Stuck bullet after ejecting live round

[Seamaster]

It is true that often the guys with OAL issues are using the Hornady tool. I do not know why this happens, but it does. I have been using the cleaning rod method and the loose bullet in case mouth method for the past 55 years of reloading without encountering any issues. They simply work for me. I have been tempted to buy the Hornady tool just to find out why so many fellows have issues with it.

To the OP: Whatever you are doing it is causing your bullets to be seated out too far if they jam into the lands. Bullet jump is usually a good thing. Jamming into the lands is usually a bad thing. Good luck with resolving your issue.

 

[antelopedundee]

A dead giveaway is if there is resistance when chambering the round. Unless you are doing this intentionally, if you feel resistance, then STOP. Unfortunately if you've already managed to close the bolt you could just shoot it and hope it isn't too overpressure OR stand it vertically on a bench, open the bolt and slowly tap it down so that you don't spill the powder.

 

[std7mag]

A dead giveaway is if there is resistance when chambering the round. Unless you are doing this intentionally, if you feel resistance, then STOP. Unfortunately if you've already managed to close the bolt you could just shoot it and hope it isn't too overpressure OR stand it vertically on a bench, open the bolt and slowly tap it down so that you don't spill the powder.

Unless your fireforming an AI.
Then there should be a slight resistance.

 

[BenInMT]

OAL in the reloading manuals is pretty much a meaningless number to me. I guess it’s supposed to be the number that will work in every rifle in that chambering. Sounds like you found an exception. I used to file a notch on both sides of the neck of a resized case, then I could bend the remaining part of the neck to apply tension to a bullet, which I would chamber a bunch of times taking measurements each time and then average them. I would assume that I was within a couple thousandths of the lands. I finally broke down and bought the Hornady tool and the comparator. They make the job easier.

I don’t see how neck tension or carbon ring or anything else is causing you problems. It sounds like you are jamming the bullets into the lands and you need to seat them deeper into the case.

 

[HONEYBADGER]

Even if the bullet is touching the lands, your neck tension should be sufficient to eject the round, bullet intact, unless you are really jamming it in the lands. Up your neck tension a little and your problem will likely be solved.

 

[antelopedundee]

Unless your fireforming an AI.
Then there should be a slight resistance.

Or trying to find the lands in which case you don't want to force it. Then again for that task you would use an unprimed case with no powder.

 

[ImBillT]

A dead giveaway is if there is resistance when chambering the round. Unless you are doing this intentionally, if you feel resistance, then STOP. Unfortunately if you've already managed to close the bolt you could just shoot it and hope it isn't too overpressure OR stand it vertically on a bench, open the bolt and slowly tap it down so that you don't spill the powder.

It will never be significantly overpressure JUST from jamming it in the lands.

If you exceeded a book max with lots of jump, but have no pressure signs, and then jam hard, you might get pressure signs.

 

[ImBillT]

A SAAMI .243Win chamber has zero freebore. While the barrel is new, the lands will be very sharp and “grabby”. Any blunt bullet that is jamming hard will get stuck.

Stop measuring CAOL, unless you’re just seeing if it will fit in

Stop looking at COAL in manuals. They are almost worthless.

Seat the Speer deeper. Problem solved.

Your lands will erode rapidly. A .243Win doesn’t last all that long. Once they are no longer sharp, it will take a lot more jam to stick a bullet. That rounded ogive Speer may be stickable for a long time, but it’s not like you have to seat it so far out. If a significant part of the bearing surface(the straight part) is sticking out of your case, you’re seating too long for a SAAMI .243Win chamber.

 

[antelopedundee]

It will never be significantly overpressure JUST from jamming it in the lands.

If you exceeded a book max with lots of jump, but have no pressure signs, and then jam hard, you might get pressure signs.

When fire-forming something like 6-5-06AI cases I like to use stout loads with the bullet lightly jammed. Others seem to dislike it for fear of overpressure reasons which is why I mentioned it.

 

[ImBillT]

When fire-forming something like 6-5-06AI cases I like to use stout loads with the bullet lightly jammed. Others seem to dislike it for fear of overpressure reasons which is why I mentioned it.

1) They can fear it all they want. It doesn’t happen to a degree that has any meaning. If you pierce a primer or have a case failure, you were doing A LOT of other things wrong.

2) Jamming the bullet hard against the lands seems like a great idea as a means by which to insure that your case head is against your bolt face when fire-forming, but it doesn’t work. Quite a few tests have been done. I can’t cite any, but it shouldn’t take too much of a search to find them. Yes I know PO recommended it. Your firing pin strikes your primer with more force than is required to push the bullet back into the case mouth, and that’s exactly what will happen when the firing pin hits your primer if the shoulder of your case isn’t against the shoulder of your chamber. Perhaps if your charge was compressed enough, your neck tension was high enough, and your bullet was blunt enough, but testing under normal scenarios has shown that no amount of jamming a bullet will prevent case stretching if the headspace of your chamber is longer than that of your case.

 

[cahunter805]

1) They can fear it all they want. It doesn’t happen to a degree that has any meaning. If you pierce a primer or have a case failure, you were doing A LOT of other things wrong.

2) Jamming the bullet hard against the lands seems like a great idea as a means by which to insure that your case head is against your bolt face when fire-forming, but it doesn’t work. Quite a few tests have been done. I can’t cite any, but it shouldn’t take too much of a search to find them. Yes I know PO recommended it. Your firing pin strikes your primer with more force than is required to push the bullet back into the case mouth, and that’s exactly what will happen when the firing pin hits your primer if the shoulder of your case isn’t against the shoulder of your chamber. Perhaps if your charge was compressed enough, your neck tension was high enough, and your bullet was blunt enough, but testing under normal scenarios has shown that no amount of jamming a bullet will prevent case stretching if the headspace of your chamber is longer than that of your case.

+1 for fire forming cases it’s easy to create a false shoulder and insure it’s formed 100%. Many people use the Cream of wheat/pistol powder method but I’ve found it doesn’t form the case 100% usually. After messing with an AI cartridge for a while I rebarreled to the standard version with a custom spec chamber and no hassle of forming cases.

 

[antelopedundee]

1) They can fear it all they want. It doesn’t happen to a degree that has any meaning. If you pierce a primer or have a case failure, you were doing A LOT of other things wrong.

2) Jamming the bullet hard against the lands seems like a great idea as a means by which to insure that your case head is against your bolt face when fire-forming, but it doesn’t work. Quite a few tests have been done. I can’t cite any, but it shouldn’t take too much of a search to find them. Yes I know PO recommended it. Your firing pin strikes your primer with more force than is required to push the bullet back into the case mouth, and that’s exactly what will happen when the firing pin hits your primer if the shoulder of your case isn’t against the shoulder of your chamber. Perhaps if your charge was compressed enough, your neck tension was high enough, and your bullet was blunt enough, but testing under normal scenarios has shown that no amount of jamming a bullet will prevent case stretching if the headspace of your chamber is longer than that of your case.

I've fire formed quite a few cases over the years without losing a single one on fire forming or later from case head separations. If I had a way to resize a case .005 or more short to the shoulder datum line without sacrificing some equipment like a die or shellholder I might just try with a couple cases just to see what happens.

 

[ImBillT]

I've fire formed quite a few cases over the years without losing a single one on fire forming or later from case head separations. If I had a way to resize a case .005 or more short to the shoulder datum line without sacrificing some equipment like a die or shellholder I might just try with a couple cases just to see what happens.

If your chamber is setup correctly, you should never loose a single case fire-forming a rimless AI. Only rimmed AI’s actually move the entire shoulder forward. Rimless AI cases have no more headspace issue than any standard cartridge.

Some lazy shooters form Dashers and BRXes without first creating a false shoulder. The general wisdom is that it takes .006” neck tension and a bullet with a enough bearing surface to jam hard and still use the entire length of the neck. Even then they complain of two issues. 1) Losing some cases during forming, and 2) brass that suffers case head separations long before standard BR brass would normally give up. The reason? Even at .006” neck tension(which is A LOT) the case moves forward when the firing pin strikes the primer in spite of jamming the bullet. BRAI cases, hydro formed Dashers and BRXes, and properly fireformed Dashers and BRXes do not suffer these problems.

Edit-A SAAMI standard .280AI has even less likely to lose a case during forming because its .020” shorter at the neck/shoulder junction than a .280Rem, and thus .280Rem cases must be sized down. If you adjust your sizer so that it takes effort to close the bolt, the case absolutely won’t move forward when the pin strikes the primer.