Am I seeing a trend with hornady brass?

[AZShooter]

I have two 338 RCMs and a 7mm/375 Ruger. All three of these rifles have an unusual brass sizing issue.

First off I want to say that the reamer for the 338 RCM is an exact duplicate of what Hornady/Ruger specified. I know because I talked to the recently retired Lonny at Hornady about this issue.

I have fired the pet loads for both 338 RCMs up to 5 times with primer pockets staying tight so I believe I am not loading the brass too hot.

The area just above the web of the 338 RCM is expanding so that a Redding FL die won't size it back enough for easy chambering. I switched to the Hornady FL die and it was a bit better but still not right. At the advise of Dave Kiff, Pacific Tool and Gauge I had Whidden gunworks make me a custom FL/bushing die. It resized the area in question enough for easy chambering/extraction of sized brass.

More recently I began working with the 7mm/375 Ruger brass. This is just a necked down version. Twice fired brass is showing the same expanded area just above the belt. My 375 Ruger FL die, which I am using as a body die, will not reduce the diameter enough for easy chambering. If I were to cam over the bolt to load the brass the bolt will open easily after firing BUT pulling the bolt rearward is very difficult requiring some tapping on the Remington bolt handle. There is a visible shiny ring on the brass where it is hanging up on the chamber walls.

The reason for this thread is to see if others are having issues with THEIR hornady brass in these chamberings. The brass for both the 338 RCM and 375 Ruger share the many of the same dimensions. The brass must be manufactured in a similar manner.

I remember reading of handloaders having issues with the WSMs and WSSMs because the brass walls are so thick which causes springback issues. Many said they went to a small base die and solved the issue. I believe this is the reason for the issues I am having with the hornady brass.

Anyone else having issues with their 375 Ruger, 338 RCM or 300 RCM brass?

 

[woods]

It sounds to me like you have chamber issues and not brass issues. If all 3 of your chambers are "tight" (not a bad thing) and the internal dimensions of your dies are not sizing the case body down, then you will have a little drag on the last little bit of bolt lift and bolt rearward movement on extraction (like you have already identified).

I have the same problem with my 280AI chamber where the die does not size the pressure ring area and this is with Nosler and WW brass.

Also I only use Hornady brass on my 375 Ruger and with the chamber and dies I use have no binding.

 

[AZShooter]

Woods,

Thanks for sharing that your 375 doesn't have issues.

Did you solve the 280AI issue?

The 338 RCMs are okay now. Guess I'll have to spring for a whidden fl/bushing die for the 7mm/375. You would think someone would have worked this out in advance to offering the 338 RCM to the public. Perhaps in production they sand the chamber more after reaming?

I removed the barrel on the 7mm/375 and sanded it some and it helped. I suppose as a cheap way to continue I could fix the chamber with more sanding. <grin>