We’ll this never happened before!

[gregintenn]

I still have no idea why this problem cropped up now, but seating the bullets a couple of thousandths deeper cured the problem. I guess I’ll never know, but now I’m good to go anyway. Thanks for all the suggestions and help!

[MacGyver]

If it was the first time this problem happened, and it was only with one round and I couldn't replicate it - I think I might chalk it up to a defect bullet and not worry about it too much.

[gregintenn]

51 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

If it was the first time this problem happened, and it was only with one round and I couldn't replicate it - I think I might chalk it up to a defect bullet and not worry about it too much.

Well, several of the rounds took quite a bit of effort to close the bolt on. Maybe I was right on the ragged edge of being too long, and found a lot to lot variation in the bullets or something. I’d say the lock ring on the seating die got moved, but these are RCBS, and the set screw was locked down tight.

My wife would just say “It’s just one of those things.” I’m cursed with a curious mind and feel the need to find the source of such a problem.

Edited December 14, 2021 by gregintenn

[RED333]

Sounds like the die moved up just a bit. It does not take much.

[MacGyver]

21 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Well, several of the rounds took quite a bit of effort to close the bolt on. Maybe I was right on the ragged edge of being too long, and found a lot to lot variation in the bullets or something. I’d say the lock ring on the seating die got moved, but these are RCBS, and the set screw was locked down tight.

My wife would just say “It’s just one of those things.” I’m cursed with a curious mind and feel the need to find the source of such a problem.

Oh, that's me too.

I guess all that was just my way of saying - "you've probably now spent enough time on investigating it to not worry about it happening again."

[noylj]

A COL in a manual is NOTHING more than the COL they used for their tests of a specific bullet. COL depends on the bullet shape, the barrel free bore, and magazine length--none of which the manual knows of in your case.

You don't have their chamber and probably not even the same bullet.

After you seat a bullet, always push down on the bullet with thumb pressure. If the bullet moves at all, reject that load. Many times, the case walls are too thin. I throw these cases away.

For use in a magazine, I start at the max COL that fits the magazine, then feed and chamber an inert dummy round. If it cycles, that is my starting COL. For a single shot, so far all my guns prefer a bullet that almost touches the lede/rifling, so I start with that COL and work up a load.

Usually, the test COL is close to being too short, so they get higher pressures quicker for a built in safety. This short COL will "work" for most bullets of that weight.

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, noylj said:

A COL in a manual is NOTHING more than the COL they used for their tests of a specific bullet. COL depends on the bullet shape, the barrel free bore, and magazine length--none of which the manual knows of in your case.

You don't have their chamber and probably not even the same bullet.

After you seat a bullet, always push down on the bullet with thumb pressure. If the bullet moves at all, reject that load. Many times, the case walls are too thin. I throw these cases away.

For use in a magazine, I start at the max COL that fits the magazine, then feed and chamber an inert dummy round. If it cycles, that is my starting COL. For a single shot, so far all my guns prefer a bullet that almost touches the lede/rifling, so I start with that COL and work up a load.

Usually, the test COL is close to being too short, so they get higher pressures quicker for a built in safety. This short COL will "work" for most bullets of that weight.

You are correct, except I do have the exact bullet. The mystery is that I have loaded this exact bullet/case/powder combination for this rifle for years. The die adjustment was set years ago and not changed. They worked, they worked, and then one day; boom! Nothing has changed to my knowledge, and suddenly they no longer work. I understand how to fix it. What I don’t understand is what caused it.

Were it a new rifle, new load, new components, or new dies, I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

I was under the illusion I had better quality control than this. Make sense?

[RED333]

Greg, did you measure the COL years ago and now, Are they the same?

[gregintenn]

6 minutes ago, RED333 said:

Greg, did you measure the COL years ago and now, Are they the same?

I dunno. I didn’t write it down, and don’t have the best memory. I usually write down the OAL, but failed to do so on these.

[RED333]

Just now, gregintenn said:

I dunno. I didn’t write it down, and don’t have the best memory. I usually write down the OAL, but failed to do so on these.

Any old reloads laying around?