Tight squeeze on factory ammo, what's up?

Hello gents,

I purchased some Norma Factory Ammo from the bullets.com close out sale. They arrived last week and today I loaded them into a magazine and tried to cycle them, it seems like a super tight fit. Last 3/4" or so of putting the bolt back in and lowering the bolt handle is WAY harder than any other factory ammo I've ever tried (bout 10 types).

This is .270 ammo in a Ruger American rifle. (Both the 120 gr Kalahari and 150 gr Oryx)

So, what's going on here?

Are they safe to shoot?

I'd hope they're safe to shoot since they're about $3 each usually (closer to $1 close out).

Any thoughts??

Thanks!!

Have you tried any different ammo? Have you been using this brand previously to this order?

Had same issue with some federal 7mm-08 ammo a few years back.

Hello Reloader79 and James,

Thanks for the responses

Sure have tried others. I have shot through this gun the following ammo:

130&150 Remington corelokt
140 Nosler Accubond
150 Nosler Accubond long range
150 Winchester hog hammer
130 Nosler partition
130 Sierra gameking
130 Federal Fusion
140 Hornady SST

All have shot acceptably well and ALL seem to cycle into the chamber smoothly.

I just tried the two Norma cartridge types again and they insert heavily and the lowering of the bolt takes more effort.

I may go ahead and pull the rifle apart, look it over, and clean it.

Mark your ammo with a magic marker and look real close to see if you are tight on the shoulder or up in the lands printing on the bullet.

I've had that happen with rifle and shotgun ammo. I chalk it up to the factory making a bazillion rounds a year and the QC not catching stuff that's out of spec. This is one of the many reasons that people miss animals in the fall. They buy a box of factory core-locks (or insert your favorite 'common' factory ammo here) ... take three years to shoot them up, then buy another box of the same weight bullets, and the next hunting season on the first day, they miss a deer. They re-zero the rifle and find that they are shooting 6 inches low, then they utter the following. "Well, I guess I bumped my scope."

Nope. The scope is fine, the ammo sucks. You just bought the 'lemon' box where QC was non-existent and a bad lot of ammo slipped through. And when you finish up that box, three years later, and buy another box, guess what?

I'll will say that QC is or should be better with Norma ammo, but still anything coming from a factory has a chance to be out of spec.

I’d say that the Norma ammo is held to stricter tolerances than some of the ammo you may have tried. Your guns chamber may be tight or just may need cleaning.

could be the ogive on the norma bullet is a little more toward the point than the bullets in the other brands. mr. clark's method will tell the tale on this ...

I case mic every round for my 270 because it has a tight chamber. Anything above plus 1 will not chamber. Most factory ammo is minus 3 or more.

Hello everyone who has given some advice, I appreciate it!

I have cleaned the gun and the bolt handle is still hard to lower with this ammo.

R_H_Clark, could you tell me a little more about marking the ammo? I would like to try that to see what it shows but I am unsure of the process (as in where to mark and what to look for!).

Any additional advice is appreciated!

Do you guys think these would be safe to shoot as is or should I check them with a marker and toss them?

general rule is if you can close the bolt on them, they are safe to shoot. In the case of the bullet jammed into the lands, this can cause a pressure issue and therefore be hazardous. Being factory ammo, I highly doubt this is the case. I’d be willing to be that the cases are simply just a little bit larger than your chamber due to whatever reason.

Pull the bullet, pour out the powder, pop the primer, then resize and reload. See if the round will chamber then.

OK buddy
Take a magic marker and color the bullet,neck,and shoulder area. It won't matter if you get some on the body of the case but what you are trying to do is to use the marker to be able to see where your contact is coming from when you chamber the rounds. Chamber your colored round and look to see if you can tell if any mark has been removed. If it hasn't been removed the first time you chamber your colored round,,chamber it several times making sure to completely close the bolt every time.

I suspect you are getting a tighter headspace off the shoulder area. If that's the case,it's not really a big deal as long as the ammo isn't really difficult to chamber. For instance,you might not want to shoot it if you basically had to hammer the bolt closed. If it's just a little hard to close no big deal,and might even be good.

If however you can see marks on the bullet,then you are jammed up in the lands. I doubt that's the case because if it were ,you would have likely already seen some mark on the bullet with it being hard to close. I would suspect that chambering it would just seat the bullet deeper. Bullets really jammed into the lands can cause higher pressure and have to be worked up from minimum charges when up in the lands. Not knowing how heavy a load that factory load is,I wouldn't shoot it if the bullet is jammed up in there.