Ruger American .30-06 reloading issue

[lonestar2222010]

So I bought a new Ruger American in .30-06 and i'm confused with a certain aspect when reloading for it.

When I first bought the rifle I had some .30-06 cartridges already made for my M1 Garand, all were made from Federal cases with hornady fmj 150gr on top. Maybe a third of the 80 rounds would allow me to close the bolt on the gun (even then it was difficult to close). I noticed that the bullets that weren't feeding right had rifling marks on them. So I bought an O.A.L. gauge from Hornady with a bullet comparator (Has not arrived yet at the time of me typing this) because i thought the bullets are being jammed into the rifling thus preventing me from closing the bolt even though all are the same length (3.185" according to Hornady 8th edition this is the proper length).

So while waiting for my new O.A.L. gauge to arrive I decided to buy some Hornady 180gr SST superformance factory rounds to shoot because I figured something was wrong with my reloading, the rounds fit and performed just fine (other than getting a 2" group at 100yds).

When I got home from the range I decided to play around and see where I was going wrong. So I cleaned the new factory shot hornady cases. and made a dummy out of a Hornady .30-06 case with 180gr sp bullet on top and another out of a federal and put the same type of bullet on top. I paid special attention to make each case the exact same length after full length resizing while trimming (2.484"). Each bullet was seated to the same depth and measured at 3.225".

i placed both dummy rounds into the mag and the hornady fed just fine with no fuss, the federal on the other hand did not allow me to close the bolt. Bolt cartridges are identical. So i removed the bullet and same thing Hornady fit federal didnt. so it has something to do with the brass casing, I've measured ever centimeter of both casings everything is the same, both were resized with an RCBS full length resizing die. I see no reason as to why one would fit and the other won't.

Any ideas on how to resolve this situation.

 

[gamestalker]

First, and probably not your problem though, is how to know if the bullet is getting into the lands without having to use a gauge or other tool. First off, start with an unloaded resized piece of brass. Chamber it with your fingers with the barrel pointing straight up. If it falls back out on gravity alone then use it for the next step in thie following process. With the barrel pointed straight up, manually chamber a loaded or dummy round with your finger, not the bolt, and push it as hard as you can into the chamber, if it sticks it's getting into the lands, if not well, you get the idea.

Regarding brass you can't close the bolt on, or is presenting excessive resistance when closing the bolt. If when using the above process with that piece of resized brass, and the brass falls back out on gravity alone, then the shoulders need to be bumped back a tad, no more than .002" beyond what will close with light resistance.

Why does one piece of brass fit, but one with a different head stamp not fit. The short answer, not all brass is created equal. Some brass is thicker than another, which causes it to spring back more than another different head stamp. Metallurgy is also a big factory, some if softer, some if harder or more brittle, and will spring back more or less, depending.

Try letting the problem brass remain in the FL die for a few seconds longer, that will sometimes help it retain it's new sized characteristics. If that doesn't work, then you'll need to adjust your dies for the different head stamps, thus resizing a batch of RP brass, then readjusting for Federal brass.

I sort and separately resize my brass by head stamp. Rem. brass is much softer and thinner than Federal or Winchester. Federal is much harder than Winchester or Rem., and Win is some where in between. Many reloaders, including myself, will do our load developments in batches sorted by Head Stamp, as brass metallurgy and thickness will effect pressures, accuracy, and spring back. Most often also, is different head stamps with the same load commonly produce different accuracy, and group POI.

Hope this helps.

GS

 

[lonestar2222010]

Ok that makes alot of sense thank you, I will try letting my brass sit in the die longer. really quick though (new person question) how do I adjust my resizing die? i understand seating the die to the top of the shell holder with the ram all the way up and then another 1/4 turn. this is the only type of adjusting i know.

 

[gamestalker]

To get more shoulder bump, just continue screwing it down a little more until you get what you need.

If that still doesn't work due to resistance preventing the ram from fully extending, then you can either remove a few thousandths off the top of the shell holder, or you can shim the shell holder with a feeler gauge cut to fit. It will to take up some of the slop, thus allowing more brass to go deeper into the shell holder.

And another solution would be to buy a different shell holder. Competition shell holders come in various heights, but they can also get expensive.

GS

 

[Pacolyptic]

Check your primer seating

You may also want to check your primers. It could be you're not seating the primers fully in the Fed brass - I had that problem when I first started loading with a Lee Loader and I was being too gentle with seating the primers.

It's a bit of a long shot because people usually complain that the primer pockets on Fed brass is looser than other brands so that should make them easier to seat. But whatever the reason why the primers might not be seated fully, it'll make the bolt hard to close like you describe.

 

[Okcafe86]

I'm interested in the resolution. I reload for my 30-06 ruger American and haven't had any issues.

 

[gamestalker]

Something else that can cause resizing issues is not locking the die down. So make sure the lock nut is completely tighten down, thus preventing the die from pushing up in the threads, which would prevent the brass from traveling the last few thousandths into the die.

Also of note worthy importance, presses flex when resizing, some more than others. I've seen brass whip a press more than once. So when you are resizing a piece of brass and the press is at full extension, check to see if any light is showing through between the shell holder and the die, I bet there is. If so, then continue threading the die down in small increments until the brass will fit your chamber. This is very likely what's going on.

GS

 

[Sunray]

An O.A.L. gauge is a vernier calipre or 3 to 4 inch micrometer.
If you can't close a bolt action on ammo made for an M1 Rifle, you haven't sized correctly or the OAL or case is too long. If the bullets get rifling marks, the loaded round is too long.
Been loading 168's and 150's for an M1 and a 1903A4 for 40 years at 3.340" with no fuss. FL resizing the same brass too.
3.185" is too short for a 180. Should be 3.300" for a 180, according to Hodgdon's site.
"...letting the problem brass remain in the FL die..." Um, what do you think that will do? Just curious.
"...Rem. brass is much softer and thinner than Federal..." Nobody's brass is softer than Federal. Only means it won't last as long before the primer pockets get too big.

 

[gamestalker]

Sunray, I respect that you have a decade or so more experience at this than I do, but with all due respect, the difference between a quick touch to the shoulders vs letting the brass remain in the die for several seconds can help reduce some spring back. Press flex too plays a part in the slower resizing, vs just a quick bump off the shoulders also.

And as brass goes, RP is softer and thinner than Fed., so it doesn't spring back as much. Federal is harder more brittle, therefore produces more spring back. Besides, I was only providing an example of how different head stamps have different metallurgy characteristics, some softer, thinner, and some thicker, harder, more brittle, more spring back, that not all are created equal.

GS

 

[lonestar2222010]

The fix to my problem was the brass not being resized long enough I resized each brass for 10 seconds and held it and now it works flawlessly. Thank you everyone for your insight and knowledge