[tbone8705]

I need someone's wisdom on this. I had a 264 winchester built 15yrs ago on a mouser 98 action. Have reloaded for it since day one with no problems. I full length resize all brass and trim to specs, double check all powder drops and went to range today loaded a round bolt closes easy, fire the round and bolt is extremley hard to open. I was working on a new load starting with base load progressing to max and all cases were hard to remove after shooting. What did I do wrong? Rifle use to shoot 1/4" groups and now it looks like buckshot with no grouping at all

[rjd3282]

need more info: bullet shape, weight, powder type and charge? Did you fire more rounds after the first one was difficult to extract?

[JTJ]

You should have stopped shooting at the 1st sign of over pressure. Hopefully you did not shoot all the rounds.
1-The rounds need to measured for overall length. Max and Min
2-You need to disassemble one or all of the rounds and check all the components.
3-The loading data may be wrong. I usually cross check to another book to see if a load is safe. I have found discrepancies.
4-Another possibility is a light load can spread the powder away from the primer giving a much larger ignition area. We used to put a tuft of kapok over a light powder charge to keep it in place for proper ignition. I like my cases to be almost full.

[JonM]

another possible cause is your brass has become too hard and needs to be annealed or replaced. hardened brass wont grip the bullet well and bullets in the mag can set back causing over pressure condition.

not saying thats what it is but its possible.

[JTJ]

When rechecking all the components, you need to mic the bullets to make sure they are the proper diameter.

[Mecanik]

I agree with JTJ exactly. You have obvious over pressure signs and need to very carefully re examine your loads. Disassemble one of the cartridges and take a very close look at each component. It's so easy to make a mistake when reloading. Your lucky you were shooting it in a strong bolt action.

[Shade]

Originally Posted by tbone8705

...all cases were hard to remove after shooting...

You should have stopped after the first round was hard to extract.
Your rifle was talking to you, you were not listening.

Powder used?
Powder masses? Start, Finish, Increment.
Bullet used?
Primer used?
Trim Length?

[tbone8705]

This is my pet load I have been using for 15 yrs. 120gr Sierra Spitzer, 60 gr IMR 4350, Fed 210 primer, cases trimmed to 2.500 bullets seated to 3.320. Not sure but I think I am having shoulder problems. Not sure how my dies could have moved after so many yrs but definitely have a pressure problem. Ordered a case shoulder bump guage to be more sure, and a go-no go headspace guage to be sure there is not a headspace problem.

[JTJ]

Originally Posted by tbone8705

I need someone's wisdom on this. I had a 264 winchester built 15yrs ago on a mouser 98 action. Have reloaded for it since day one with no problems. I full length resize all brass and trim to specs, double check all powder drops and went to range today loaded a round bolt closes easy, fire the round and bolt is extremley hard to open. I was working on a new load starting with base load progressing to max and all cases were hard to remove after shooting. What did I do wrong? Rifle use to shoot 1/4" groups and now it looks like buckshot with no grouping at all

What was the new load? Bullet weight, powder charge, powder brand, age of powder.

[tbone8705]

Well it really wasn't a new load, but was a brand new can of IMR 4350 so I always never trust new lot numbers of powder so I start low and work my way back up to max load and that was what I was doing.First 3 rounds were 53.5gr