I reloaded some 30-06 of mainly federal and LC brass and in my Tikka T3 the LC does not chamber, no issue with the Fed. It seems that maybe the brass is thicker in the LC and it is not clearing the chamber and getting stuck on the edge of the neck (my guess) Any ideas? there is no cannelure to crimp the nosler rounds.
LC 30-06 brass not fitting in chamber
- Thread starter Caliber
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
GI brass is a little thicker and maybe harder then some commercial brass.
Perhaps you just need to screw your sizing die down a little more to push the shoulder back where it came from.
It should be trimmed if it is longer then 2.494".
Trim to 2.484".
Color the case shoulder & neck with a magic-marker or dry-erase marker and chamber it.
Where the marker rubs off is where it is too tight.
rc
Perhaps you just need to screw your sizing die down a little more to push the shoulder back where it came from.
It should be trimmed if it is longer then 2.494".
Trim to 2.484".
You don't have to guess.
Color the case shoulder & neck with a magic-marker or dry-erase marker and chamber it.
Where the marker rubs off is where it is too tight.
rc
Cherokee
Member
+1 what rcmodel said.
chris in va
Member
Are you neck sizing or FL sizing?
Dave P
Member
Does re-sized LC brass with no bullet fit nicely??
Arkansas Paul
Member
You can still turn it a little more. I have a RCBS die that I had to turn almost 3/4 of a turn to get a proper full length size. Just do it in small incriments at a time to make sure you have no problems.
http://www.tikka.fi/t3models.php?hunter
I do not have that problem the DIE determines the outside dimensions of the case, I do not have cases that whip my press and die, my press and die always win, for those difficult to fit cases I carry the companion tool to the press, the feeler gage, I do not use the cute dies, for the most part I do not have/use dies with moving parts like the ones that make donuts when not adjusted properly, I have a few Lee dies but none of them are tricky and all of my dies are adjustable in my presses.
Federal, LC, TW, commercial cases,etc., and difference. Military brass (for the most part) is referred to as thicker by those that repeat what the read on the Internet, it saves time, for the very few of us that take the time to measure military 30/06 cases have a thinner web, about .200 thousands, commercial brass, when measured, have a case head thickness of .260 plus, so the "military brass has a thinner case head and thicker body ( if it weighs more). Internet story is just that, something like "once upon a time", it did not happen. For the few of us that measure AND WEIGH have found military brass weight more than commercial brass, if the case head on military brass is thinner but weight more, where is the weight?? We have found the case body is thicker, so with a thin case head and a thick body we found the column of powder in the military case is smaller in diameter and longer than the column of powder in a commercial case, with a thick case head and thin body the powder column is larger in diameter and shorter, so yes there is a difference in the design and function between the two cases but when sized the outside dimensions are the same, unless you are using dies and or a press that can not overcome the ability of the case to resist being sized. Again, that does not happen to me, I do not overwork a press, when the die is screwed down to the shell holder with an additional 1/4,. 1/2, 3/4 or 1 full guesstimate of a turn there is resistance at the top of the stroke EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO CASE BEING SIZED, so most reloaders have no clue as to the amount of effort required to size a case, and if the case whips the press it would be helpful to know 'BY HOW MUCH'?
In the perfect world new/unfired cases would be used, then once fired, by the time the first case is sized and fired the reloader should know how much head space the chamber has and be able to measure the effect the chamber will have on the case when fired, not after.
I can only suggest you attempt chambering the case after sizing, that would be before primer, bullet and powder is added, then attempt chambering again after seating the bullets, the neck can bulge when a crimp is added, the shoulder can collapse when seating a bullet or when applying too much crimp.
And I know the top of the web in the bottom of the case body is not flat and that makes it imposable for most to measure.
I do not secure the lock ring to the die, I use the lock ring to secure the die to the press, I adjust the sizer die every time I use it and I do not mix brass head stamps, some cases have more resistance to being sized than others, again in the perfect world we would all use new/unfired cases. In the other world all cases are treated like they were new unfired cases.
F. Guffey
I do not have that problem the DIE determines the outside dimensions of the case, I do not have cases that whip my press and die, my press and die always win, for those difficult to fit cases I carry the companion tool to the press, the feeler gage, I do not use the cute dies, for the most part I do not have/use dies with moving parts like the ones that make donuts when not adjusted properly, I have a few Lee dies but none of them are tricky and all of my dies are adjustable in my presses.
Federal, LC, TW, commercial cases,etc., and difference. Military brass (for the most part) is referred to as thicker by those that repeat what the read on the Internet, it saves time, for the very few of us that take the time to measure military 30/06 cases have a thinner web, about .200 thousands, commercial brass, when measured, have a case head thickness of .260 plus, so the "military brass has a thinner case head and thicker body ( if it weighs more). Internet story is just that, something like "once upon a time", it did not happen. For the few of us that measure AND WEIGH have found military brass weight more than commercial brass, if the case head on military brass is thinner but weight more, where is the weight?? We have found the case body is thicker, so with a thin case head and a thick body we found the column of powder in the military case is smaller in diameter and longer than the column of powder in a commercial case, with a thick case head and thin body the powder column is larger in diameter and shorter, so yes there is a difference in the design and function between the two cases but when sized the outside dimensions are the same, unless you are using dies and or a press that can not overcome the ability of the case to resist being sized. Again, that does not happen to me, I do not overwork a press, when the die is screwed down to the shell holder with an additional 1/4,. 1/2, 3/4 or 1 full guesstimate of a turn there is resistance at the top of the stroke EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO CASE BEING SIZED, so most reloaders have no clue as to the amount of effort required to size a case, and if the case whips the press it would be helpful to know 'BY HOW MUCH'?
In the perfect world new/unfired cases would be used, then once fired, by the time the first case is sized and fired the reloader should know how much head space the chamber has and be able to measure the effect the chamber will have on the case when fired, not after.
I can only suggest you attempt chambering the case after sizing, that would be before primer, bullet and powder is added, then attempt chambering again after seating the bullets, the neck can bulge when a crimp is added, the shoulder can collapse when seating a bullet or when applying too much crimp.
And I know the top of the web in the bottom of the case body is not flat and that makes it imposable for most to measure.
I do not secure the lock ring to the die, I use the lock ring to secure the die to the press, I adjust the sizer die every time I use it and I do not mix brass head stamps, some cases have more resistance to being sized than others, again in the perfect world we would all use new/unfired cases. In the other world all cases are treated like they were new unfired cases.
F. Guffey
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Don't use that one.
You need to try a sized case before a bullet has been seated in it.
You problem could be caused by something related to the seating process, so a case that was loaded and the bullet pulled might still have the same problem.
Things to check:
1. Expanding ball is very hard to pull through the case neck, pulling the shoulder out.
Clean the case necks with a bronze bore brush that has been rolled on a case lube pad.
2. Seating die is set too low and trying to crimp to much on the longest cases, which could be bulging the shoulder.
Readjust the seating die depth so it just contacts the longest case mouth, then back off another 1/4 turn or more.
rc
Last edited:
Again, there are a few that measure, if you think the case is getting longer because the expander is being pulled through the sized neck, think about it, when the neck was sized (down) it got longer (not thicker), when the expander ball is pulled through the neck the neck stretches and gets shorter (not longer). To measure size a case, before lowering the ram, drop the de-capper/expander assembly inside the die and lower the ram, if you can measure the case length from the head of the case to it's shoulder and from the case head to the mouth of the case, then install the assembly inside the case back into the die and secure the de-capper/expander ball assembly in the die and lower the ram, then measure again.
Pulling the neck expander back through the mouth of the case to some is like torquing bolts, they count the squeaks, some expander is designed to have reduced effort, and as was said, lube reduces resistance and eliminates the squeeking sound.
F. Guffey
Pulling the neck expander back through the mouth of the case to some is like torquing bolts, they count the squeaks, some expander is designed to have reduced effort, and as was said, lube reduces resistance and eliminates the squeeking sound.
F. Guffey
ranger335v
Member
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"RC My die is already touching the shell holder plus a 1/4 turn."
I suspect you did that without a case? Press spring can easily exceed that "plus 1/4 turn". That's not an absolute, it only gets you close. Now you will have to tweak it in place as Arkansas suggested.
You won't really be significantly pulling cases longer with an expander ball.
I suspect you did that without a case? Press spring can easily exceed that "plus 1/4 turn". That's not an absolute, it only gets you close. Now you will have to tweak it in place as Arkansas suggested.
You won't really be significantly pulling cases longer with an expander ball.
Your die is too long.
The distance from the base of the die to the shoulder is too long.
Your case shoulder is not being pushed back and no matter how turns to the shell holder you add, how much spring you take out of the press, how many feeler gages you add between the shellholder and die, the distance from the base of the die and the shoulder will remain too long.
There are two things you need to do.
First of all buy a Cartridge headspace gage and measure what the heck is going on.
If the gage tells you the case is overlength, then proceed to step two:
Step two:
Remove a couple of thousandths of an inch from the bottom of your sizing die.
Caliber, you are using a Lee die, I have Lee dies, I do not use them, I have small base dies, BAR dies, neck sizing dies and my favorite die, the full length sizer die, anything I can do with the specialty die I can accomplish with the versatile full length sizing die, I form/size cases from .011 thousands shorter than a minimum length/over the counter commercial case to + .016 longer then a case that is sized to minimum length, that is a total of .027 thousands from minimum to maximum length without grinding the die and or shell holder, I also have a mill, two lathes and 2 in-line, angle and butt grinders, I can grind the shell holder, I can alter the deck height of the shell holder or shorten die die and know exactly how much material is removed, problem, I have never found it necessary.
Again the deck height of the shell holder is .125 thousands, to make a difference when sizing a case for a go-gage length chamber the deck height of the shell holder it would be necessary for the deck height to be .129, that would be for a chamber that is reamed to chamber new/store bought/factory ammo. Chambering Federal in your rifle is not a problem, mixing brass when sizing and assuming all brass has the same resistance to sizing could be a problem, and again, I had the opportunity to go by Pat's reloading in Ohio when he had 30/06 LC match pull down cases, that is new/unfired brass, the point? If I want to know what new/unfired brass is supposed to act like when sized I have 4,000+ cases to choose from.
For the die to be a problem and as in being too long? the same number applies, to be a problem the die would have to be at least .004 to long when screwed down to the shell holder with the proverbial 1/2 guesstimate of an additional turn, for those that can measure height that would be .035+ a few .001s.
Then the press, I have no clue what press is used, there is a lot of talk about presses, most of the talk is repeated over and over, repeating information over and over does not make it so, if a case whips my press, or if the case being sized exceeds the ability of one of my presses to size it, there has to be a gap somewhere, I do know about all the presses I do not use, my presses are designed to size the case between the shell holder and die, so, I find my cases are not being sized the gap appears between the top of the shell holder and bottom of the die, if a gap appears because my press did not size the case I measure the gap with a feeler gage in thousands and if I want to compare the case being sized to a new/unfired case I repeat the process with a new and or once fired case AND do not mix cases with different head stamps assuming they all act alike when being sized, when full length sizing iit is not likely there will be a case in a group of mixed head stamps that will ship one of my presses.
It has been suggested a gap could be checked with the use of a light, HUMMMMM, OK, We could use a light and a ruler marked off in thousands, this would allow the width of the light beam to be measured but there would be that problem with 'focal length' the light could be one inch away and on the opposite side we could place the ruler 1 inch away, or to make it simple agree, there is light passing between the shell holder and die when the ram is up and sizing a case, OR. do as do, I use a feeler gage, the one that starts at .001 thousands and increases in increments of .001 to .050 thousands plus.
F. Guffey
Again the deck height of the shell holder is .125 thousands, to make a difference when sizing a case for a go-gage length chamber the deck height of the shell holder it would be necessary for the deck height to be .129, that would be for a chamber that is reamed to chamber new/store bought/factory ammo. Chambering Federal in your rifle is not a problem, mixing brass when sizing and assuming all brass has the same resistance to sizing could be a problem, and again, I had the opportunity to go by Pat's reloading in Ohio when he had 30/06 LC match pull down cases, that is new/unfired brass, the point? If I want to know what new/unfired brass is supposed to act like when sized I have 4,000+ cases to choose from.
For the die to be a problem and as in being too long? the same number applies, to be a problem the die would have to be at least .004 to long when screwed down to the shell holder with the proverbial 1/2 guesstimate of an additional turn, for those that can measure height that would be .035+ a few .001s.
Then the press, I have no clue what press is used, there is a lot of talk about presses, most of the talk is repeated over and over, repeating information over and over does not make it so, if a case whips my press, or if the case being sized exceeds the ability of one of my presses to size it, there has to be a gap somewhere, I do know about all the presses I do not use, my presses are designed to size the case between the shell holder and die, so, I find my cases are not being sized the gap appears between the top of the shell holder and bottom of the die, if a gap appears because my press did not size the case I measure the gap with a feeler gage in thousands and if I want to compare the case being sized to a new/unfired case I repeat the process with a new and or once fired case AND do not mix cases with different head stamps assuming they all act alike when being sized, when full length sizing iit is not likely there will be a case in a group of mixed head stamps that will ship one of my presses.
It has been suggested a gap could be checked with the use of a light, HUMMMMM, OK, We could use a light and a ruler marked off in thousands, this would allow the width of the light beam to be measured but there would be that problem with 'focal length' the light could be one inch away and on the opposite side we could place the ruler 1 inch away, or to make it simple agree, there is light passing between the shell holder and die when the ram is up and sizing a case, OR. do as do, I use a feeler gage, the one that starts at .001 thousands and increases in increments of .001 to .050 thousands plus.
F. Guffey
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