I just finished my Savage 308 build. It's my first long range bolt action rifle that was somewhat of a budget project. It started out as a Stevens 200 in .223 and used only the action and the bolt (swapped bolt face and magazine). Ordered a SSS competition trigger, McMillan A5 stock, Northland barrel nut, Northland recoil lug, EGW 20MOA base, and a new 24" factory varmint barrel that I bought of someone on Snipershide. I borrowed a set of PTG gauges to set the barrel headspacing and I am confident that I did it correctly. Once everything was put together, I took the rifle out and fired about 25 rounds of 147 grain Silver Bear to test function and to get my scope (10X SWFA) on paper. The rifle functioned perfectly.
About a month later, I decided to start reloading and I ordered 100 pieces of once fired Lake City brass (most likely fired through a machine gun), a box of 175 grain Sierra MatchKings, a box of Winchester Large Primers, and a 5 pound jug of Reloader 15 as well as a Lyman 49th Edition manual, Lyman case gauge, RCBS Rock Chucker kit, RCBS dies, and a chronograph. I did a lot of research and watched a bunch of youtube videos before I got started. Anyway, I set up the press and dies as per the instructions (screw down until it meets shell holder and then another 1/4 turn in so it cams over) tumbled the brass, and began resizing. Next, I trimmed all the brass to 2.005", chamfered and deburred. Finally, I set up the RCBS pocket swager die and removed the primer pocket crimps. Dropped every piece of brass into the case guage and they all fit perfectly.
Then I set up the hand priming tool to begin seating my primers and realized that I swaged too much. There was literally no resistance at all when I squeezed the tool. I went online and was told to try tapping the brass at a 45 degree angle to see if the primer backed out, which it didn't so I figured I was ok. I started with 15 rounds of 41.0 grains RL15 and planned on working up from there if necessary (keeping in mind the smaller case capacity of LC brass). The OAL of each round was 2.80". Here's where things started to go south. After firing each round, the bolt was stuck and i had to stand up and pull the bolt handle up and then use a rubber hammer to tap the bolt handle rearwards to extract and eject the spent casing. The primers were completely flat but the readings on the chronograph were only in the range of 2460-2510fps (tested chronograph with some .223 50 grain VMAX and was getting around 2900 fps so I know the unit is reading properly). Each 3 shot group size was about .75" at 100 yards. I was able to chamber, extract, and eject unfired rounds with no problem whatsoever. The problem only happens once the round has been fired. I was thinking about reducing my load but I feel like that would put me in the low 2400fps range, which won't do me much good, especially when I have the opportunity to shoot with my friend at his private 1000 yard range. Does anyone have any idea as to what could be causing this problem? My friend told me that LC brass fired out of machine gun sometimes won't work reliable in a bolt action rifle even after resizing and that I should try new Winchester brass. Another person told me that I could have a tight chamber that needs to be polished. I think its the loose primer pocket.
Summary - 24" Savage rifle shoots factory ammo just fine but my reloads (41.0gr RL15, 175gr SMK, LC brass trimmed to 2.005", 2.80" OAL) flatten the primer and make my bolt stick even though the velocity is only in the 2460-2510fps range. I think I swaged the primer pockets to hard because it requires no resistance at all to seat a primer with the hand tool. I think this may have something to do with the problem.
About a month later, I decided to start reloading and I ordered 100 pieces of once fired Lake City brass (most likely fired through a machine gun), a box of 175 grain Sierra MatchKings, a box of Winchester Large Primers, and a 5 pound jug of Reloader 15 as well as a Lyman 49th Edition manual, Lyman case gauge, RCBS Rock Chucker kit, RCBS dies, and a chronograph. I did a lot of research and watched a bunch of youtube videos before I got started. Anyway, I set up the press and dies as per the instructions (screw down until it meets shell holder and then another 1/4 turn in so it cams over) tumbled the brass, and began resizing. Next, I trimmed all the brass to 2.005", chamfered and deburred. Finally, I set up the RCBS pocket swager die and removed the primer pocket crimps. Dropped every piece of brass into the case guage and they all fit perfectly.
Then I set up the hand priming tool to begin seating my primers and realized that I swaged too much. There was literally no resistance at all when I squeezed the tool. I went online and was told to try tapping the brass at a 45 degree angle to see if the primer backed out, which it didn't so I figured I was ok. I started with 15 rounds of 41.0 grains RL15 and planned on working up from there if necessary (keeping in mind the smaller case capacity of LC brass). The OAL of each round was 2.80". Here's where things started to go south. After firing each round, the bolt was stuck and i had to stand up and pull the bolt handle up and then use a rubber hammer to tap the bolt handle rearwards to extract and eject the spent casing. The primers were completely flat but the readings on the chronograph were only in the range of 2460-2510fps (tested chronograph with some .223 50 grain VMAX and was getting around 2900 fps so I know the unit is reading properly). Each 3 shot group size was about .75" at 100 yards. I was able to chamber, extract, and eject unfired rounds with no problem whatsoever. The problem only happens once the round has been fired. I was thinking about reducing my load but I feel like that would put me in the low 2400fps range, which won't do me much good, especially when I have the opportunity to shoot with my friend at his private 1000 yard range. Does anyone have any idea as to what could be causing this problem? My friend told me that LC brass fired out of machine gun sometimes won't work reliable in a bolt action rifle even after resizing and that I should try new Winchester brass. Another person told me that I could have a tight chamber that needs to be polished. I think its the loose primer pocket.
Summary - 24" Savage rifle shoots factory ammo just fine but my reloads (41.0gr RL15, 175gr SMK, LC brass trimmed to 2.005", 2.80" OAL) flatten the primer and make my bolt stick even though the velocity is only in the 2460-2510fps range. I think I swaged the primer pockets to hard because it requires no resistance at all to seat a primer with the hand tool. I think this may have something to do with the problem.
