noobie (bonehead) mistake

[mblud]

After no luck with the doves on Sunday (did not see a single one while hunting), I test fired the two .30-06 rounds that I made up (my first two reloads!! ) in my M1903. First round chambered and fired without a problem. Second round was tight when the bolt was closed. I worked the bolt up and down a few times and with a bit of effort the bolt closed. The round fired without a problem and both were within .25" of one another.

Sunday night I made up 21 more rounds, but did not think to try them in the 1903. Last night I tried them, and they were all very tight and I could not get the bolt to close. Soooooooo, I got very good at using the bullet puller!

My plan is to re-size these cartridges by removing the decapping pin on the sizing die (don't want to mess with the primer), re-size the cartridge (making minor adjustments to the die), check the dimensions by cambering the brass and by checking dimensions with a mic.

Sound good? Am I missing something?

Thanks!

[MoJo]

Your plan sounds reasonable.

Was the brass fired in that rifle? If it wasn't you should full length size the case the first time you reload.

To adjust your die to full length size you raise your ram and screw the die all the way down until it is in firm contact with the shell holder then lower the ram and tighten the die 1/4 turn. There should be a slight "click" when the ram and die contact.

Be careful to keep your size lubricant away from the primer that is in each case.

[mblud]

Your plan sounds reasonable.

Was the brass fired in that rifle? If it wasn't you should full length size the case the first time you reload.

To adjust your die to full length size you raise your ram and screw the die all the way down until it is in firm contact with the shell holder then lower the ram and tighten the die 1/4 turn. There should be a slight "click" when the ram and die contact.

Be careful to keep your size lubricant away from the primer that is in each case.

I will have to re-check my die adjustment. I have two .30-06's (Remington 1903A3 that my dad brought back from the war and an M1 Garand that was given to me by my uncle) I think the cases that are tight are from the M1 Garand, it is really hard on cases!

[MoJo]

The best thing to do is to keep the brass separate Springfield/Garand. Most times, brass fired in a bolt action rifle can be neck sized and reloaded. Semi automatics need to be full length sized and in some guns you need a small base size die to bring the case back into specs.

Using a neck size die for the bolt action will extend the life of your cases and help with accuracy.

Good luck. Reloading is a great hobby and makes those cold, wet days of winter bearable. That is when I do the bulk of my reloading for my pistols. I'm still shooting the ammo I loaded last winter.

[CDH]

Removing the decap pin completely may result in a case mouth that is too small to easily seat your bullet. You will probably need to run the expander ball back through it again. You are wanting the case mouth to be a few thou undersized, but commercial sizing dies are intentionally tight to insure that the expander will set the mouth diameter...

[stealthcrf]

What overall length did you use? before you go changing up your dies, make sure you're not cramming your bullet .25" into the lands lol. That will definetly make for a hard action or out of battery fires in some autoloaders.

[TexasComputerDude]

if you don't mind me asking, where did you hunt dove at?

we drove 6 hours to Alice, Tx and SAW MAYBE 3 DOVE lol

The whole weekend.... Thursday to Sunday night :-(

[priusron]

Check your overall length. Your bullets may not be seated deep enough.

Ron

[Kawabuggy]

If you seated the bullets on that entire batch to the same depth as you were loading those rounds then the COAL (bullets hitting the lands) is NOT going to be the problem.

It sounds to me like you didn't properly re-size the brass. You need to purchase the tools that will allow you measure the distance between the case head, and a datum point on the case shoulder.. Here is the tool I use:

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0044517.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That tool can be used to accurately measure the bullet to land relationship, and with the right insert can be used to measure from the shoulder back to the case head. You mentioned having a reloaded shell that will chamber with just a little resistance. I would buy the tool mentioned, and then pull the bullet and powder out that specific case, and then record the measurements from that case. Now you know the magic number to shoot for when re-sizing other brass. Just adjust your die until it will resize the case to the measurement, or a couple thousandths less than the actual measurement (springback) and you are set. Then you should not have problems chambering any future reloads.