Help...I new at reloading these big straight case cartridges. My handloaded .45-110 cartridges don't want to chamber! Full length resized and trimmed brass. Reloaded cartridges will slide effortlessly into chamber until cartridge rim is about 0.100" from headspacing-then stop. Cartridge can sometimes be pushed/forced by hand forward and action closed.

I am reloading full length re-sized Bell cases and 0.458" dia. bullets for .45-110 2 7/8" straight Sharps cartridges in 1874 Shiloh Sharps rifle.
I thought at first that cases were simply too long but digital caliper says they are 2.875" or shorter.

Further investigation & measurements indicate tightness is between throat of cartridge and chamber. I found a couple of cartridges that easily slide into chamber and they measured 0.479-0.480" at case throat on loaded cartridge. The cartridges that don't want to chamber measure 0.4810-0.4815" at throat.

I cannot find SAAMI cartridge & chamber dimensional information for this old Sharps cartridge. I did find some SAAMI drawings for the .45-70 in old NRA publication. And I see fit between rim of loaded cartridge and rifle chammber is very tight, about 0.0015" for .45-70. I am assuming fit for .45-110 is very similar. Now I am thinking that maybe my Bell brass case walls are a little too thick?

Anybody know the cartridge wall thickness should be? Anyone got a copy of SAAMI info for this cartridge?

Welcome to the forum Arctosman. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Here's a place to check out cartridge dimension for lots of cartridges. The first is the general listing and the second is for the 45-110. Don't know if that will help you any with your problem. Only thing I can think of is the bullet your loading is just a little oversize and expanding the case the few thousands it takes to interfere with chambering. Sometimes different alloy mixtures will cast a little oversize.

http://www.stevespages.com/page8d.htm

http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd45-110.jpg

Thanks for welcome and the informational links! I bookmarked the links for future reference. Actually, I had the information that is displayed for the cartridge on the referenced website. What I was hoping someone might have is SAAMI drawings. These industry standard drawings are toleranced (ie- minimum, maximum, +/- tol.'s)drawings of both the cartridge and the chamber it fits in.

Good idea on your thought of slightly oversized bullets. I mic'd them at 0.4580"-right on the money.

I was thinking the big volume, large caliber straight cases involved in BPCR have their own quirks when it come to reloading. Certainly black powder reloading is it's own kind of animal! I am new to this forum, maybe I should have taken my question to 'reloading' area' .

Try making up & chambering a dummy round , if this chambers without any problem
you may be deforming your bullet while compressing your powder, a compression die would take care of your problem. If the dummy round won't chamber try less flare or bell on your brass or a light taper crimp, just enough to remove flare.
if dummy still wont chamber try shorter overall length or sizing bullet smaller
or you could be compressing so much powder into the case that the powder is deforming the brass
check your personal messages

Runnin Lead-Good reloading ideas!! Thanks.
I tried running loaded cartridges into full length sizing die (without decaping pin of course) and giving giving them 'a little squeeze'. This did it!! Measured case mouth area of cartridges hardly shrunk 0.001' or less. But this process would also ensure perfect roundness of this contact area with sizing die.
Anyway, cartridges now slip effortlessly into chamber!
I think I will trim cases back from max. length as this should help. And I'll continue to research case mouth thickness. My math tells me my Bell case mouth thickness is 0.011". I am not sure what normal thickness is at this point in cases.
This little problem shows me how tight Shiloh has reamed their rifle chambers.
From my troubles it looks like the chamber size is right at minimum. Good to know.

Best thing to do and what I would do before going much farther is to make a chamber cast. That will give you the actual diameter. You could have a tight chamber or other problems the cast would indicate. You know the wall thickness so it is just a matter of mathematics to determine OD once the cast is in hand. Long, straight walled rifle cases and short, straight walled pistol cases have the same thing in common...getting the bullet/case junction right...it's a simple problem to fix for the most part, but one that constantly comes up.

Other things to consider along with what's already mentioned is to use a tapered crimper. A tapered crimper will smooth out the forward portion of the case and make for a nice, easy insertion. Roll crimpers can cause problems if they aren't set properly. Bell mouthing can also cause problems if it is too much and a roll crimp on top of that makes for greater problems.

I use taper crimp dies on ALL my straight walled calibers. It simplifies things greatly. Lee has a good selection of taper crimp/factory crimp dies and Lyman has also. I use a set of Lyman 45-70 dies with the taper crimp and those dies will handle clear up to 45-120 so you can save a bit there.

'Njoy

hAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH A 40-65 WIN, RESIZED RP BRASS, NECK WAS TOO THICK, HAD TO GO WITH WINCHESTER 40-65 OR STARLINE, BOTH OF WHICH ARE MUCH THINNER THAN A REWORKED CASE, I PASSED ON THE NECK TURNING ROUTE WHICH WOULD ALSO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. HOPE THIS HELPS

I ran into a similar issue with .45-90 rounds in my 1885 High Wall. A tapered crimp die solved the problem nicely.

There are no SAAMI standards for any of the 45 caliber black powder cartridges other than the 45-70. It is not unusual for these cartridges to fit in one chamber, and not to fit in the chamber of another rifle.

that being said, the 45 caliber cases that are based on the 45-70 head dimensions have fewer dimensional problems than other black powder calibers. If you want to really indulge in frustration get a 40 caliber rifle.

I suggest that you call Buffalo Arms, 208-263-6953. These guys really know their black powder cartridges and are very knowledgeable in regards to the different makes of rifles and chamber differences.

Arctosman (http://www.shootersforum.com/member.htm?u=17291), get a hold of Kirk at Shiloh Rifle: http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=4

He builds them and can give you a lot of info.

I have a .45-70 Pedersoli 1874 Sharps with a tight chamber. With some lots of brass, my 0.459" dia bullets have a slight bit of resistance just before they are fully chambered.

This is with no crimp. I've found that a very light crimp with the Lee factory crimp die fixes them up just fine.

Chris.