.243 bolt

[Gavin]

I own a brand new remington .243SPS, when I cycle the bolt with no cartridge in the chamber it flows smoothly, but as soon as I slam a cartridge into the chamber and try to close the bolt down it gets tight, can someone help me,maybe it's what I'm doing while reloading.thanks,Gavin

[kjd]

Do you reload? If so have you measured your cases is it hard to lift the bolt after you have fired a case? Is it hard to extract the said case?

[Rinso]

Gavin,

Does it do this when you chamber a new factory round ??
On the little info you have given my first guess would be that the cases are getting long and trimming or you are not sizing them properly.

cheers

Rinso

[kjd]

Gavin,

Does it do this when you chamber a new factory round ??
On the little info you have given my first guess would be that the cases are getting long and trimming or you are not sizing them properly.

cheers

Rinso

I Was leading to that too lol.

[Bidgee]

Have the cartridges been fired in another rifle? If so and they have not been FL resized they can cause this problem.

I'd check the setting of your full length sizing die and possibly screw it down another 1/8 to 1/4 turn to bump the shoulder back a bit.

Scott

[Col. Pogy]

If the cartridge is a few thousandths too long in headspace the bolt has to force it into the chamber by caming when you lower the bolt handle. Snug is usually ok, tight is not wanted in hunting. A hardware store may have a little cylindrical bushing, or perhaps a little cylindrical copper solder fiting, either one shaped like a tin can without top or bottom. Find one that will rest its internal edge on one end somewhere on the sloped case shoulder and stick out above the neck.(square ends a must) You can use this as a relative case headspace gauge by carefully measuring with calipers from the bottom of the case to the top of the bushing. A chambered case that is snug will measure your guns "relative" headspace. That is, relative headspace of your gun's chamber not the industry standard. But thats ok. A case measuring less this way will be a bit less than snug and the measurement will tell you how many thousandths short of "relative" that case is. A fired, or loaded case measuring case more than your relative measurement will be snug for sure if only a little long in measurement and will likely not even let let the bolt close at some point. Use the information you get to set your full length die to give you a relative headspace measurement that lets the bolt close with just a tiny bit of bolt pressure. This is probably optimum. Hopes this helps. pogy

[Gavin]

thanks everybody for their replies and advice, perhaps I did not give more info.
I used to own a paker-hale .243 before and yes I do all my own reloading.
I never had the problem before.
the bolt is difficult to close before firing and can sometimes be difficult to open after firing, well I've got some brand new winchester brass , as the ones I'm using now have been reloaded about 3 times already. Gavin

[kjd]

thanks everybody for their replies and advice, perhaps I did not give more info.
I used to own a paker-hale .243 before and yes I do all my own reloading.
I never had the problem before.
the bolt is difficult to close before firing and can sometimes be difficult to open after firing, well I've got some brand new winchester brass , as the ones I'm using now have been reloaded about 3 times already. Gavin

I bet if you measured them with calipers that they would be longer then max case length. Your treading on dangerous ground mate as the brass has stretched and needs to be trimmed. Its not just a matter of the bolt being hard to close. You may end up doing serious damage to yourself and the rifle if you dont trim the cases down.
I have had it happen once where the case was too long and the bolt got stuck and I couldn't extract the live round!! I had to open the bolt with a mallet. I'm just glad it was a Ruger and had a strong extractor on it!!

[Con]

Once fired and empty 243Win brass will barely chamber in my 375-08 ... look at the case when extracted and you can see scuff marks near the base and shoulder. The 243Win rifle it was fired in had a larger chamber than what's been cut on my 375-08. Likewise 308Win from a Remington wont chamber easily in my Stevens ... chambers vary and its not just brass length that can cause difficulties.
FL resize your 243Win brass to bring it back to minimum specs and it should chamber and extract faultlessly unless its over length. If not ... then you have a problem .
Cheers...
Con

[ogre6br]

is there a burr on your claw extractor and is it hanging up on the rim of the case and not letting you cam over the bolt properly- possible but not very likely- long brass is most common for waht you describe.

later
p

[alpal]

Hi Gaven,
When I had my winnington rechambered/ rebarrelled from .243 to .308, the smith gave me a minimum spec (tight) chamber, and even new win. brass (empty) wouldn't seat in the chamber without full length resizing first. If it's any consolation it turned out to be very accurate. If I forced the round in, it was a block of wood job on the bolt to get the round out.
Hope this helps,
Alpal

[jb747]

Does it have J lock? They make the bolt throw feel gritty and sticky. But they are easily removed....

[siacci]

Pull them apart, full length resize them, then trim to length. Reload.
The brass is more than likely fine.

I found this out with my ammo a while back. I have had a Tikka T3 Lite in .223rem for some time. I shoot off lots and lots of ammo, I necksize and go at it again.

My brother bought a Weatherby Vanguard in .223rem and being a strapping young buck he jammed the round in nice and hard. Unfortunately his chamber is much tighter than the Tikka and a stuck half way problem occured. Had to belt the bolt shut with a mallet, fire it and then use a cleaning rod to get the damn case out.

Lesson LEARNED. If it is possibly going into more than one gun FULL LENGTH SIZE it.

Im not shouting just highlighting the point. Because I knew this but paid no attention. Though I knew better, I was wrong.

Dave

[rifleman]

I'm just glad it was a Ruger and had a strong extractor on it!!

and people bag rugers!!

how often would you have to FLS a case if its used in the same rifle over and over?

[albow]

Rifleman

In my 223 I have a couple of batches of brass that have been reloaded 8 times by just neck sizing and have never been FLS and still chamber fine.