Headspace issue or not

[Richard22]

I own three rifles chambered in .243 there were made by three different manufacturers. I recently came across two boxes of factory ammo where I can only close the bolt on one of the three rifles, that being a Browning A-bolt. The bolt on both my Savage and Howa cannot be closed when I try to load this ammo, that being Hornady ELD-X. Other ammo that I have made by Winchester, Federal, Remington, and Norma all load fine in all three rifles.

Seems much easier just to mark the two boxes as being for the Browning than following other routes.

 

[Sheltowee]

Any way for your to measure cartridge base to ogive length (CBOL)? I have a suspicion that your Savage and Howa are on the short end of SAAMI-spec for throat length and the higher BC, modern bullets are jamming in the lands.

 

[Richard22]

Anyone notice anything using only their naked eye? The cartridge on the far left will not load in both my Savage and Howa rifles. The other three load fine in all three of my rifles chambered in .243. If I had to guess, I would say the shoulder on the ELD-X is shorter than the others.

 

[std7mag]

It wouldn't be that the shoulder is shorter.
It would be that the distance from the cartridge base to the body/shoulder junction is longer.

Personally, I'd use the Hornady in your Browning and not worry too much about things.

Oh, and no. It's apparently not a rifle headspace issue.
It's a factory ammo issue.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Color it with a marker and try to chamber it look for the points of contact. (Sholder) Im guessing the answer above is correct.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Contact the ammo manufacturer. The factory stuff should chamber in most rifles. Good chance they send you more ammo.

 

[Richard22]

Personally, I'd use the Hornady in your Browning and not worry too much about things.

That makes more sense because it's less time consuming and because all three rifles shoot four other (Federal, Winchester, Norma, and Remington) factory loads quite well.

I appreciate all the replies.

 

[Wildabeest]

Contact the ammo manufacturer. The factory stuff should chamber in most rifles. Good chance they send you more ammo.

I had a similar issue with Nosler factory ammo in a Tikka. Nosler sent me replacements and they worked fine.

 

[kodiakisland]

Pretty simple to figure out with a black sharpie. Well mark the shoulder, neck and ogive, then attempt to chamber. You will see where the issue is.

Now, to assign blame is more than that. There are tolerances in chambers and ammo. Getting a min spec chamber with a max spec ammo can be an issue. Go, no go gauges would tell you if it was the chamber. Factory ammo generally has a lot of slop to fit all chambers.

I’d really not worry about it and shoot the ammo that fits. Just don’t buy a new box for a hunt without checking. Something you do on a dangerous game rifle before a hunt.

 

[mevertsen]

Could be my eyes, or wanting to believe. But the cartridge on the left appears to be just a tad longer at the body / shoulder point than the one next to it.

If that's the case, it's an ammo issue.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Could be my eyes, or wanting to believe. But the cartridge on the left appears to be just a tad longer at the body / shoulder point than the one next to it.

If that's the case, it's an ammo issue.

Your not wrong....