Ol' Beggs again.
Why do my new 220 Russian cases click on extraction with a reasonable charge of 26 grains of LT-32 and a 53 grain flat base bullet in my new 220 Beggs barrel? I followed your advise and purchased a new PTG reamer, and even told them I wanted the latest version with the larger base... what have I done wrong?
TIA, for your timely reply,
Wayne
Wayne, and others; pull up a chair, get comfortable and listen up; this is important.
About the time I think I've seen it all during my years in benchrest, something comes along and makes a fool of me. The latest such experience occurred last fall after I chambered a 220 Beggs no turn barrel for a friend. It came out beautiful and shot terrific when I test fired it. Little did I know that when he picked it up and we went out to the tunnel, we were about to run right smack into a brick wall!.
First of all, I assure you that everything turned out alright but we both were reminded of something I've known for years but overlooked this time. It's a long story so bear with me.
Anyway, we set up at the bench in the tunnel with a clean barrel and twenty new, out-of-the-box Lapua 220 Russian no turn cases. Yes, they were from a new blue box of recent manufacture. We loaded them with my standard load which is a full case of LT-32, a Cheek 53 grain bullet seated 'just off' the lands and Wolf SRM primers. When the owner touched off the first round and tried to open the bolt it was quite difficult and had a hard 'click-at-the-top ! His look of disgust shocked me.
I couldn't believe it. I said, "Let me shoot it." Sure enough, I had the same results. I didn't know what the hell was going on because I had carefully test fired that rifle twelve or fifteen times and the fired case always extracted like butter. After checking everything, and firing a couple more rounds with the same results, I was devastated.
After about an hour of thinking and worrying about it, I finally figured out what was wrong---we had fired virgin cases with a full load and failed to lubricate the loaded round thoroughly before the first firing ! Yep and here's why. After cutting a new chamber I always test fire the barrel several times with only ONE new case, which this time came from the same box as those that were causing the problem. I fire the new case the first time with about twenty grains of LT-32 and lubricate the loaded round thoroughly to keep it from sticking to the chamber walls. This permits the case to slide back and come to rest hard against the bolt face. Without sizing, I replace the spent primer and increase the load to about 24 grains firing the case the second time leaving the lube on the loaded round. The case is now ready to be fired for the third time with a full case which is about 26.5 to 27 grains. Do not wipe or wash the lube off the case ! Now you have a case that will go in and out of the gun like butter.
"So, why did the rounds loaded with a full charge swell up and stick on the first firing?" you ask. Answer, and most importantly, WE DID NOT LUBE THE LOADED ROUNDS ! Yep, I've argued this point for years and have met with much criticism over it but I know what works and what doesn't. I no longer shoot a 6ppc but I would imagine this explains why some of them have stiff extraction and difficulty chambering loaded rounds. But one thing I know for certain and what I've described here is very important in both the 220 and 6mm Beggs cartridges.
"So Beggs,,, why the hell did you NOT lube the twenty new cases you provided for your friend?" Simple; I plucked twenty new squeaky clean cases from the box, loaded them to the max but forgot to lube the loaded round before the first firing.
Since the Beggs cartridges require no forming, they can accept a full, hot charge the first. But this proves to everyone, how important it is to lube the loaded round. "So why did I overlook this?" Easy,,, as I said, I test fire using only one case, reloading it several times. That's why I had such a hard time believing what was happening with that freshly chambered barrel. I KNEW it had handled like butter the first fifteen times it was fired !
So, as Paul Harvey often said, "Now you know the rest of the story."
I hope this is clear guys.
Good shootin' !!
Gene Beggs
