New barrel advice

[JohnyRingo]

I just had my Browning XBolt rebarreled with a Bartlein barrel. My concern is getting my reloads stuck in the new chamber. My reloads were fire-formed to the Browning chamber and the new chamber seems pretty tight with some factory loads I have. I am just a little paranoid to even try to chamber one of the reloads. I had the same thing happen when I tried to use some of my reloads fire-formed to an older Remington 700 in this same Browning XBolt when it was new. I had to take it to a gunsmith because I couldn't tap the stuck round out of the chamber.

I would hate to waste nearly 100 rounds of reloads and fired brass. Any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks.

 

[vancewalker007]

If you have existing reloads based on brass shot in a different chamber you may or may not ever be able to use it in your new chamber. I have 2 7mm LRMs I load for. Brass from same rifle A will fit and run fine in rifle B. But, brass from rifle B will not size down to run in rifle A. You might be able to get a small based die that matches your new chamber to get those old pieces of brass sized down enough. Its big pain with todays component supply issue.

 

[Rick Richard]

Did you contact the person who rebarreled your rifle with your concerns? Not sure asking here will solve your issue. Good luck though.

let me try this again. If you have rounds that were fire formed on a different chamber than this chamber then that could be the problem. However, if these rounds were Full Length sized with ample shoulder set back and you are getting the same results even with factory ammo then for sure contact that gunsmith.

 

[QuietTexan]

New barrel, new brass.

 

[JohnyRingo]

The factory ammo fits, but barely. My gunsmith made sure the factory ammo would work. I guess I didn't think about sending him my reloads to chamber to those specs.

 

[Rick Richard]

The factory ammo fits, but barely. My gunsmith made sure the factory ammo would work. I guess I didn't think about sending him my reloads to chamber to those specs.

He probably used a SAAMI specked reamer. So, factory ammo should chamber fine…I bet the issue is with your reloads.

 

[JohnyRingo]

Yep. He even went another 0.005 in with the reamer to make sure the factory ammo fit. I was just hoping that the 100 or so rounds of reloads and brass weren't wasted. New brass for this 300 H&H are $100 for 25 and there isn't anything available. Luckily, I have about 50 rounds of factory ammo to start over with.

 

[Rick Richard]

Yep. He even went another 0.005 in with the reamer to make sure the factory ammo fit. I was just hoping that the 100 or so rounds of reloads and brass weren't wasted. New brass for this 300 H&H are $100 for 25 and there isn't anything available. Luckily, I have about 50 rounds of factory ammo to start over with.

I would pull the projectile on a few of them, empty powder and run them back through the Full Length dies making sure you bump the shoulder. Then with just the brass, try and chamber.

 

[Taylorbok]

I would pull the projectile on a few of them, empty powder and run them back through the Full Length dies making sure you bump the shoulder. Then with just the brass, try and chamber.

I don't think he's even tried to chamber one yet.
I would pull one bullet and try to chamber the brass, worst case you can knock it out with a rod. If it doesn't fit you may be looking for a small base die.

 

[JohnyRingo]

That's probably what I will do...pull the bullet, dump the powder and pop the primer out.

Could I put some type of lube on the brass to make it easier to come out if it's a little tight in the chamber?

 

[Dmagna]

The reloads should not be shot in the new rifle. The bullets should be pulled and you can probably reuse the powder, just bump the fired brass back to unfired spec and then reform it to the new chamber.

 

[Dmagna]

I have actually reused primers before too, just to form the brass and burn up the old powder.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I don't think he's even tried to chamber one yet.
I would pull one bullet and try to chamber the brass, worst case you can knock it out with a rod. If it doesn't fit you may be looking for a small base die.

Same thought. Size it then put it in without a bullet and powder. A lot easier to tap it out with a dowel. Why not lube it up heavily too. That way if it doesn't fit it'll come out a lot easier!

 

[Hugnot]

My thinking:

Anneal the olde brass & F/L size the annealed brass to specs. A small base die would be nice but small base dies are only available in certain calibers. The old brass would have work-hardening at neck & shoulder that would be relieved by annealing, like from mouth to .25-.30 below shoulder but not to anneal below that point. Full length sizing should somewhat reduce the OD of the remaining brass. Start with minimum loads & work up.

Sounds like you have a tight chamber. I am going thru that process now with a rechambered 6.5X47 to 6.5-06 that has sticky bolt lifts but mild pressures using fired brass from another barrel. The new 6.5-06 was probably chambered using a different reamer than an older 6.5-06 barrel that produced the fired brass.

Same caliber dies often have slightly different inside specs. I occasionally use Lee F/L dies (cheap but OK) without decap/expander as body dies for tight chambered barrels, like .270W for 6.5-06 & 6.5 CM for 6mm CM. I have found the Lee dies to be real tight, sort of like small base dies. The Lee dies really scrunch brass down but brass needs to carefully lubed to avoid the stuck case situation (drill & tap).