Problems with new Howa 1500 .223

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pd_buster

New member
Just bought a Howa 1500 on .223. I took it out to sight it in yesterday and had some problems. The first 10 or so shots the bolt was a little tough to close, then one got stuck, real stuck. I finally got it out when I got home.

I was shooting my Tikka T3 .223 at the same time out of the same box of reloads, and didn't have a single problem at all. The first 10 or so shots from the Howa left the primers in different conditions. Some were very cratered, and some the firing pin had actually pierced the primer.

brass2.jpg


brass1.jpg


Since the bolt was hard to close, I though maybe I didn't have the FL die down far enough, but even when I put it all the way down, the bolt still won't close easily.

Is it possible the chamber isn't cut right?
 
Will factory ammo cycle through with the bolt closing easier?Check to make sure your bullets are not seated too long for the Howa vs the Tikka.
 
I don't have any factory ammo, but it's a good point. I'll pick some up...

The COL isn't the problem because the bolt is still tough to close without a bullet in the case...
 
Your rifle's throat may be shorter in the Howa than in the Tikka. When I had my Savage .223 barrel set back and rechambered with a reamer with a shorter throat, I had to drop back 1 1/2 grains in powder. I was shooting 40 grain Nosler BT's and the factory chamber have them a .130" jump into the rifling. The shorter throat of the new chamber did not permit such a long jump and caused pressures to be higher ..... hence the need to drop back on the powder charge.

Could also be an undersize firing pin, or oversized firing pin hole in the bolt. That's why firing some factory ammo might clarify the cause of the problem.
 
stiff closing of the bolt with an empty case tells me that either the shoulders are too far fwd, the neck is too long and being pinched by the leade, or the chamber is tight and needs the shoulders repositioned.

You have a pressure issue with your Howa. Cratered primers and pierced primers with NON-MAX loads tells me there are other factors at play. Is it a hot load?? What is the distance from casehead to datum line after being sized vs after being fired?
 
just bought a rem vtr in 308. had some loads for my sako that i have sold sitting around, thought i would try them. when i went to chamber a round, the bolt was hard to close on some of them, all but 2 of 10. they chambered fine in my parker hale 308. upon close inspection, the rounds that were stiff were .003 and .004 longer in case length, and the bolt was actually rubbing on the primer when i forced it shut. i didn't fire any of the tight rounds. went back to the loading room and started sorting brass, any that were not right on minimum case length spec or shorter were hard to chamber, trimmed were fine, you may have a tight chamber as well. lee
 
I just trimmed the cases, so that's not the problem, either...

It is a hot load, so I'll back off on it for the howa...

I am headed to get some factory rounds now and I'll see how they chamber, I won't have a chance to fire them for a week or so, though...

What's a datum line?
 
I have a Howa 1500 in .243. Ive never had any problems with mine except the screw in the scope mount bent but the bolt always works fine.
 
The bolt works fine on the Howa, it's the ammo...

I bought some Remington factory ammo and it chambers fine, so it's my reloads...

So here's the question...

I have the die as low as it will go and the brass still won't fit in the chamber... the die isn't very old at all, so it should be worn out... What can I do?
 
Are you sure you have it as low as it will go? You should feel a "cam-over" action when working the press with no case in it. If it really is as low as possible you can either return the die to the maker or grind some material off the bottom.

Jack
 
Datum Line is the line across the shoulder, where the accepted measurements are taken from to determine headspace. Now if you take a measurement of x.xxx" after sizing, and after firing it is shorter, you have discovered your problem. Or if it has rub marks on the shoulder after being rotated into battery, and then ejected without firng, that means the same thing. You have shoulders too far fwd.

If an empty case is inserted, after sizing, and is then ejected to show a "crimping" look at the case mouth, that neck is too long and is being pushed against the leade angle and "pinching" the bullet which will raise pressures.

If neither of these is the case,..then I say too much powder for that chamber.
 
That was it Jack!

I guess this gun has a very sensitive chamber. I've always turned the die until it touches the shell holder, didn't realize it was supposed to cam. THANK YOU!
 
I have a couple observations. One is that you are using military brass, not commercial .223 Remington brass. Whe reloading military 5.56 brass, you cannot load max loads listed for commercial .223 Remington loads. The 5.56 brass has a greater head and wall thickness, thus with max comercial brass loads, you will get excessive pressures. If you are going to reload military brass, back your loads off 5%-10%. Secondly, make sure the shoulder is not bulged out, due to the slightly longer neck. If you have the bullet seater die set to low, it will over crimp the longer neck on military 5.56 brass, push it back into the shoulder, causing the shoulder to bulge out slightly.

In order to reload military brass, you need to be aware of the greater thickness. You could always get some commercial and mostly likely that will solve your problem.
 
Most of my brass is Winchester white box that I bought. I did get a few from someone else and they must have been military brass. I have all the brass mixed up, but I happened to take pictures of those, I guess. Thanks for your comments!
 
Quote:
That was it Jack!

I guess this gun has a very sensitive chamber. I've always turned the die until it touches the shell holder, didn't realize it was supposed to cam. THANK YOU!



If you put a flashlight behind the shell holder and sizing die, with the ram fully up, you will normally see a small gap between them. This is true even if the die has been screwed down a bit past the point it touches the shell holder. This happens because of the "flex" or "spring" in the frame and press linkage as the case is being full length resized. With some presses, the "spring" can be substantial in full length sizing of large bottlenecked cases.
 
If you have access to range brass, brass that is picked up on a range, a small base body die is a good idea. I run any unknown origin brass throuh one before I reload it, it saves pulling bullets and doing it later. I have been told that many semi-autos have a more generous chamber and stretch brass more.
 
Quote:
If you have access to range brass, brass that is picked up on a range, a small base body die is a good idea. I run any unknown origin brass throuh one before I reload it, it saves pulling bullets and doing it later. I have been told that many semi-autos have a more generous chamber and stretch brass more.



DON'T use a small base die unless your FL won't resize enough. Small base dies won't push the shoulder back any further than a FL die, in most cases. Yor problem was headspace, not body size. It is rare to find a bolt action rifle that needs a small base resizing die. Range brass can be an unknown, so inspect it very carefully.
 


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