243 hard to chamber

[cj8281]

Savage Model 10 in 243, factory stock, factory mounted scope
As far as I know this gun was only shot 24 times. When I bought it, it came with a box of empties and a box that had 4 shot out of it.

I had clean, and reloaded the 24 plus some other once fired that I had bought. I shot 40 of them, cleaned them and decided to use the Lee Loader to load them with. I got the primers in 20 of them when I remembered that I should double check them to make sure that they fit as I had found another box of some once fired that I had recently purchased. I found a few that would not chamber.
I set up my RGB set of dies (now that I know that you have to tighten the dog snot out of the decapping rod) and went through and sized the few that would not chamber and then resized some more til I had 20 resized, trimmed and 20 that would chamber fine but a bit tight. While I was trimming, I tried trimming the ones that had been through the Loader die and the gauge would not go down the neck. I then checked them all and they were under the trim length listed. With the Loader I loaded one round and chambered it. It is a fairly tight fit. I rechecked the other 19 cases and they all fit OK, on a whim I went through and checked the other 20 cases that I full length resized and I have 4 that are extremely tight and on that would not chamber at all. I rechecked the setting on the die, the shell holder firmly contacts the base of the die and takes up any slack in the turret. So I set the die another half turn down, re-lubed and resized. Still no go. I changed out the sizing die and tried my RCBS die. Same story, no go. I pulled out a box of factory new, Winchester Super X 100 grain, they chambered tight. At this point I wondered if I had forgotten to clean the gun the last time I shot it and maybe the chamber was dirty and that is why everything was so tight. That turns out to not be the case, it was pretty clean. I began measuring the cases. The one case that would not chamber (Herters, have no idea where it came from) has a neck that is larger than the others, .277 were the others were .2715. I pounded the case into the Loader die and now it measures .2685". I finally got the bolt to the point that it would close with extreme pressure. I grabbed a case that chambered fairly easy, a case that chambers with more difficulty and the one that I finally got to close with great difficulty. Using calipers and a micrometer, I cannot find anything more than .001" difference between them other than the neck size now.
The reloads that I last shot were unknown 100 grain SPBT bullets loaded with 35 grains of IMR 4350 with a CCI 200 primer, according to my notes.
Any ideas why it would be hard to chamber? Anything that I missed?

[Macd]

Have you tried "Smoking" the case to see where the tightness is in the chamber. I assume some of your experiments were with just the case with no bullet loaded. Could it be at the shoulder?

I have experienced chambering issues with out of spec bullets that left the necks too wide. My 99f would fail to extract many times when I first got it even though it was made in the 50's. I took it to my GS and he tried it with a couple of factory cartridges and experienced the same issue. The chamber was pretty rough inside with the circular tool marks left by the cutter pretty evident. A light lapping and the problem was fixed.

[cj8281]

Not yet, I will try that in the morning.

[Ranch Dog]

The reloads that I last shot were unknown 100 grain SPBT bullets loaded with 35 grains of IMR 4350 with a CCI 200 primer, according to my notes.

How did these chamber?

Any ideas why it would be hard to chamber? Anything that I missed?

Other than what Macd suggested, headspace issues. Seems to me a Go gauge would be sufficient, but there is a bit to the measurement such as stripping the bolt of its parts. Savages are easy to jack with given their barrel nut and I've had one messed with. I would take it to a gunsmith and have them check the headspace. With the cartridges being tight, I would not want to shoot it as the pressures that you have loaded to will be greater than the data suggests.

[cj8281]

Smoked the case that would barely chamber and it cleaned all the soot off of the shoulder. Smoked one of the harder to chamber cases and and it had some soot left on the shoulder but it had cleaned quite a bit off. Going to try and resize them on a single stage and see if that changes anything.

I don't remember having any issues with chambering prior to this. The last ones that I shot seemed pretty mild.

[Ranch Dog]

Smoked the case that would barely chamber and it cleaned all the soot off of the shoulder. Smoked one of the harder to chamber cases and and it had some soot left on the shoulder but it had cleaned quite a bit off

Dude, if your die is adjusted per Lee's instructions, shoulder contact with a full-length sized cases smells more & more like a headspace issue.

[Macd]

Check cases in another rifle. Even a 7-08 or 308 win should work as except for necks they are the same size cases and they have the same headspace as the 243. Check the bolt head for a buildup of dirt around the recess edges. Make sure the ejector is free to move. Check the extractor is moving over the case rim. Problems here can often be seen as marks on the case rim and bottom. If a properly sized case still is hard to chamber I concur with RD that the barrel was likely installed with too tight a headspace. At least this is a fairly easy fix on a Savage but requires tools, a barrel vice and headspace gauges.

[horseman]

Sounds more like OAL issue and the bullet is hitting the rifling. I would doubt head space problem but it's possible. Try seating the bullets a bit deeper and see what happens...

[cj8281]

These are empty, sized cases. The ones with bullets were factory loaded ammo.

[horseman]

These are empty, sized cases. The ones with bullets were factory loaded ammo.

My first inclination then would be the shoulder isn't being set back enough.