Bolt won’t close on 30-06 loads

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Matthew M-16

New member
Hey guys I’m having an issue with my 30-06 reloads. Resized like I do with my .223 loaded it up with some imr4350 54g to start ladder and some 165g hornady sst with wlr primer and sammi length but it’s so tight on my bolt I can’t get it to close like factory ammo. Haven’t had this issue before but I’ve only been reloading for my ar to get a good feel for the process. Any help would be appreciated!
 
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Die not set up correctly..Not sitting the shoulder back enough or the bullet is jammed into the lands... Turn your size die in more to.. Look for marks on your bullet to see if jamming it.. Just resize a piece of brass and chamber it and see if it sticky without bullet.. Dan
 
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It takes a lot more pressure to size a 30-06 then it dies a .223. Make sure your bench is set up right. Like said above sounds like you need to adjust your die.
 
Hey guys I went ahead and tried a sized piece and it went in gave me a small amount of resistance. So I tried seating the bullets at 3.33” and they went it snugly. I’m gonna go ahead and turn my die another 1/8-1/4 turn and see how that does as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Matthew M-16Hey guys I went ahead and tried a sized piece and it went in gave me a small amount of resistance. So I tried seating the bullets at 3.33” and they went it snugly. I’m gonna go ahead and turn my die another 1/8-1/4 turn and see how that does as well.

Investing in a Hornady Head space system might be a good idea or make your own with a caliper and a fired 9 MM case.

Greg
 
You could have too long of COAL (cartridge over all length) and the bullet is jamming into the lands.
You could have the sizing die not set to size the brass far enough where it is too long in the shoulder to chamber.
You may have brass that is too long and needs trimming back due to the mouth of the case hitting the end of the chamber.
 
when you say loaded to SAAMI COAL - does that mean you're seating them at saami max of 3.340" ? or hornadys recommended COAL of 3.210"?

giving precise dimensions will be more helpful when diagnosing things than something subjective.

Originally Posted By: pahntr760Make sure your seating die isn't too low causing a buckle at the shoulder.

yup - make sure that seating die isnt crimping as well as seating - if you're just a bit off on that setting you can cause all kinds of problems when trying to roll crimp like that


if you want to crimp, i recommend doing so with a taper crimp die like the Lee Factory crimp die, as a completely separate step.







can you tell us a bit more about your reloading setup and process?

what brand of press?

what brand of dies?

what trim length on your brass?

where did the brass come from?

were you using the FL die or just trying to neck size and bump the shoulder?
 
Yes I was seating them to max saami length at 3.340. After seating them to 3.33 I got them to load snugly into the chamber. Group sizing was between 1.5-2” at 100 yards and that’s with my dad shooting since it’s his rifle. Maybe I’m loading way to far out?

This is how I generally set up my resizing die.

I’m using all rcbs brand reloading gear. Basic rock rocker. Rcbs dies I believe I picked up a couple of Redding’s at a garage sell but they are pistol caliber and haven’t dabled with anything besides .223 for my ar 15 which the best load I’ve found is 1” at 100 yards 5 shot group 55g out of a 1-7 24”. It shoots factory Australian outback 69g Sierra hpbt 1/2” got any idea how to replicate there powder?

All brass is shot from his marlin rifle(not known for great accuracy if I remember but I got that and a Remington shotgun for $400) rifle so maybe I shouldn’t resize it?

Brass is trimmed to the length of 2.492

It’s a full length die and I was under the impression I had to resize the whole case every time:/ that’s what I was told by a friend who rolls his own to... maybe I should ask Santa for a chrono
 
resize a piece of brass. put it in the rifle, no bullet, no primer. can you close the bolt easily?

if not, either the shoulder isn't being set back enough or the neck is too long for the throat. shoulder being most likely IMHO
 
first off - follow's stu's directions. if thats successful, then read on
smile.gif


Originally Posted By: Matthew M-16Yes I was seating them to max saami length at 3.340. After seating them to 3.33 I got them to load snugly into the chamber. Group sizing was between 1.5-2” at 100 yards and that’s with my dad shooting since it’s his rifle. Maybe I’m loading way to far out?

back them up to 3.210 and see how they chamber. thats where hornady says to put them and i had great luck in my 30-06 with them at that length. like under half MOA results. you may well be jamming the bullet into the lands at that distance.




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This is how I generally set up my resizing die.

ok so thats the right way to setup a sizing die, but i was more interested in your seating die. what process are you using for that?

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I’m using all rcbs brand reloading gear. Basic rock rocker. Rcbs dies I believe I picked up a couple of Redding’s at a garage sell but they are pistol caliber and haven’t dabled with anything besides .223 for my ar 15 which the best load I’ve found is 1” at 100 yards 5 shot group 55g out of a 1-7 24”. It shoots factory Australian outback 69g Sierra hpbt 1/2” got any idea how to replicate there powder?

well if it likes 69gr SIerra HBPT, might want to start there before you worry about fussing about replicating what powder they're using
smile.gif
with it being a 7 twist, not shocking it likes heavies.

also, like i said, without knowing which 55gr bullet you're using - theres no way we can help you. there are a LOT of 55gr bullets available for 223. when giving load info, please, its absolutely necessary to be extremely specific.



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All brass is shot from his marlin rifle(not known for great accuracy if I remember but I got that and a Remington shotgun for $400) rifle so maybe I shouldn’t resize it?

anytime you're moving brass from one gun to another, you need to resize it. if you're keeping it in the same gun you can get away with just neck sizing and a light shoulder bumb, but dont worry about that for now. Once you figure out FL resizing for this gun, then you can worry about more advanced techniques. as an added bonus - FL resized brass can be used in any firearm, wehre as neck sized only brass has to stay with the gun it was shot from.

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Brass is trimmed to the length of 2.492

thats only a few thousandths under max of 2.494. according to hornady's 9th the recommended trim length is 2.484". this length, if your seating die isnt setup correctly, could be leading to engaging the crimp ring in the die.



Quote:It’s a full length die and I was under the impression I had to resize the whole case every time:/ that’s what I was told by a friend who rolls his own to... maybe I should ask Santa for a chrono

for an AR - you have to FL size, and since you're just getting started - stick to FL resizing everything for now. as i said above - lets get you comfortable with all the basics and then you can venture into more advanced territory.

if you were going to ask santa for something for x-mas - i have a couple suggestions besides a chrono that will be immensely helpful to you

http://a.co/9nkHUOY
 


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