Jammed Brass

[huntjunkie]

I have a remington sendero 7 mag that I'm having an issue with. I hand load my rounds. I'm using remington brass, 63.5 grs of R22(thats 1.5grs less that max load from berger), berger 168gr. No cracking, pressure signs, no hot loads etc... After about 120 rounds down the barrel the brass jams AFTER the shot. Chamber and eject fine with a live round. The jam ONLY happens after the shot. I have tried once fired federal brass. It jams also. I FL die the brass, check case length, even bought a new FL die set to see if it was the die. Cleaned the chamber. Im buying Norma brass as a last resort to fix the problem. Heres the strange part. Factory ammo does not jam.

 

Heres a picture of were we think its jamming.

 

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Very common with belted magnum, your getting the bulge right on top of the belt. When you full length your feeding material down to the top of the belt. Regular dies can't resize this area. Neck sizing only is one option which I do, also search internet for belted magnum collet sizing die, there's a guy selling this die which fixes the top of the belt bulge and fits all belted mags with one die for ninety bucks

[huntjunkie]

The problem with neck sizing is that I lose accuracy.

[muledeerarea33?]

Are you saying after 120 rounds in one session it jams up?

[huntjunkie]

Are you saying after 120 rounds in one session it jams up?

[huntjunkie]

Very common with belted magnum, your getting the bulge right on top of the belt. When you full length your feeding material down to the top of the belt. Regular dies can't resize this area. Neck sizing only is one option which I do, also search internet for belted magnum collet sizing die, there's a guy selling this die which fixes the top of the belt bulge and fits all belted mags with one die for ninety bucks

why do chamber after I FL die them?

[muledeerarea33?]

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Are you saying after 120 rounds in one session it jams up?

what's the joke?

[pwrguy]

Like Mule pack hunter said. That is the belted magnum bulge. I have read about that collet sizing die, sounds like a good idea if you are going to FL resize. I neck size my brass and have never experienced that problem. I used to shoot the 7 mag and am currently shooting a 300 mag. I am surprised that neck sizing gives you less accuracy, I never noticed any difference. Good luck.

[huntjunkie]

i'm going to try just neck sizing tommorrow

[coues7]

You are experiencing bulging where the FL die cannot size just above the belt. If you want to continue to shoot the brass you have you will need to get a Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die from Larry Willis. I have one and they work.

[AxisWorks LLC]

Muledeerarea33,

I have been helping Huntjunkie as he has been struggling with this issue.

I believe you are correct in your diagnosis. I have one more question on that theory though. (This is just me thinking out loud.) If the FL die is pushing the brass from the neck towards the headstamp direction and the die does not resize the area slightly I front of the belt creating the bulge, (shown on the posted picture of the dykemed case) wouldn't it still be just as hard to force a resized case back into the chamber as it is pulling one out? I am seeing a .001 Dia. difference between a sized case and a fired case when measuring directly in front of the belt. The cases after being ran through the die chamber with out ANY resistance. Pull the trigger and it almost takes a small hammer to get the bolt back to extract the case. (Hammer not actually used). Thank you for your time in helping us figure this out. Truly appreciated.

P.S. the 120 rounds were multiple shooting sessions.

[muledeerarea33?]

Lol ok, I would agree with everyone else then about bulging. The reason I asked the question was because 120 in a string is alot, wasn't sure is all. Thanks

[kwp]

As others have said the problem you are seeing is common with belted magnums but it usually takes multiple (~4+) firings of the brass for this to occur.

 

How many times has the brass been shot/sized when you see this happening?

 

How far are you pushing the shoulder back when FL sizing? Ideally you are only bumping it 0.002" If you set up the FL sizing die per instructions then you are likely pushing the shoulder back much more and pushing more material than needed towards the belt.

 

I'm thinking you may also have a rough chamber or chamber out of spec adding to the problem caused by the bulge above the belt.

 

Here's some more info to read:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/sticky-brass-119433/

[huntjunkie]

Thanks kwp. I'm starting over with new brass. The old brass has been fired more than 4 times.

[pwrguy]

As others have said the problem you are seeing is common with belted magnums but it usually takes multiple (~4+) firings of the brass for this to occur.

 

How many times has the brass been shot/sized when you see this happening?

 

How far are you pushing the shoulder back when FL sizing? Ideally you are only bumping it 0.002" If you set up the FL sizing die per instructions then you are likely pushing the shoulder back much more and pushing more material than needed towards the belt.

 

I'm thinking you may also have a rough chamber or chamber out of spec adding to the problem caused by the bulge above the belt.

 

Here's some more info to read:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/sticky-brass-119433/

Good point, I actually had a rifle I had to take to a gunsmith and have the chamber polished because it was causing the bolt to stick, even on new unfired cases. When I got the rifle back I never had a problem.