New Barrel, Tight Chamber?

[loveha]

Barrel is a Shilen Stainless Select Match chambered in 300WSM for a Savage SA. Headspaced with Manson Go/No Go gauges.

I bought 3 different boxes of factory ammo.
Federal Premium loaded with 180gr Barnes TSX
Hornady Precision Hunter 200gr ELD-X
And the problem load, which I also bought two boxes just to put some rounds down the barrel with. Hornady Whitetail 165gr Interlock.

The first two boxes are no problem, the ogive is not hitting the freebore I think is the term?
The 165gr Interlocks, are hitting right at the start of the lands as you can see in the picture.

With the ELD-X chambered, and only the extractor on the bolt head, it's real smooth to close and open the bolt, don't even need the rear bolt baffle on the bolt which has the ramp.
Stick the Interlock loaded round and there is a definite resistance when you lift and and close the bolt handle. If you don't have the rear bolt baffle to help extract, you have to give a little bit of a tug to pull the round back out. I don't think I could call it jammed, but it is definitely not just touching.

So I guess I have two questions.
One, tight chamber?
And two, are the Hornady Whitetails shootable. Or will I have problems with pressure?

 

[clcustom1911]

I guess one could say it's a short throated match chamber. The ogive/bearing surface junction on the interlocks is out father than the sleek ELD bullets. Yes, the interlocks are "jammed" into the lands if you need to use effort/force to pull then out.

You could shoot 1 or 2 to see how they behave. They might shoot really good. Or they might require a cleaning rod down the barrel to get them out of the chamber.

Option 1. If you have a reloading press, you can seat those interlocks deeper until they arent contacting your lands.

 

[loveha]

That was a passing thought, I have an old single stage RCBS bought from a yard sale. It needs help though, needs to be tore apart and cleaned. Then I need to buy, well, whatever it is that goes along with it to reload. At that point, then I may as well go down the rabbit hole and not bother with factory ammo.

 

[aprocast]

Barrel is a Shilen Stainless Select Match chambered in 300WSM for a Savage SA. Headspaced with Manson Go/No Go gauges.



So I guess I have two questions.
One, tight chamber?
And two, are the Hornady Whitetails shootable. Or will I have problems with pressure?

Not a tight chamber but the throat is shortish which is a good thing
The Whitetail ammo should be fine, try it and if it extracts easily it will be fine, the problem will probably be gone by the time you finish the first box

 

[Steel head]

I just wouldn’t shoot the ones that jam.

If you wanna shoot the ones that do buy a lee whack a mole die set and bump the bullet into that case a bit more.

 

[Frank Green]

Ask who ever chambered the barrel for you ....to get a print of the reamer that was supposedly used. That will tell you what your suppose to have per say in that particular barrel.

A short throat where the bullet is touching/jamming into the rifling will drive up pressures.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[SilentStalkr]

I have a 6 Creedmoor that does this. Should I be concerned about pressure spikes? It has probably 1000rds on it. It’s not a super smooth bolt/extraction after firing that is for sure which kind of sucks because when you lift the bolt the damn gun never stays on target so you have to adjust after each shot. Not ideal. This is the first rifle I’ve ever had this experience. It is a hammer tho and is probably one of the most accurate rifles I have. Just that sticky bolt bothers me. We’ve even loaded them as short as I would ever want to and it still does it.

 

[Codiekfx400]

You might possibly gall the lugs forcing the bolt closed. I would just seat them deeper or try them again after firing a couple hundred rounds of ammo that fit correctly.

 

[supercorndogs]

I have a 6 Creedmoor that does this. Should I be concerned about pressure spikes? It has probably 1000rds on it. It’s not a super smooth bolt/extraction after firing that is for sure which kind of sucks because when you lift the bolt the damn gun never stays on target so you have to adjust after each shot. Not ideal. This is the first rifle I’ve ever had this experience. It is a hammer tho and is probably one of the most accurate rifles I have. Just that sticky bolt bothers me. We’ve even loaded them as short as I would ever want to and it still does it.

If the bullet is jamming into the rifling, yes. If you are getting heavy bolt lift on fired rounds, it is often a sign of excessive pressure. Normally characterized by round shiny spots on the case head where it flowed into the ejector hole in the bolt.

 

[SilentStalkr]

If the bullet is jamming into the rifling, yes. If you are getting heavy bolt lift on fired rounds, it is often a sign of excessive pressure. Normally characterized by round shiny spots on the case head where it flowed into the ejector hole in the bolt.

Got any examples. I don’t remember seeing anything like that. I haven’t shot in way too damn long and sold all of my brass.

 

[King_beardsly]

I have a 6 Creedmoor that does this. Should I be concerned about pressure spikes? It has probably 1000rds on it. It’s not a super smooth bolt/extraction after firing that is for sure which kind of sucks because when you lift the bolt the damn gun never stays on target so you have to adjust after each shot. Not ideal. This is the first rifle I’ve ever had this experience. It is a hammer tho and is probably one of the most accurate rifles I have. Just that sticky bolt bothers me. We’ve even loaded them as short as I would ever want to and it still does it.

Has it always been that way, or has I happened over time. Factory ammo or hand loads, I only ask because if it happened over time it might be a build up in the throat area.

 

[SilentStalkr]

Has it always been that way, or has I happened over time. Factory ammo or hand loads, I only ask because if it happened over time it might be a build up in the throat area.

Been this way since it was built.

 

[supercorndogs]

Got any examples. I don’t remember seeing anything like that. I haven’t shot in way too damn long and sold all of my brass.

Understanding Pressure :: Primal Rights, Inc

Reading pressure is a required skill that all shooters must have. Whether you are shooting factory ammunition or your own handloads, you absolutely must be able to detect and interpret pressure signs on your fired brass.

www.primalrights.com

 

[lash]

I don’t disagree with the direction taken above but have my own questions. Have you a caliper to measure anything?

If so, measure total overall cartridge length, length to ogive on the different rounds, and also, outside diameter of the necks of each load.

I once had a tight match chamber where certain loads, within SAAMI spec, would bind due to variations in neck diameter. Had it teamed slightly to mid-high SAAMI spec diameter and have had zero issues since. The thing is that some chambers are made for turned necks and are intolerant.

Frank Green’s comment to get the reamer specs, needs to be answered along with your measurements. Then we can really help.

 

[loveha]

I have access to micrometers, no calipers. I measured OAL on 5 rounds each when I first posted. I'll get neck and ogive tonight then post it all.

Email sent to Shilen about the reamer print and see if they will send it to me, or tell me who to contact for it.

 

[SilentStalkr]

View attachment 7287884

Understanding Pressure :: Primal Rights, Inc

Reading pressure is a required skill that all shooters must have. Whether you are shooting factory ammunition or your own handloads, you absolutely must be able to detect and interpret pressure signs on your fired brass.

www.primalrights.com

Nothing like that, but I do remember almost something like a nick in the case head towards the outside. So, it wasn’t perfectly formed like what you posted in a nice circle and likely wasn’t from the ejector. Almost like something was jamming into it, like maybe a burr but damn you’d think it would have worn off or down by now. I’ll see if I can find some old brass and post a pic. Need to buy an OAL gauge as well. Oh and you can’t be gentle stuffing the next round in either. Like you don’t have to be the hulk but you can’t be pussy armed with it. You have to ram it in there. Same kind of deal with releasing the bolt. It wasn’t spec’d with anything special aside from telling Marc I was going to be running 105’s primarily.

 

[loveha]

@lash
I'll start of and say again I do not reload, and do not have the tools to measure this stuff correctly. Nor do I have the skill and knowledge to really know what I am doing. I only had micrometers at my disposal. SO, all these numbers have a giant possibility of being completely wrong, and useless. Haven't read a micrometer in almost a decade, and had to watch a video to remember how.

Learned there is a tool to measure CBTO from Bergers website when I was researching on wtf I was trying to do. I eyeballed it lol.

Hornady Whitetail 165gr Interlock
OAL
2.827
2.827
2.827
Neck
.340
CBTO
2.20

Hornady 200 gr EDL-X
OAL
2.842
2.857
2.856
Neck
.340
CBTO
2.180

Federal 180gr Barnes TSX
OAL
2.788
2.793
2.793
Neck
.338
CBTO
Not real visible, unable to measure.
Secant Ogive?

 

[lash]

Well those dimensions seem to tell me that the neck diameter isn’t the issue, since the whitetail and ELD-X are the same but feed differently. If the ogive measurements are reasonably accurate, they show the whitetail to be 0.020” deeper into the free bore or lands as the case may be and that could be the issue.

 

[6brshooter]

Try the ammo that fits nicely. I always let the barrel decide which bullet it prefers, as opposed to forcing it to like what I want. I've wasted barrel life in hot 6mms trying to get super high bc bullets to shoot good. In the end pointed 107smk or 105hybrids shot best with little fiddling. I assume since you have the 165 you want those for hunting, might have to try some other hunting loads. Who knows, you might go to great lengths in seating 165gr bullets deeper, reaming throat for them, etc etc, and they might shoot like hot garbage in the barrel cause it doesnt care for those 165.

 

[A&8's]

A couple of years ago I got a Shilen prefit from NSS. I cerosafed it before installing and it was cut incorrectly. I contacted Shilen and the said send it back for them to check. As a result, they said there was an issue with their reamer and corrected the problem, no charge of course. They also contacted James at NSS to have him check the rest of that lot of barrels.

If you know anyone who can cerosafe it, that'll tell you everything you need to know about the chamber.

While mine was in 6.5CM not 300WSM, but just a thought to explore.

 

[Shoots 700's]

I would just not shoot the 165 grain load that hits the lands