New Grendel upper won't chamber a round properly

[jertex]

I'm new to the 6.5 Grendel & thought I would start my experiment by purchasing a relatively affordable upper from 80-lowers.com. The upper arrived and then the ammo search began, which of course, there isn't much out there. My son, who has two 6.5 Grendels, happen to have saved all of his brass, even though he doesn't reload, so he sent his Hornady, once-fired brass and hand loaded a few rounds using my Lee classic turret press and Lee dies.

When I try to chamber a round, the bolt is jammed in there tight and the only way to extract the cartridge is to gently tap on the side discharge handle until it finally breaks free. While I don't have a cartridge gauge for the Grendel yet, I measured all dimensions and they are well within maximum specs according to all the reloading resources that I have (Lee, Lyman, Hornady). The brass is pretty scratched up when ejected. I decided not to fire a round yet until I can determine the cause of my problem. I've contacted the seller and they have pics & said that they will get back to me on Monday, but I suspect that they have no idea why I'm having this problem. Below is a pic of an extracted round, unfired.

brass damage from defective upper_reduced.jpg

[jertex]

Here are a couple of pics of the cartridge sitting in the chamber.

i-Rj3H8tk-X2.jpg
i-Th42J9X-X2.jpg

[VASCAR2]

[BehindEnemyLines]

Did you resize the brass prior to reloading it? If it was fired from your sons Grendel those brass would be formed to his chamber, not yours.

Will a reloaded round fall into the chamber without the the BCG installed? Does it also stick?

What did you set the COL of your reloads too? What bullet are you using?

[jertex]

Did you resize the brass prior to reloading it?

Yes.

If it was fired from your sons Grendel those brass would be formed to his chamber, not yours.

I understand that.

Will a reloaded round fall into the chamber without the the BCG installed? Does it also stick?

No, it sticks and will not fall out. I did try an empty, resized case, and it doesn't stick as badly, but it still sticks and won't seat all the way.

What did you set the COL of your reloads too? What bullet are you using?

2.260/123gr Hornady ELD-M & 2.248/123gr Hornady FMJ Midsouth shooter's supply exclusive

[BehindEnemyLines]

Looks like Vascar2 beat me to the punch. While I was asking questions, he appears to have given you the solution. Impressive.

As he stated if a resized case doesn't fall out, lower your sizing die some until it doesn't stick and seats properly.

Once you've got your case properly sized, he's also provided a nice way to ensure your bullet isn't seated too long.

[A5BLASTER]

First thing to do is take the extractor off and if it has the rubber oring, get rid of that rubber oring.

Next thing I would check is to see if your hitting the lands, dont trust book data, it's very possible you could have a tight throat and your hitting the lands, if that checks out as good, then move on to sizing the cases another 3 thousands down more and see if that fix's the issue.

[jertex]

Thanks for the advice. I'll go through the steps of lowering the sizing die by small increments to see if that makes a difference. I also have some factory ammo on the way to see how it seats. It's cheap wolf ammo, but it should be sized correctly.

I've also thought about just buying a new barrel and replacing this one and chalk it up to a learning experience. I got this lower at a low enough price that the cost of adding a quality barrel will end up costing what a higher quality complete upper would have cost in the beginning. I'm still mulling that one over and it will be the last resort if I can't solve the problem my resizing and if the seller doesn't offer a satisfactory solution.

[sundowner]

O does that bring back memories , bump the shoulders back , I had the same problems with my Lee dies until I bumped the shoulders back , I picked up a Wilson cartridge guage and check every one of my cases after I size them , good luck .

[Dt219]

[jertex]

Inquiring minds want to know...

[BehindEnemyLines]

52 had a post a little while back about the O rings and broken extractors. Something many might not be paying attention to regarding extractors

[jertex]

I tried making minor adjustments to case size and still the same problems. I talked to customer service at the vendor today and he said that, from the pics, the upper needs to either be repaired or replaced. They sent me a pre-paid UPS shipping label and I'll be shipping it back this afternoon. I'm pretty happy with their response and it looks like they are a good vendor that stands behind their product. Once I get the upper returned, I'll provide an update to the post.

[Mad Charlie]

Just curious, did you thoroughly clean the barrel/chamber before trying to chamber your cartridge?

Reason I ask is because every barrel that I have ever bought for my Grendel's ( Alexander, Satern/Liberty, Monster/Green Mountain) has had a bunch of crap in the bore/chamber. Monster was the cleanest, AA was the worst.

Of course, now that you have sent it back, it's kind of a moot point now.

[jertex]

Yes, I cleaned it. It may not have been thorough enough, I don't know, but I guess we'll find out.