Resized brass won’t fit in tikka 30-06

[rickyw]

Hoping for a little help here

I just bought my first brand new tikka (applause).
Shot it two days ago. Really enjoyed it. Put 30 rounds through it. I used starline virgin brass. I did not do any sizing of any kind beforehand, just loaded and fired. They fit a bit tight in the chamber but shot fine.

Today I go to full length resize. Sized brass won’t chamber at one turn off shell holder. I keep turning the die down until it is touching the shell holder. Still won’t chamber. I can run the bolt forward ( edit: it runs almost all the way forward and lacks the last 1/8” where it clicks all the way forward). The once fired brass chambers fine.

Checked the headspace. With the die turned all the way down the shoulder on the once fired/resized brass is bumped back farther than the virgin brass.
The slope of the shoulder does appear different between the sized brass and the virgin brass. Checked the length as well, didn’t need trimming.

Further edit: after fiddling around more I discovered that some of the once fired brass that has not been resized also has the same issue, and one of the virgin brass pieces does too (I didn’t try them all, just a couple at random). Funny, because I had none of these issues with the 32 rounds I shot off two days ago. It almost seems like the bolt isn’t grabbing the case correctly when I single feed the case.

Any ideas?? Thanks

Here’s a photo. Virgin brass on the right.

 

[skipper907]

Did you measure shoulder bump to see if you are actually bump the fired case should back ?
Have you checked the case lenght ? The case can grow once sized

 

[rickyw]

Did you measure shoulder bump to see if you are actually bump the fired case should back ?
Have you checked the case lenght ? The case can grow once sized

Yes and yes.

Interestingly, I have not had this issue in any of my other 30-06s

 

[skipper907]

How much did you bump the shoulder ? Do you have any unfired case that you can measure the shoulder bump lenght for reference?
And are your cases trimmer to the minimum trim lenght

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Is the sized case longer than the once fired even by a tiny bit?

 

[rickyw]

How much did you bump the shoulder ? Do you have any unfired case that you can measure the shoulder bump lenght for reference?
And are your cases trimmer to the minimum trim lenght

The shoulder on the resized once fired brass with the die turned all the way down is bumped back .004 farther than the virgin brass that fits

I use the Lee trim and chamfer kit. Didn’t need length trimming , but I checked

 

[rickyw]

Is the sized case longer than the once fired even by a tiny bit?

You know, I should check that. They are both within spec but maybe the chamber is too short…?

 

[rickyw]

Is the sized case longer than the once fired even by a tiny bit?

Checked it. It’s not that

 

[rickyw]

After fiddling around more I realized the bolt isn’t actually going forward all the way but stops short about 1/8” and doesn’t click all the way forward like it should. Definitely a slightly different feel to the bolt than my M70s. I also discovered that some of the once fired brass that has not been resized also has the same issue, and one of the virgin brass pieces does too (I didn’t try them all, just a couple at random). One of the cases I sort of worked the bolt forward and it clicked closed finally. Funny, because I had none of these issues with the 32 rounds I shot off two days ago. It almost seems like the bolt isn’t grabbing the case correctly when I single feed the case.

 

[Lawnboi]

Is this brass that’s only been fired in that rifle (not another)?

 

[MallardSX2]

Any chance that’s a brand new re-sizing die that you’re using?

Do you have another resizing die that you could try?

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Could be a sizing die issue. And lots of sizers need to be cammed over

 

[Scottf270]

If the shell holder is touching the ram, it will only go so far. A bunch of cam over does nothing but stress your press. If you are dropping a case into the chamber with no bullet, your extractor may not be snapping over the case rim. This would make your case appear too be to long.

I did have a 7 wsm that would not chamber some resized cases. I had a lot of slop between the case rim and shell holder. I put a .005 plastic shim under the case head and it fixed my issue. Some guys sand or Mill the shell holder to fix this.

 

[doverpack12]

When you size a case with the brass all the way up in the die, get your head down and look at the shell holder and die interface, ideally against a light background. A lot of the time the brass will add resistance and a die that was touching the shell holder with no brass is now a decent amount short of touching the holder.

That would increase your brass length and make it harder to chamber until it is sized far enough.

Best thing you can do is get all brass measurements of the 3 conditions. New, once fired and once fired then sized.
Strip the ejector plunger from the bolt and remove firing pin. That will let the bolt slide freely and you can set the case rim inside the extractor so you can actually feel if the brass is hitting some part of the chamber preventing full bolt closure. When sized correctly the bolt should close with zero resistance just like with no brass. Immediately before sized enough you will need 1-2 fingers to close with slight resistance.

Get the brass width before shoulder tapers, bottom of body before the rim, shoulder length with a comparator, width of neck

 

[rickyw]

Is this brass that’s only been fired in that rifle (not another)?

Yes, just this rifle

Any chance that’s a brand new re-sizing die that you’re using?

Do you have another resizing die that you could try?

It’s an RCBS that’s well used this past year. Don’t have another.

Thank you all for these thoughts. I’ll work on it some more tonight

 

[Shortschaf]

After fiddling around more I realized the bolt isn’t actually going forward all the way but stops short about 1/8” and doesn’t click all the way forward like it should. Definitely a slightly different feel to the bolt than my M70s. I also discovered that some of the once fired brass that has not been resized also has the same issue, and one of the virgin brass pieces does too (I didn’t try them all, just a couple at random). One of the cases I sort of worked the bolt forward and it clicked closed finally. Funny, because I had none of these issues with the 32 rounds I shot off two days ago. It almost seems like the bolt isn’t grabbing the case correctly when I single feed the case.

The symptoms you describe dont necessarily have anything to do with brass size, I think you are just not used to a push feed. Is your M70 a pre64?

Pre64 M70's are a controlled round feed. You can single feed a piece of brass and it will glide right in

But Tikka is a push feed, which long story short means you can't as easily single feed something without using the magazine--the rim of the casehead is not behind the extractor claw. You have to push the bolt forward and closed to get that extractor claw past the case rim (the "click" you heard I bet) Load a bullet in a case and feed it from a magazine to see if it works. Or disassemble the bolt like @doverpack12 said and then check your brass.

 

[rickyw]

The symptoms you describe dont necessarily have anything to do with brass size, I think you are just not used to a push feed. Is your M70 a pre64?

Pre64 M70's are a controlled round feed. You can single feed a piece of brass and it will glide right in

But Tikka is a push feed, which long story short means you can't as easily single feed something without using the magazine--the rim of the casehead is not behind the extractor claw. You have to push the bolt forward and closed to get that extractor claw past the case rim (the "click" you heard I bet) Load a bullet in a case and feed it from a magazine to see if it works. Or disassemble the bolt like @doverpack12 said and then check your brass.

Yes…this is the first push feed I’ve reloaded for..I’ll definitely fiddle with this tonight. Thank you

 

[Leaf Litter]

I ran into similar issues with a very different cartridge. It turned out, the sizing die wasn't the same size as my chamber, so the base of the cartridge was too wide for the chamber.

I discovered this after grinding down a die and sacrificing a piece of brass. The brass would eventually chamber after resizing, but that was with 13 thousands shoulder setback, which is unacceptable. My solution was a small base sizing die, but another option was to re-ream the chamber.

 

[rickyw]

Well I am dunce!
I loaded up a projectile in an empty case and tried to chamber it and now the bolt won’t go nearly as far forward. There must be something in the chamber. I look in and there’s the bullet I had been using to get my max COAL, jammed in the lans. I remember thinking to remove it when measuring but I obviously didn’t. My son had been sitting chatting with me at the time. A reminder to not be distracted when reloading, etc.
Mystery solved. Thanks everyone for the discussion.