Bolt is not returning to battery

Talk about the AR15 style rifles chambered in 450 Bushmaster.

Moderator: MudBug

Re: Bolt is not returning to battery

Postby mcurbo » Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:20 pm

Bmt85, Hoot, and everyone else... Thanks for the reply. Sorry it took a minute to respond. Unfortunately, I have to work to pay for this little hobby.

I took my calipers and did some quick calculations of 50 spent casings I have. The average length was 1.683 with a mean of 1.683. The shortest was 1.677 and the longest was 1.687. Being new to basically all of this, let me know what you think. I have bought everything to start reloading, but I am still in the process of learning as much as I can before I begin. Based on the feedback from this post and my limited knowledge of twist rate and this gun, I am thinking that I could use a smaller bullet with the minimal powder and start working my way up to see if it helps with my issues. I am a little confused since I have read some other posts about using the Hornady 225g FTX, but Hornady doesn't list it anymore for the 450 BM. I will be the first to admit I am new to this, but I am pretty OCD. I have a lot of experience with QA, and I believe reloading is definitely doable, but I hope everyone is understanding when I say that I am going to need some feedback in the early stages as I am fully aware of what stupid mistakes/assumptions can lead to...

Mike
mcurbo
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:01 pm

Re: Bolt is not returning to battery

Postby mcurbo » Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:12 pm

Sorry, I said mean instead of median when referring to my lengths.
mcurbo
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:01 pm

Re: Bolt is not returning to battery

Postby Hoot » Thu Mar 29, 2018 7:30 am

Mike, I'm 1200 miles from home right now. Your spent case dimensions suggest that they haven't been resized yet? They'll regain some length once you do. There's little profit from measuring their length before you resize.
First step is to deprime them and run them through the tumbler. If you have a universal depriming die or hand deprimer, not to be confused with the combo depriming and resizing die, knock out the primers without resizing them. That allows the primer pockets to also get cleaned during tumbling, before resizing. If all you have is the combo die, then tumble them with the primers still in them and then resize. Early on I did it that way. Once their tumbled you'll have to clean the primer pockets as a separate step after resizing. Make sure you lube the cases before resizing them.

With a background in QA, you'll be able to handie reloading just fine. Keep notes. They'll save having to relearn the process until it becomes ingrained.

Hoot
In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In Practice, there is.
User avatar
Hoot
 
Posts: 5083
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:34 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Bolt is not returning to battery

Postby mcurbo » Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:01 am

Hoot - You are correct. These casings have not been resized. In a previous post, Bmt85 was asking about the size of my casings. I assume he was trying to see the amount of stretch caused by my gas system and twist rate. All I have right now is the combo die. I haven't set everything up, but my plan initially was clean the brass in the ultrasonic with the primers, then de-prime and resize, then clean again. Seemed like a pain, but it was the best way I could come up with what I had. I will check today on a universal depriming die. Thanks.
mcurbo
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:01 pm

Re: Bolt is not returning to battery

Postby plant_one » Fri Mar 30, 2018 8:13 am

mcurbo wrote:Hoot - You are correct. These casings have not been resized. In a previous post, Bmt85 was asking about the size of my casings. I assume he was trying to see the amount of stretch caused by my gas system and twist rate. All I have right now is the combo die. I haven't set everything up, but my plan initially was clean the brass in the ultrasonic with the primers, then de-prime and resize, then clean again. Seemed like a pain, but it was the best way I could come up with what I had. I will check today on a universal depriming die. Thanks.



if you're gonna wet clean - using a universal priming die with it BEFORE you dunk them will be a HUUUUUUGE time saver.

that way you're not risking your sizing die getting scratched up with gunk, and getting the primer pockets cleaned on the first go. You're also preventing moisture from getting trapped in the primer and causing extra corrosion there if not dried 100% of the way. green fuzzy brass = no bueno.

you'll save yourself a couple hours of dry time every time you need to process a batch of brass. over time this will add up as a significant time savings to your reloading process.


universal decappers are cheap too

http://a.co/6TtywTj
User avatar
plant_one
 
Posts: 1109
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2016 8:58 pm
Location: Oakland County, MI

Re: Bolt is not returning to battery

Postby Bmt85 » Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:31 pm

Like has been stated, a universal decapper is a good idea. Also a good idea to pick up an extra pin or two for it, it's cheap insurance.

I was asking about the length before sizing because I was curious. I've noticed, so far anyway, that with my rifle length gas system and new brass, when I steadily increase the pressures, the case length will start growing. More with Starline brass, but did see it with Hornady to a lesser degree. Had one case that grew so much, it actually jammed the action, I actually had to mortar the rifle. So with some of the cases, they would measure close to saami spec, before being resized. I was curious if the 1:14 twist was showing something similar, which it doesn't look like. It might when he starts reloading, though.
Bmt85
 
Posts: 701
Joined: Wed May 18, 2016 11:13 am
Location: S.E. Michigan

Previous

Return to AR15 Style Rifles

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests