Neck sized ammo using different rifle

[ArtP]

I sold a .270 win rifle that I have about 80 rounds of neck sized ammo made up for specifically. I purchased a new factory .270 rifle.

About 50 of the pre-made rounds will not chamber - period - in the new rifle. From a different "lot" of handloads, the other 30 will chamber but with extra pressure on the bolt required. Not an excessive amount of force, but certainly more than necessary with a factory round. I have decided that the shoulder which has been fire-formed in the old rifle is where the difficulty lies, not with the bullet being jammed into the lands. A slight difference in shoulder is visible between factory and neck sized handloads.

Think the 30 rounds which will chamber with extra effort are safe to shoot?

I'm at odds with what to do with the 50 rounds that will not chamber. If I use my inertia puller to disassemble, to FL size, I'll either have to deprime them with the FL sizer (dangerous) or throw them away. With my dies, the decapper and expander ball are one piece, so I can't remove the decapper.

 

[Col]

I know what I would do, I`d knock them out with the enertia hammer and full size them,even tho you would push out the primer,yes it can be dangerous,but provided you push them gently and not strike them to hard they will not go off,its done everyday. If your that concerned wear safety glasses as you should always do anyway and get it done,the dies would contain any mishaps that may occur anyway

 

[villemur]

If the 30 rounds that chamber were loaded using published data, then I would be comfortable shooting them in the new rifle.

Regarding disassembling the the rounds that don't fit - there is nothign dangerous about depriming with a full length sizer if you go slow. I've deprimed many rounds this way, and none have ever detonated. I wouldn't slam the ram down hard, but if you go easy and pay attention (and wear protective eyewear) it should be no problem. You can also buy a Lee universal decapper for about $9, but it won't get you anything that your full-length resizer won't do.

 

[rcmodel]

If they fit, you must acquit!

No! I mean yes, it is safe to shoot them.

The other ones that don't fit?
No need a tall to deprime them.

Pull the bullets, take the depriming pin out of the expoander rod (but not the expander button) and FL size them.

Then put the powder back in and seat the bullets.

rc

 

[ArtP]

Pull the bullets, take the depriming pin out of the expoander rod (but not the expander button) and FL size them.
rc

I thought of exactly this ^^^^^

Problem - my decapper and expander are one piece, as mentioned in the first post.

 

[rcmodel]

What brand of die would that be??

rc

 

[kingmt]

If you know the bullet isn't jamming into the lande then I would try harder to close the bolt. the ones that fit fire away. The primers are not dangerous to deprime. There is no need to call the bomb squad or prepare for Nuclear Holocaust.

 

[243winxb]

Do Not Do This >

Redding Body Die 270 Winchester http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/409875/redding-body-die-270-winchester If your feeling lucky, lube your loaded ammo an size in this body die. Warning-This is not a safe practice to do. Could be very dangerous.

 

[Slamfire]

About 50 of the pre-made rounds will not chamber - period - in the new rifle. From a different "lot" of handloads, the other 30 will chamber but with extra pressure on the bolt required. Not an excessive amount of force, but certainly more than necessary with a factory round. I have decided that the shoulder which has been fire-formed in the old rifle is where the difficulty lies, not with the bullet being jammed into the lands. A slight difference in shoulder is visible between factory and neck sized handloads.

You have an interference fit going in, don’t be surprised if you have an interference fit going out.

This weekend I was talking to the match director who is also a gun smith. He was recounting how many Rem 700 bolt handles he TIG welds back, because Bubba was beating the bolt open with a hammer.

You might want to stock up on bolt handles if you continue your reloading practices.

I would learn how to full length resize, and if you toss 50 primers in the garbage, so what.

 

[ArtP]

I would learn how to full length resize, and if you toss 50 primers in the garbage, so what.

It's comments like this that are so irritating. Of course I know how to FL size, I do not need to learn. Neither do I need to learn the difference between a neck and FL size. The ammo was made for a different rifle when I wasn't considering selling the rifle.

I do not care about primers, I care more about the effort and mess involved with using an inertia hammer to disassemble.

 

[ArtP]

What brand of die would that be??

rc

It's a standard Lee die. I need to look closer, they are certainly one piece, but the decapper could simply be pressed into the expander.

 

[Innovative]

ArtP .......

It's best to measure the chamber clearance that your handloads have in both of your rifles. Read about the Digital Headspace Gauge.

Chamber width can be measured with ordinary calipers just above the web (solid part of the case). However, chamber clearance at the shoulder is another matter.

Even if you just own ONE rifle, it's a giant advantage to know "exactly" how your handloads actually fit in YOUR particular chamber. The homepage of my website shows how I accurately measure chamber clearance.

.

 

[Sport45]

You are correct that the Lee decapper and neck expander are inseparable. (At least if you separate them you won't get them back together.) You can still take the decapper rod out of your sizing die and resize the primed case. The worst thing that could happen is you get more neck tension. And that's not really a bad thing...

Be sure to measure and trim as needed after full length resizing.

 

[gamestalker]

Shoot the one's that chamber, but knowing that you'll be bumping those shoulder's back during the next cycle. Just pull the bullets one the other ones and run them through the FL die just enough to bump the shoudler back to an acceptable degree, not too much or accuracy may suffer a bunch, it might anyway for the first cycle.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

If you know the bullet isn't jamming into the lande then I would try harder to close the bolt. the ones that fit fire away.

I agree, I would try them again.

If need be, also like said above, you can resize with a Lee die without the pin installed. I'm guessing you will only need to bump the shoulder back a very small amount anyway.

 

[ArtP]

Update:

The rounds that did chamber did fire just fine and were used to sight in the new rifle. I'm sure the accuracy will suffer until after resized and fire-formed again. But that's to be expected.

I will have to start a mass dissassembly, I am left with about 50 rounds that will not chamber. This will be the first time dissassembling this many rounds - should be fun (not!).

Lesson learned by me regarding the sale of a rifle with "custom" ammo. The old rifle was a Sako with a barrel that was losing accuracy and to be rebarreled to 25-06, so the new owner was not interested in my ammo.

Thanks for all the input!!

 

[amlevin]

Get yourself a collet style puller. Sure beats trying to pull down 50 rounds with a "wack-a-mole" puller.

I've been using a forster collet puller for a couple of years now and it's nice and gentle on the bullets. Can pull bullets from 5-6 cases per minute.

 

[ArtP]

I already whacked all the moles. Total PITA but I accomplished it at about one round per ten seconds.

 

[Innovative]

Remember Grasshopper .........

Measure twice .... seat once.

.

 

[Hondo 60]

If they chamber & eject without issue, I'd fire them.

If they seat hard or the bullet gets set back from chambering,
then you ought to pull 'em apart & start over

 

[tomon]

I got a bunch of .308 Lake City Match that wouldn't chamber in my Remington 700 Varmiter that I bought from a Gunsmith. I took a FL sizer die in .308, and drilled out the neck of it. Essentially made a .358 die. I used it as a shoulder bump die with absolutely no problems. Not worth it for 50 rounds, though.

 

[Innovative]

When handloads are sized too small, they will chamber. However, keep in mind that when handloads are loaded and fired again and again, the brass stretches every time the round is fired. All of this case repetitive stretching thins the brass and causes case head separations, and it can also bulge case width during the reloading process.

It's pretty easy to reduce case stretching by 80% . . . .

Over resizing also increases case runout. This is another reason to measure the clearance (at the shoulder) that your handloads have in your particular chamber.