Ruger #1 loading problem

[milkman]

I'm bumfuzzled by this one. Ruger #1 in 275 Rigby, 130g Lee Soup can boolit sized to .287". Some of the cartridges don't want to fully enter the chamber. The last eighth or sixteenth of an inch has to pushed in with a finger, and the lever is difficult to close. I haven't tried chambering the difficult brass after firing to see if it is still ornery. The brass was formed from 270 or 30-06 cases, reamed and neck turned. Full length sized, empty brass all chambers with no problem. Empty flared brass chambers with no problems. The bullets on the difficult to load rounds do not show any bright spots or marks from the lands. The neck diameter of the difficult to load rounds is smaller than the neck diameter of fired brass. The diameter of the difficult loads do seem to measure .001 to .0015" larger at the web than the others, but that doesn't seem as though it should be enough to matter and I have no way to reduce it. The last rounds that I loaded all chamber ok, so I haven't been able to try seating the boolit deeper on the difficult rounds, but It seems as though if it was a problem with the boolit, forcing it into the chamber should leave a mark on the lead. Any Ideas?

[1hole]

No matter what press you're using, try holding the lever fully down hard for a couple of seconds during sizing before you even start to withdraw the cases.

[mdi]

K.I.S.S. A cartridge is a "peg" A chamber is a "hole". For a peg (cartridge) to enter a hole (chamber) it must be smaller than the hole. Measure. Measure your cases, bullets and finished cartridge. Find out where the cartridge is too big. Then you can find out when/why the handload is too big. Asking an open question like this on a forum will get a "shotgun effect" bunch of answers from cleaning the gun to sloppy reloading...

[robg]

necks of cases my be to thick .

[Ben]

That soup can in all of my 7X57 rifles has to be seated deep on order to chamber well. Have you checked that ?

Check the neck wall thickness of a once fired 7X57 and compared it to the brass that you have made. Of course remember, the factory brass was intended to chamber easily with a .284 jacketed bullet. Your bullet is .003 larger.

[gnostic]

Does the offending round show a burnished area where it's binding up? You might try magic marker to make a diagnosis. It sounds like the OAL is too long....

[scattershot]

My guess would be the OAL as well.

[milkman]

sized cases chamber without a problem. case shoulder length should be ok, and they are trimmed to length.
fired neck diameter is larger than loaded neck diameter so it should not be binding at the neck. bullet and neck thickness together is still smaller than the fired necks, and necks were reamed and turned.

Ben - I don't currently have a bad round to check by seating a little deeper, only 1 or 2 two out of maybe 50 give problems but they have may cast slightly larger.
Gnostic - no marks of any kind. even after shoving them into the chamber an eighth of an inch there are no land marks on the bullet nose or driving band and nothing I can detect on the case.

[wv109323]

How is accuracy? Do you have fliers?
I had a No. 1 in 25-06 and could never get it to group. One or 2 rounds of 5 were way out of the group. I traded it off for a .308 bolt rifle.
In looking at some rounds after I got rid of the rifle I think the problem was bullet run-out. Apparently while seating the bullet I was distorting the case neck. Something to look at.

[rockrat]

Can you seat a boolit in a fired case neck? Did you inside neck ream or outside neck ream? Try seating a boolit a bit deeper and see if it chambers

[milkman]

wv109323 - I had a #1 several years ago that I got rid of also. I think a 3" group at 100 yd was the very best it ever did with any bullet, jacketed or cast. This one shoots the Lee soup can at 1.5" consistently and jacketed does better than that but it was rebarreled by an excellent smith. Malcolm Ballistics

Rockrat - a boolit slips into the neck of a fired case. I reamed the inside of the neck because they were shortened so much from 270 and 30-06 brass that the necks now were sidewall before, then turned the outside of the necks.

I need to do some more shooting and loading to find some more cases that don't want to chamber, then I can try seating the boolit deeper and see if that is the problem. That might also tell me if it just a couple of pieces of brass that are the problem. All the parent brass were range pickup and who knows why they were laying on the ground. Thanks for the replies and the help.

[jsizemore]

Could have a donut at the neck shoulder junction. Take a measurement at that point before and after seating a bullet. If the bullet base is past that point.

[milkman]

Bullets are not seated past the neck, and the neck reaming should have taken care of a donut but I will definitely take a look at that point.

[gnostic]

sized cases chamber without a problem. case shoulder length should be ok, and they are trimmed to length.
fired neck diameter is larger than loaded neck diameter so it should not be binding at the neck. bullet and neck thickness together is still smaller than the fired necks, and necks were reamed and turned.

Ben - I don't currently have a bad round to check by seating a little deeper, only 1 or 2 two out of maybe 50 give problems but they have may cast slightly larger.
Gnostic - no marks of any kind. even after shoving them into the chamber an eighth of an inch there are no land marks on the bullet nose or driving band and nothing I can detect on the case.

No marks really complicates the issue. I've had similar issues with 5.56 when loading brass that I picked up from the ground, some rounds loaded with the same set up locked up the gun. My situation was solved when I went to small base dies. For some reason, the bases on the rounds that wouldn't chamber were .002 too large...

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I would mark the cases with a Sharpie and look for the spots that the marker is removed/'scraped' away to determine tight spots on the cartridge. Resizeing cases 'SLO O O W W LY' and maybe turning and resizing again can help SLIGHTLY oversize cases.

[milkman]

I was finally able to get back to the range between rain, wind, chores and the other things life throws at us. I did find a couple more rounds that loaded with difficulty. I brought them home and chose a good round at random and proceeded to measure the rounds. I was really surprised that the round which loaded easily had the largest measurements except for COAL which was the same on all rounds.
The driving band in front of the case neck, the case neck itself, the flare, everything was larger on the round which loaded easily. Again absolutely no scuff marks or rifling marks anywhere on the boolit. I started seating the boolits deeper on the hard to load cases. They started off at 2.760" and were a drop in fit at 2.716". A full driving band deeper, .044". That would appear to isolate the problem to the boolit. I am thinking the problem would have to be boolit length, nose diameter or driving band position or diameter. They are seated to the same depth so that should eliminate length. I don't have any way to measure nose diameter other than at the driving band with any accuracy, but with an conical nose, having to move it over .040" to clear a tight spot doesn't seem to make sense. The driving band is smaller diameter on the bad cartridges and protrudes the same distance from the case mouth, so why have to load it .044" deeper? Hope the deeper seating doesn't mess up accuracy. Last group was 3/4" at 100 yd. I need a glass of ice tea!!

[beagle]

I had a similar problem with a particular long .357 Mag bullet. After a while, I miked the driving bands and found that I wasn't sizing them as I thought I was. Adjustment of the die and subsequent measurement of the bullet cured the problem. Sometimes, your assumptions get you into trouble. Hope it's that simple. Factory Number 1s have a notorious short throat. I've had to throat several of mine. A .30/06 was a real pain until I did and now, it's the best shooting rifle in the rack./beagle