Why do I get a stuck case occasionally...

So loaded up some .223 ammo from one time shot rounds out of my gun. (savage axis)...... Never had this problem before but once in a while I take a shot and the bolt lifts but does not want to come back by hand. I need to whack the handle back with my shooting sticks to get it to move back and eject the shell. Not every round fired does this, but the occasional one does which causes me concern.

I tried all the rounds I have (40 or so left) meaning I chambered them with the bolt and unchambered them with the bolt with ease. They chamber in and out using the bolt with ease............ but like I said, sometimes after firing them, the odd one wants to stay stuck.

Any ideas, I am thinking maybe there is too much of an oil film left on the casing causing excessive pressure, but just not sure. All rounds were loaded with 26.5gr of BLC2 with 55gr vmax bullet.

No idea about these issues to advise-BUT did you tried to look at the ones getting stuck vs the good ones?

I mean-really close up,and see ,if there are any "repeating"scuff marks,nicks,dents are present on those"bad"ones.
Any where on the case-same patern,same damage will indicate that the "matching"area in the gun causes some interaction, which is not there for all the cases.
Then figure out the next step-if You are on : "top limit" with some parts of the mechanism ,or some cases are "oversize".

If no scuff marks or else-You may be very well right with oiling issue.

Ya, I looked at the few that were stuck and didn't notice anything unusual about them. Maybe not looking hard enough but certainly looked at them.
Part of me wants to get rid of them all and start all over.
I got about 200 rounds of FMJ bullets left. I buy these in bulk, use them for target practice then reload the once fired brass with a hunting load.

How many times have the cases been fired? It sounds like the diameter is increasing just above the web. Look for the shiny ring there or see if you can feel a tiny ridge with your fingernail.
My .250 Savage Ackley did this after too many firings.

I agree with KC. There is probably some over expansion of the case going on. I would get out the calipers and measure the cases that got stuck. As for why they got stuck, it could be just cheap brass. Bulk 223 and FMJ all suggest that the manufacturer likely used cheap brass not intended for reloading. If the brass was only loaded once after the initial firing, I would get rid of it all. You don't want this to happen in a hunting situation.

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Originally Posted by rf2

I agree with KC. There is probably some over expansion of the case going on. I would get out the calipers and measure the cases that got stuck. As for why they got stuck, it could be just cheap brass. Bulk 223 and FMJ all suggest that the manufacturer likely used cheap brass not intended for reloading. If the brass was only loaded once after the initial firing, I would get rid of it all. You don't want this to happen in a hunting situation.

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As well as the above mentioned you might also want to do a real good job of cleaning your chamber. Everyone cleans their bores regularly but very few pay enough attention to the chamber of their rifles. Handguns and shotguns either for that matter.
You can have a build of brass happening and sometimes rust that is starting to form but not quite to where it is visible. It surprises a lot of people what a patch looks like the first time the chamber is cleaned. I know, I know, people are going to say that if it was the chamber every casing would be sticking and if left uncleaned too long every case will eventually stick.
I don't know if all of your brass is same brand or not but this can make a difference too. Military brass is thicker than commercial brass and can't be loaded quite as hot. Some commercial brass may also be different thickness so if you are loading near max some may be slightly over charged than what they should be which can cause a sticky bolt as well. I don't know if you weigh every powder charge or not but if you don't and your brass is a mixed batch a max load may come from the powder measure a bit on the high side.
Another thing to check is your case length to see if it is stretching. If they have been loaded several times and not trimmed they can stretch to where the case neck is contacting the end of the chamber. .223 Rem. isn't as bad at this as higher pressure cases like .243 Win. and 22-250.
Not saying that any of this applies to your cleaning and loading practices but they are certainly worth looking at. We all should clean our chambers more than we do. Pick up a specific .223 chamber brush. Can't hurt.

x2 on above advice, clean chamber, full length resize and trim to recommended cartridge length

Thanks for all the replies.....
What I find weird is, the bullets chamber and eject with no issues before being fired. After resizing them, I checked each one, load it and eject them all and they come out of the action easy...… Ejecting the unspent shell with the bolt is easy

It must have to do with expansion that happens when it is fired. If the brass is too soft or thin, especially near the case head where it shouldn't be, it could expand too much. As someone else mentioned, another possible cause is overpressure due to too much powder, but I am assuming you are loading them properly.
The next time it happens try measuring the diameter just above the case head (maybe 1/4" from the base or less). The max dimension there is .376", according to the Hornady handbook. Also check the outside neck diameter, and the case length.

I would go with the brass I have found that with th 223 stuff also I was getting one every once awhile using bulk ammo , the first couple time with different cases i kept and study them until the cows came home the only thing I didnt do was cut the case in half to see the material thickness after trying to figure things out with no clear answer if I had others do it they went into the bin. We must remember usually this stuff is designed for a one time use ,the military , cops etc dont reload so they would not experance this . I also had the same issue with some 243 rounds my chamber was a tight one this was measured by a gun simth to confirm ,it was only one brand from the euorpe cannt remeber the brand .

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Originally Posted by fratri

Thanks for all the replies.....
What I find weird is, the bullets chamber and eject with no issues before being fired. After resizing them, I checked each one, load it and eject them all and they come out of the action easy...… Ejecting the unspent shell with the bolt is easy

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I had the exact same problem with a Remington 721 in .300 H&H. It would feed and eject loaded rounds easily, but would not extract fired cases.
Factory ammo extracted and ejected perfectly after firing. My conclusion was that the brass had just been loaded too many times; it came with the rifle and was in the old green Remington boxes from the 1970's. In fact it was old enough that it was headstamped ".300 Magnum" instead of ".300 H&H."
Once I rid myself of that old brass, all 80 cases, the problem disappeared.

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Originally Posted by Kilo Charlie

I had the exact same problem with a Remington 721 in .300 H&H. It would feed and eject loaded rounds easily, but would not extract fired cases.
Factory ammo extracted and ejected perfectly after firing. My conclusion was that the brass had just been loaded too many times; it came with the rifle and was in the old green Remington boxes from the 1970's. In fact it was old enough that it was headstamped ".300 Magnum" instead of ".300 H&H."
Once I rid myself of that old brass, all 80 cases, the problem disappeared.

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This is good advice.

Clean the chamber as well, have seen lots of sticky problems fixed with a good cleaning.
Week ejector springs as well.

You might check the cases that stick, to see if they come from a different manufacturer than the ones that didn't stick. I recall an article on the old Ross .303 where they had no problem with Canadian manufacture ammo, but would have sticking problems with British manufactured ammo. The problem was traced to the British ammo having thinner case walls than the Canadian ammo. Another possibility is the case that stick may have once been fully annealed so the brass is softer. Otherwise they are sticking because the powder charge is bridging on being to hot, in which case keep the sticking brass separate and load them with a couple grains less powder to see if they continue to stick, they may have a weakness in the lower brass of the shoulders.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

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Originally Posted by Gun Nut

You might check the cases that stick, to see if they come from a different manufacturer than the ones that didn't stick. I recall an article on the old Ross .303 where they had no problem with Canadian manufacture ammo, but would have sticking problems with British manufactured ammo. The problem was traced to the British ammo having thinner case walls than the Canadian ammo. Another possibility is the case that stick may have once been fully annealed so the brass is softer. Otherwise they are sticking because the powder charge is bridging on being to hot, in which case keep the sticking brass separate and load them with a couple grains less powder to see if they continue to stick, they may have a weakness in the lower brass of the shoulders.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

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I fired 4 rounds at a coyote this morning, all of them ejected well..........missed the coyote though :(

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Originally Posted by fratri

I fired 4 rounds at a coyote this morning, all of them ejected well..........missed the coyote though :(

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So, what did you do to fix the problem?

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Originally Posted by Stu

So, what did you do to fix the problem?

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As he pointed out previously it does happen all the time. So it is not likely the firearm that is the problem, so maybe either a reloading clinch, or a shell brass problem. He may have a mixture of cartridge brass, I have a mixture of brass and sometime have tough time opening the gun to remove one. Winchester seems to have weaker brass than say Remington, and some of the foreign brass could be lighter as well, probably a good reason to sort and separate your brass into lots for reloading.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

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Originally Posted by Gun Nut

As he pointed out previously it does happen all the time. So it is not likely the firearm that is the problem, so maybe either a reloading clinch, or a shell brass problem. He may have a mixture of cartridge brass, I have a mixture of brass and sometime have tough time opening the gun to remove one. Winchester seems to have weaker brass than say Remington, and some of the foreign brass could be lighter as well, probably a good reason to sort and separate your brass into lots for reloading.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

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This may be the problem.... Like I mentioned earlier, a shell only gets stuck once in a while, it may have been 1 round out of 20 or so.... Next one to get stuck I will examine closely. Not sure if it has been helping but I have been wiping down the casings removing any oil film from them.... I will keep you posted when I get the next one jammed :)

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Originally Posted by fratri

This may be the problem.... Like I mentioned earlier, a shell only gets stuck once in a while, it may have been 1 round out of 20 or so.... Next one to get stuck I will examine closely. Not sure if it has been helping but I have been wiping down the casings removing any oil film from them.... I will keep you posted when I get the next one jammed :)

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Wiping down the cases to get oil off is always good and certainly could have added to your problem. I would still strongly suggest to all that we pay more attention to the chambers of our firearms. As has been mentioned in several posts this is only one of many possible causes of your problem.
Good luck. I hope you have your problem solved.