your bullet or off the ogive? 2. Are you using FL sizing dies or Type bushing dies? 3. Are you sure when you are resizing that you are bumping the shoulders .0015" at a minimum? If it is my old rifle, I have never had an issue using 280AI nosler brass and have loaded some cases 6-7 times.

 

[j3564wost]

Couple questions: 1. Are measuring your seating depth at the tip of your bullet or off the ogive? 2. Are you using FL sizing dies or Type bushing dies? 3. Are you sure when you are resizing that you are bumping the shoulders .0015" at a minimum? If it is my old rifle, I have never had an issue using 280AI nosler brass and have loaded some cases 6-7 times.[/QUOTE]

CPGFAN yes this is your old gun. Yes I was measuring off of the tip for coal. I'm using a set of Redding FL dies 40* and I believe the shoulder has been bumped sufficiently. The die was making slight contact with the shell holder.

Would just neck sizing and trimming solve the issue?

If its not apparent by now, this is my first wildcat round.....

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[Shooter264]

First you need to make sure you are bumping the shoulders enough. Using hornady headspace guage fired round should measure 2.094" so you need to make sure the shoulders are bumped to 2.092". It is always best to measure your seating depth off the office rather than the tip because the meplat can make bullets vary.015" from bullet to bullet. Those are the only issues I can think of. The 280ai brass prepped correctly is perfect for that gun, do not worry there. Shoot me a pm if you want me to call you to discuss

 

[dragman]

sounds like the shoulder too me. If you aren't sizing them down enough to touch or bump the shoulder back the die might be squeezing the brass and making the case longer by a couple thousands that's why they are closing really tight, but also why they are still shooting well.

 

[Dano1]

I am pretty sure the rifle he owns is my old rifle. I have always shot 280AI brass through it and it works excellent as long as you bump the shoulders back and trim the necks to the proper length. It is far easier than starting with raw brass and fireforming or hydroforming. The chamber is in fact a 40* shoulder with a .296" neck. I had a set of custom Hornady dies built for the rifle based on three fired cases.

Interesting, I have seen old timers use .300 Win Mag to make the old .308 Norma Mag by running it through a sizing die and trimming, but the .300 Win Mag has a 25 degree shoulder and would work fine. I guess I learned something today....LOL

Dan

 

[Shooter264]

Interesting, I have seen old timers use .300 Win Mag to make the old .300 Norma Mag by running it through a sizing die and trimming, but the .300 Win Mag has a 25 degree shoulder and would work fine. I guess I learned something today....LOL

Dan

It eliminates putting rounds down the bbl just to fireform. I've owned several 6.5-06AI and always dreaded fireforming brass. When nosler introduced factory 280 AI brass it was like I had just won the lottery. I was using lapua 30-06 brass before and had to turn necks at .30 caliber, run through a 280 die to get halfway to 6.5 from .30, then neck down to 6.5, and lastly fireform the brass. With the 280AI brass I just had to bump shoulders to .0015" under a fired case and trim the necks and load and shoot. It was a work smarter not harder moment for me!! Haha

 

[j3564wost]

Looks like I need to buy a headspace gauge. Confirming your using the C 375 bushing?

 

[Shooter264]

I believe that's the one