Howa rifles - sticking bolt on closing...

[B3]

Afternoon all,

Have a peculiar scenario on two Howa rifles - one in 243Win and the other in 30-06. Both with reloaded ammunition as per proper process - e.g. case lengths cut correctly, cartridge overall length checked against the specific chamber OAL and ammo loaded 2mm shorter. When chambering a fresh round the bolt closes stiffly. Upon opening the sticky bolt (fired or not) the rear of the case has a shiny streak where (it appears) the ejector scrapes against the case. In severe cases there a small pieces of brass left in the bolt face other copper coloring is visible in the bolt face (this is with the 30-06, the 243 suffers this condition mildly - no marks on the case rear but does close stiffly.) While at the range I checked the cartridge overall length again by marking the bullet tip and chambering - no land marks evident on a few checked. No marks on the shoulder of the fired case. The same reload kit/setup works for my Remington 30-06 (2000+ rounds)

Can it be that the case is (still) to long for the chamber and presses against the chamber fore-end, thus holding the cartridge and not allowing it to rotate when the bolt closes? (i.e. headspace problem?)
Will be checking factory ammo tomorrow to see if the problem exist there as well.

Comments of value pls....

B3

[Desert Rat]

I have the 30-06 Howa and my reloads chanmber fine and I can close the bolt with no issue...However I did find my bolt getting sticky on opening...standard loads , nothing hot. Also had the "brassy" look on the bolt face on extraction. No flattened primers due to over pressure ...so I am also at a loss ...I cleaned the lube (read...rubbed the cases of the completed round until no residual lube) as I suspected this to be a problem...unfortunately I then changed from Winchester primers to Federal so who knows...I would love to see if anyone has the same issue. My bolt does not stick on extraction anymore but still has a "brassy" look on the face after shooting....must add as well there is not issue with acuracy and repeatability , other than the soft "object" behind the stock!!

[Andrew Leigh]

Two things;

If a full length sizing die then I believe that you are not setting it up correctly and as the shoulder is not being bumped back to specification.

If the die IS set up correctly then it may be that you have insufficient lubrication in the neck and on the return press stroke that you are stretching the should back out due to friction. You do not need a loaded round to check this.

Form a case as you would do normally, wipe clean the outside and then try chamber
Take the next case and lube the inside of the neck liberally. Then alter you press cycle and reduce speed so that the sizing ball passes through the neck slowly and deliberately. Size and wipe clean the case then chamber and tell me if there is any difference.

[Tetelestai]

Check Andrew's suggestions. It's easier to have a die set up incorrectly than one thinks. Had to pull a whole batch of 404 Jeffery once even though previous batch from same press and die were fine.

[Moomin]

Afternoon all,

Have a peculiar scenario on two Howa rifles - one in 243Win and the other in 30-06. Both with reloaded ammunition as per proper process - e.g. case lengths cut correctly, cartridge overall length checked against the specific chamber OAL and ammo loaded 2mm shorter. When chambering a fresh round the bolt closes stiffly. Upon opening the sticky bolt (fired or not) the rear of the case has a shiny streak where (it appears) the ejector scrapes against the case. In severe cases there a small pieces of brass left in the bolt face other copper coloring is visible in the bolt face (this is with the 30-06, the 243 suffers this condition mildly - no marks on the case rear but does close stiffly.) While at the range I checked the cartridge overall length again by marking the bullet tip and chambering - no land marks evident on a few checked. No marks on the shoulder of the fired case. The same reload kit/setup works for my Remington 30-06 (2000+ rounds)

Can it be that the case is (still) to long for the chamber and presses against the chamber fore-end, thus holding the cartridge and not allowing it to rotate when the bolt closes? (i.e. headspace problem?)
Will be checking factory ammo tomorrow to see if the problem exist there as well.

Comments of value pls....

B3

I have a similar problem on my Howa 243. It seem to leave a "half" circle impression on the bottom of the case. From what I read the maximum COL on the calibre is 68.63 mm. I measured my rifle and it seems to measure in at 67.50 mm. I have dropped down 66.50 mm and I still have selective rounds were the bolt closes a bit more difficultly.

I initially thought it was pressure signs but I compared my load to quickload and I am still well within pressure limits. Using PMP brass, S365, Rhino 100gr and Magtec 9½ primers.

Tuning in to see if someone else can shed some light on the problem.

***EDIT***

Did not see AL's post. Will review my setup.

[B3]

Tks Andrew,

Did the liberal neck lube bit as I know about that potential problem - as I said 2000+ done for the Remington and no issues there. Did do full length sizing (which has been setup 11 yrs ago) and is working on the Remington... Using the same type of cases in the Remington too (amongst others).

Will however recheck tomorrow afternoon as we are due to prep another batch of cases for the rifle.

Other ideas?

Other calibers being loaded show none of these signs... same process though. :(

B3

[Daneel]

Great advise from MR Leigh again.

I own a Howa 30.06 and also had this problem when I started to reload.
Take one fireformed case and set your die up to just kiss it back on the shoulder when doing full length resizing.
Then also take it easy when doing the sizing, dont be rough and take it slow and make sure you lube the inside of the neck.
Ensure that your sizing ball is clean and does not have any scratches on it.
Once you got this sorted you will be good to go.
I find that the PMP is more prone to this than the other cases due to the brass being more "springy".
What worked for me was to hold the press at the end of its stroke for a few seconds, the brass is then less likely to spring back.

Cheers
Daneel

[Bonedoc]

Is your Fl die setup the same for the howa and remington? You might have a small difference in the lengths of the chambers. Length as set up is right for the remi but too long for the howa

[Andrew Leigh]

I did not assume that the rifles were chambered in the same calibre. Thought the OP was referring the method, however, excellent point Bonedoc.

If multiple .308's then set up for the chamber with the one with the least headspace.

The ideal will be to have a seating die set for each. If you are clever enough you could buy multiple case holders and surface grind them accordingly.

[BansheeZA]

Have the same issue on the musgrave m90 308 im licensing in a few weeks. Extractor also half moon marks the case at the bottom with factory ammo. Have not tried reloads yet