reloaded .308 jammed ar10 and pulled the bullet from case when trying to extract

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wtfmansloth

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HELP!!!

first time reloading .308 and i used 165gr sierra gameking over 46gr IMR 4350 and cci primers. Im using a lee die set and trimmed the cases to 2.010" and seated the bullets to an overall length of 2.775"

Also used the lee crimp die on all the rounds

The first round fired fine. Pull the trigger on the second and nothing happens. I tried pulling the charging handle but it was jammed. Kept pulling and finally the case extracted along with all the powder. Looking at the case it seems like there was a light primer strike.

I pulled out the BCG and charging handle and saw the bullet stuck in the chamber. Used a cleaning rod to push it out, tried again with a fresh round, and the same thing happened twice. I thought maybe it was the rifle so i tried factory rounds and they extracted just fine. Cleaned the gun, tried another handloaded round and the same thing happened. Charging handle gets jammed, pull harder and the case extracts and the powder spills everywhere with the case stuck in the chamber.

WTF did I do wrong?
 
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Popcorn guy is used in two contexts... "I need to watch this because I'll learn something" or "I need to watch this out of morbid curiosity."
I frequently use the popcorn guy in the first context.

Did you compare commercial ammo with your own, with the same calipers?
If the COAL is the same, what does the cross section of the boolit look like from the side? If commercial cart projectiles are slimmer for longer they may clear the lands while fatter projectiles in your reloads may be wider at the shoulder and may connect with the lands.
 
jtnf said:
Popcorn guy is used in two contexts... "I need to watch this because I'll learn something" or "I need to watch this out of morbid curiosity."
I frequently use the popcorn guy in the first context.

Did you compare commercial ammo with your own, with the same calipers?
If the COAL is the same, what does the cross section of the boolit look like from the side? If commercial cart projectiles are slimmer for longer they may clear the lands while fatter projectiles in your reloads may be wider at the shoulder and may connect with the lands.
Click to expand...

used the same calipers for both. The cross sectional area for my handloads is a bit fatter. The diameter for the commercial and mine are both .308 at the case neck but the factory tapers down more quickly. The factory ones I have are FMJ but my handloads are open tip so they are a bit wider at the tip and dont taper down as much.

Does this mean I should seat and crimp them again and go a bit lower into the case?

- - - Updated - - -

sgeary said:
What barrel style do you have? Is this a home build AR10?
Click to expand...

no its a DPMS LR-308. Stock barrel.
 
my book lists the #2140 hpbt at a coal of 2.750.

did the bullet you pushed out have any marks from the Rifling?
 
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wtfmansloth said:
used the same calipers for both. The cross sectional area for my handloads is a bit fatter. The diameter for the commercial and mine are both .308 at the case neck but the factory tapers down more quickly. The factory ones I have are FMJ but my handloads are open tip so they are a bit wider at the tip and dont taper down as much.

Does this mean I should seat and crimp them again and go a bit lower into the case?

- - - Updated - - -



no its a DPMS LR-308. Stock barrel.
Click to expand...


The tip is not in play for interference with the lands... Look into measuring with a comparator, you'll probably find your handloads measure quite a bit longer at the shoulder.

 
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johnN said:
my book lists the #2140 hpbt at a coal of 2.750.

did the bullet you pushed out have any marks from the riffling?
Click to expand...


pushed out 4 bullets and all had marks from the rifling.

and i was going by the lyman manual. it says OAL of 2.775. Sounds like ill have to seat them deeper then
 
OP, if you are anywhere near the South Shore of Massachusetts I have most of the tools listed in that video I just linked... You'd need to buy a .308 modified shell for the length guage, but that's not explicitly needed for comparing one projectile against another.
 
I have the sierra manual. which list that bullet. when using bullets not specifically listed in a book, look at multiple books or google loads.
 
jtnf said:
The tip is not in play for interference with the lands... Look into measuring with a comparator, you'll probably find your handloads measure quite a bit longer at the shoulder.

[video=youtube;3kL0HIgqqjU]http://www.youtube./watch?v=3kL0HIgqqjU[video]
Click to expand...


thanks for the video. Very helpful. Ive only reloaded pistol ammo before and this is a whole another ball game. I'm in central mass. Ill pick them up on amazon. Im gonna be getting a bolt action rifle in 308 soon and ive got a few different weight bullets so I should just have them on hand. Thank you though
 
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Light strike could have fired off the primer just enough to push the bullet into the lands but not enough to ignite the powder.

Edit: saw multiple rounds had the same issue.
Can you chamber a round and extract it properly if you don't pull the trigger?

Did all four rounds fail to fire or did you try to extract before pulling the trigger?

Pull the bullet from one of your reloads, dump the powder and fire the primed case - should result in a loud bang and decent muzzle flash.



Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
 
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pastera said:
Light strike could have fired off the primer just enough to push the bullet into the lands but not enough to ignite the powder.

Edit: saw multiple rounds had the same issue.
Can you chamber a round and extract it properly if you don't pull the trigger?

Did all four rounds fail to fire or did you try to extract before pulling the trigger?

Pull the bullet from one of your reloads, dump the powder and fire the primed case - should result in a loud bang and decent muzzle flash.



Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


first two rounds failed to fire and then I tried to extract. After that I was just channeling a round and checking to see if it could extract without jamming. I'll try with a primer case and no powder to see if anything happens

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the l Nvm. I'll take a lol
mac1911 said:
I only have the Sierra 5th edition manual ad the 2 165gr bullet options list 2.750" COAL.

the 308 win section of the sierra 5th manual is here,
http://www.6mmbr.citymaker.com/f/sierra308win.pdf
Click to expand...
 
wtfmansloth said:
first two rounds failed to fire and then I tried to extract. After that I was just channeling a round and checking to see if it could extract without jamming. I'll try with a primer case and no powder to see if anything happens

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the l Nvm. I'll take a lol
Click to expand...
Then you have two problems
1 - bullet is seated too far and will pressure spike on firing (not good)

2 - primer not firing - could be not seated fully and a second strike will set it off or you crushed it and broke the pellet.



Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
 
pastera said:
Then you have two problems
1 - bullet is seated too far and will pressure spike on firing (not good)

2 - primer not firing - could be not seated fully and a second strike will set it off or you crushed it and broke the pellet.



Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Bullet is seated too far? it got stuck even without me pulling the trigger. so if i just chamber a round it would get stuck and there are rifling marks on all the bullets i pulled out. i thought this meant it wasnt seated fat enough
 
Sorry - seated too far out.Was typing on my phone.


wtfmansloth said:
Bullet is seated too far? it got stuck even without me pulling the trigger. so if i just chamber a round it would get stuck and there are rifling marks on all the bullets i pulled out. i thought this meant it wasnt seated fat enough
Click to expand...


Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
 
additionalmc said:
the primer is obviously going off since it's pushing the bullet forward a little in to the barrel, sounds like bad powder, if the powder and primer are fine it should fire regardless if the bullet is not seated in all the way, bad powder would seem to explain what's happening?
Click to expand...
The bullets were getting pulled by the rifling even when he didn't​ pull the trigger, so the overall length was too long and the cartridge, fortunately, didn't fire

Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
 
I'll say it again, if you check your brass (fired, sized and completed round) in a Wilson case gauge (don't know about Sheridan or Lyman), it may gauge correctly, but this doesn't check for case diameters. If your brass is oversized, it will bind tighter than heck when chambered (incline plane principle). Measure diameters at the shoulder, neck and along the body to verify they are in spec.
Your bullet seating and shoulder positioning may be spot on.
If you are getting rifling imprints in your extracted bullet or if the bullet is pulled out of the case when you extract the unfired round, then I'd investigate the bullet seating depth. Different bullet profiles may not match the listed data from the manual, especially if you aren't using the exact bullet listed.
 
Squire said:
Me too, but there are a lot of things to get right, which takes practice. Good luck to OP.
Click to expand...

its not very hard, yes you will run into pitfalls at times. The main thing that needs to be addressed is knowing to STOP when things just are not right.
A fine example of not knowing any better.

this may not be related to reloading directly but the the concept is the same. STOP when things dont seem right or not function correctly
 
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Take sized but unprimed cases and seat some bullets to different lengths in, say, 0.025" increments. Load them in and drop the bolt, starting with the shortest one. Find out the longest one that will chamber without rifling marks. Your real cartridges should be shorter than that.
 
Unless you pulled the trigger, the hammer fell and nothing went off, I wouldn't worry about the light primer strikes with your AR-10. Like the AR15/M16 the AR10 firing pin is free floating, so when the bolt closes the firing pin moves forward and contacts the primer. There isn't enough energy there to fire the primer unless the hammer falls, but there is enough to leave a light firing pin mark on the primer. This is why CCI makes the #34 and #41 primer with a harder cup. If you want to test this out, after you get the COAL straightened out put one with an unmarked primer in the mag and load it into the chamber, then eject the unfired round. You'll see a light primer mark on the unfired cartridge.
 
5 DOLLAR FOOT LONG said:
wat?
Click to expand...
Had a couple of rounds that failed to fire with what looked to be light strikes.
Upon disassembly I found the primer had fired off but the powder hadn't ignited but there was a clump of partially burnt powder.

So it is possible to have what appears to be a light strike where the round failed to fire and push the case head against the breach face, indenting the primer deeply.

Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
 
If your cartridge headspace length is too short you can get light strikes, and depending on the neck length and the amount of freebore in the chamber - end up with bullets pushed into the rifling even if the OAL is not too long. It would have to be really short though.

How did you set up the resizing die?

ETA: Thinking it through, this wasn't the case here because the bolt would not have been difficult to draw back.
 
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