Begara B14 308 Win bolt closing issue

Bill_Wallace

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Dec 19, 2021
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6
Location
USA
I have a B-14 Hunter in 308 Winchester that is very very accurate with Lapua 167g OTM Scenar ammo and feeds perfectly. It printed a 1 inch group at 200 yards with this ammo with a Burris 2x7 Fullfield E1 hunting scope I scalped from my 1980 Browning BAR (which I bought new), also chambered in 308 Winchester on top of a new DNZ Products "Game Reaper" one piece scope mount and rings for the B-14. I re-installed the old Leupold 2x7 Vari-X II back on the BAR that I had originally installed on it.

Anyway, I have a mix of Remington, Federal and LC83 7.62 NATO brass that has been sized and trimmed to 2.005. I loaded a mixed small amount of those brass with Hornady 150 SST #30302 with COL 2.75. Most of these hand loads loaded and shot perfectly in the B-14. However, some did not feed well. The hand loads seem to feed ok, but I could not close the bolt on some of them. So, I culled out the leftover empty brass that would not function and the ones that did function by running the empty brass through the action. What I noticed was about 80% of the LC83 empty brass functioned normally. About 50% of the Federal brass functioned and same with the Remington. The Federal and Remington brass came from two different lots because the head stamp fonts are not the same. I separated them accordingly. There were no signs of indented rings on bullets from touching the lands.

Now, the BAR functions fine with any of this brass and the Lapua ammo. I think the BAR's chamber tolerances are little greater than a bolt action (maybe?) Someone mentioned European CIP vs SAAMI specs. Well, the BAR is made by FN in Belgium. Would they not conform to European CIP or SAAMI? If a EU maker was to market and sell to the USA, would it not make sense to use SAAMI? I use an RCBS small base sizing die for the BAR and a Redding FL Bushing die for the B-14.

So, I concluded that either the brass is out of spec and/or the B-14's tolerances could be tighter, as some previously discussed this. BTW, I did clean the chamber and bore prior to shooting, but I do not have a bore scope. I will try cleaning the chamber again with Kroil before the next round of tests.
 
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Sounds like the brass that won't chamber are head spaced too long for the chamber. Using a comparator, measure the ones that chamber and compare to the ones that do not. The ones that do not should be able to be bumped back and then they will chamber.
Yes, I'll have to buy one. I will try a LE Wilson case gauge and see what I find.
 
You'll need to take some measurement to understand what's going on.

Is all the brass from being fired in the BAR?

Will start with a LE Wilson case gauge and see what I can find. Most, if not all, of that brass has been fired through the BAR
 
I feel a case gauge is a waste if you do not have a comparator. The comparator will tell you the difference that you need to bump, the case gauge will just tell you if it fits that gauge, tells you nothing about your chamber.

I have always found that it is way more work and headaches to get brass shot in one rifle to shoot in another rifle. Just my opinion.

Good luck
Steve
 
I feel a case gauge is a waste if you do not have a comparator. The comparator will tell you the difference that you need to bump, the case gauge will just tell you if it fits that gauge, tells you nothing about your chamber.

I have always found that it is way more work and headaches to get brass shot in one rifle to shoot in another rifle. Just my opinion.

Good luck
Steve
OK thanks.
 

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