Action won't close using cast 200gr SWC or 230 RN

[777funk]

I just loaded cast for the first time with 200gr SWC and 230gr RN and seated each to 1.250 +- .003 or so and they won't allow the action to lock up. I took out the barrel and noticed that they don't land in there and bottom out like factory rounds would.

I called the manufacturer of these cast and he recommends to send him the barrel to freebore it.

Is this a good idea? Are there other/better ways to get good function? I suppose I could seat them a little further home. Maybe experiment .010 at a time until 1.210 or so? Is a lot more than that too far? Seems like I've seen below 1.2 as a recommended depth somewhere (speer maybe, not sure).

 

[steveno]

try the swc's so the sharp edge is about .010 to .030 above the case mouth and adjust from there. chambers will vary. if you have some factory hardball ammo set the seating using that for the oal of the 230 gr rn bullets and adjust from there

 

[Hammerdown77]

Which gun?

Is this an aftermarket barrel?

Sounds like you might have a shallow chamber. Or you don't have enough crimp. Or you need to seat them a little deeper.

Lots of threads on here about adjusting seating depth for a particular barrel. Might want to search for some of those.

I'm surprised your 1.250" seating depth didn't work with the SWCs, although not if you have a chamber that needs to be finish reamed.

 

[ljnowell]

You probably have a lone wolf barrel for a glock, right? If thats the case about the only thing that will get it running right will be remachining.

 

[Hammerdown77]

You probably have a lone wolf barrel for a glock, right? If thats the case about the only thing that will get it running right will be remachining.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing!

 

[jlucke69]

I have found that depending on the overall shape of the bullet, you may have to seat deeper than what your jacketed bullets would be. For some reason, my cast round nose are fatter up front.

 

[ljnowell]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing!

The sad part is the owner has a terrible attitude towards his customers also. A long running thread over at GT has him insulting many reloaders. He felt that since he was a site sponsor he should be immune to product criticism and pretty well said so. Also had people register for the purpose of promoting his product in the thread. It got nasty.

 

[777funk]

Got it figured out, I wasn't flaring the cases enough and it was making a lead/lube shaving as the bullet was seated. I readjusted that and it seems to work now.

Now to get the bullet seated to the optimal length. I guess I could start long and see where it hits the rifling.

By the way, I believe it was a factory Ruger p90 barrel.

 

[ljnowell]

The bullet manufacturer recomended that you send him the stock ruger barrel to machine it? Am I missing something here?

 

[777funk]

I'm not going to give the name of the manufacturer just to protect him since he's not in on the conversation to explain his reasoning. Seems to be a great guy/company and was super helpful from the start in dealing with him. He seemed to have plenty of experience in reloading, casts in decent volumes, and also works on guns.

He said that he recommends having the rifling removed/relieved from the first tiny little bit of the barrel to help different types of bullets (swc for instance) feed better and he said it also improves the accuracy. He called this "freebore" and I believe he said it required a tool (I'm guessing a special ream).

He said some barrels need it and some come with enough free-bore from the factory.

 

[243winxb]

Some barrels will except a .451" bullet, but not a .452" Most will just seat the bullet deeper, shorter COL.

 

[ljnowell]

I'm not going to give the name of the manufacturer just to protect him since he's not in on the conversation to explain his reasoning. Seems to be a great guy/company and was super helpful from the start in dealing with him. He seemed to have plenty of experience in reloading, casts in decent volumes, and also works on guns.

He said that he recommends having the rifling removed/relieved from the first tiny little bit of the barrel to help different types of bullets (swc for instance) feed better and he said it also improves the accuracy. He called this "freebore" and I believe he said it required a tool (I'm guessing a special ream).

He said some barrels need it and some come with enough free-bore from the factory.

Let me say up front there is nothing wrong with doing what he recomended. I had one of the lone wolf barrels I bought opened up that way. I was just curious because it seemed odd that a bullet manufacturer was also going to do the barrel work.

I'm guessing he isnt a "major" bullet manufacturer? Or does he just do gunsmith stuff on the side? I only ask because there is no reason to suspect anything wrong with his product, some carrels, like CZ, have a short leade and have issues with any lead bullet too. I just dont know any bullet manufacturer who does gunsmith work.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Got it figured out, I wasn't flaring the cases enough and it was making a lead/lube shaving as the bullet was seated. I readjusted that and it seems to work now.

Yep, that'll do it too! Should have told you to look for pushed up lead around the case mouth (or lube, either one will cause the problem).

Glad you got it figured out!

 

[BYJO4]

If you try reducing OAL, do it in small increments and test each one til you are satisfied. You don't want to reduce anymore than need be.

 

[777funk]

Let me say up front there is nothing wrong with doing what he recomended. I had one of the lone wolf barrels I bought opened up that way. I was just curious because it seemed odd that a bullet manufacturer was also going to do the barrel work.

I'm guessing he isnt a "major" bullet manufacturer? Or does he just do gunsmith stuff on the side? I only ask because there is no reason to suspect anything wrong with his product, some carrels, like CZ, have a short leade and have issues with any lead bullet too. I just dont know any bullet manufacturer who does gunsmith work.

He's not probably as busy as Penn or Missouri Bullet but he was much more happy to help when I called around so he got my business. It's an older gentlement and his wife in Texas. They run a gun shop and I'd guess they also crank out a fair quantity of cast. They have a machine I'm sure. They're very good classic Texas people who go out of their way to provide good service. He told me before I ordered that if I wanted to send my barrel in (if it didn't eat SWC's) he'd do the work for free to help it along. Price was it was cheaper than either Penn or Missouri Bullet.

I don't have anything else to compare their work to but it looks good and seems to measure good. I weighed a bunch of the SWC's and they all hit 200 on the head.

 

[ljnowell]

He's not probably as busy as Penn or Missouri Bullet but he was much more happy to help when I called around so he got my business. It's an older gentlement and his wife in Texas. They run a gun shop and I'd guess they also crank out a fair quantity of cast. They have a machine I'm sure. They're very good classic Texas people who go out of their way to provide good service. He told me before I ordered that if I wanted to send my barrel in (if it didn't eat SWC's) he'd do the work for free to help it along. Price was it was cheaper than either Penn or Missouri Bullet.

I don't have anything else to compare their work to but it looks good and seems to measure good. I weighed a bunch of the SWC's and they all hit 200 on the head

Nothing wrong with that. I have never felt the need with a stock barrel, but if thats the case, it is what it is. Sounds like you have a good working relationship. Thats worth keeping.

 

[TonyT]

IF a factory round drops into your barrel then I would not alter the barrel. Use the barrel as a case gauge and adjust the bullet seating until the finished cartridge easilly drops into the barrel and it's base is level with the barrel hood. I assume you are producing rounds without any case bulges, etc.

 

[hueyville]

Machine extra freebore into a barrel just so cast bullets from one specific small manufacturer will function? Why? If his bullet is that far out of specifications I would change suppliers. Ask yourself this. Modify the barrel to make this one bullet function what will it do to the accuracy of other bullets/ammo? If you are building a task specific gun to only fire one bullet for life then yes. I have had entire guns built around one particular load or better stated, had chambers cut to a standard that I planned on loading to. I have always done this going the other direction toward tighter specs than looser. If the gun shoots factory ammo and other suppliers bullets then I would run from all the things that could go bad from opening up a good chamber. Now if it is a tight chamber that has problems with other combinations call it plausible.