Bolt won’t close on reload

[ken613]

I’be done quite a bit of handliading for bottleneck cartridges, but 450 is my first attempt at a straight walled cartridge without a rim.
Rifle is a Ruger American Ranch and the bolt will not close on the reload. Once fired Remington brass with Barnes 275 gr.

[07Kingpin]

Possible COAL issue?

[Hoot]

Will it close on just the resized empty case before you seat a bullet?
You might have a tight chamber. I had to lap a 450b chamber once that was out of spec. Talk about a labor of love! Can you mic (not caliper) the widest part of some of the cases that won't chamber? In a perfect world, after one firing and assuming they were from 260 gr factory fodder, they should come in around .5000 to .5005. Possibly less. I'm assuming they were fired from the same gun when they were new? I'm no fan of Remington 450b ammo but maybe they've gotten better than back when I tried some of the Accutips when they first came out. Also, I'm assuming you checked that the resized cases did not exceed 1.70 inches in length. BTW, Lee or Hornady dies? I ask because a few members had issues with their Lee 450b die set and had to get them replaced. I don't remember why other than there was a sizing issue of some sort.

Hoot

[ken613]

COL and case dimensions were good post sizing.

I'm wondering if I need to add more taper crimp?

Bolt will close on the round, but won't lock in place.

[07Kingpin]

Can you take a round and color the ogive with a sharpie, then try to close the bolt? If you see marks where it is contacting the lands it may be just a touch too long, if not you know to look elsewhere.

[Hoot]

COL and case dimensions were good post sizing.

I'm wondering if I need to add more taper crimp?

Bolt will close on the round, but won't lock in place.

Will the bolt fully lock on just an empty, resized case without any bullet in it? If it does, then what 07Kingpin said.

Hoot

[07Kingpin]

Any luck?

[GaCop]

Yes, interested in your findings.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

I actually had this happen to me last week. RAR 450B. I set aside the cases for future investigation. Not sure why that one case wanted to be an arse.

[ken613]

Texas Sheepdog,
BINGO!!!
I started examining the problem and tried feeding my other sized cases. They worked fine. I made another dummy load and tried to cycle it through and it worked perfectly. Not sure what the issue was, but all my others work perfect. Just really odd. That case was sized with all the others.
Thanks for everyone's input.