Situation:


You just received a brand new .45-70 government that you have been waiting on for months to arrive. You finally get the rifle and take it to the range and one of our loads will not close in the chamber. You try several rounds from that box and none of them will chamber.  You try several rounds which have a different projectile and they go right in and eject with no issues. 


What is the issue?


Is it the ammunition or the rifle?


Answer:


Let's first try to determine why it will not close. 


Is there something in the chamber like grit or debris?  

Is the different projectile crushing this debris into the chamber wall?

Have you cleaned the rifle or did you just take it out of the box and go and shoot it? 


First, deep clean the chamber with a brass bore brush. Make sure there is no grit, grime or machine reaming material left in the chamber. Once you clean it, try again with a different round. If it still doesn't chamber the round, inspect the round for damage.  If the round was tight enough to stop the mechanical advantage of the level action, something is likely rubbing and it will leave a mark. Remove the round and take a closer look for large dents in the case. Then inspect the projectile directly in front of the case mouth. Roll the round and look for rub marks on the projectile itself or other signs of damage. 


If the round is jamming at the projectile, you will typically see a rub mark directly in front of the case mouth. 


If you find a rub mark, the round is likely coming into contact with the throat and the likely issue is no throat or no transition into the small throat. This caliber is known to have a very shallow throat and almost no transition. However, due to the wide use of lead cast bullets, most manufacturers will ream a transition to allow for projectiles with more of a square body to chamber. In this example, instead of the projectile hanging freely in the bore, it is coming in contact with a burr, machine marks or the chamber throat itself. 


So what does this mean?


  • Option 1-The ammunition is too long. 
    • This is unlikely as all of our ammunition is randomly loaded and randomly sorted within batches. 
    • We also randomly chamber rounds in our test rifles which are all SAAMI Spec chambers. 
    • We also randomly measure rounds and confirm it our specs and meets SAAMI Specs. 
    • One round being too long is possible, but more than one or all of them in the same box is highly unlikely.
    • Try a few different rounds from the same box to confirm none of them will chamber.
    • If you have another .45-70 chamber the same rounds in that rifle.
    • If it doesn't fit, contact us immediately to return and inspect the ammunition as we are human and mistakes happen but will take care of them.  
  • Option 2-The chamber has no throat or is too shallow. 
    • If this issue is only with one type of ammo and or this is a brand new rifle, this is likely the issue. 
    • The rifle will need to be returned to the manufacturer or taken to a gun smith to have the chamber polished or reamed. 
    • This is a simple fix and it will allow the rifle to chamber all rounds once corrected.

Either way, create a ticket so we can document the rifle brand and model and assist you with your trouble shooting.

Remember, we want that rifle to work so you buy more ammo!