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cases sticking

scoutfowler
Have a mauser 7mm and cases stick after firing. No splitting or head seperation although the last two I looked at seemed orange peeled. If it isn't set back, what are the chances the chamber is bored too large?

Colin B. Fowler
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    Before you do anything, clean the chamber good. Wrap some ScotchBrite around a old bore brush ( mounted on a cleaning rod ) so it's a tight fit in the chamber. Spray a little WD-40 on the ScotchBrite after chucking the cleaning rod in a electric drill. Have at it.

    Personally useing the above technique, I have had excellent results cleaning the chambers of old military rifles, that were giving me extraction problems.

    luger_4.jpg
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  • v35
    Compare measurements of fired and unfired cases. Measure aboute 1/4" above the bases, at the shoulder and from bases to the shoulders.
    There should be a straight line from the bulge; a point about 1/4" above the base, to the shoulder. If there isn't, you have a bulged chamber.
    Orange peel or stretcher strain isn't a good sign. Might the rifle have been rechambered to 7mm-08?
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  • Tailgunner1954
    Might the rifle have been rechambered to 7mm-08?
    If it had been rechambered to 7-08 (7x51), it's unlikely that a 7x57 would even chamber, and the fired case would have a very obvious reformed shoulder.

    Whittemore
    Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.
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  • grdad45
    If not 7-08, maybe 280 Rem? Except it would probably separate. I agree that the chamber needs a good scrubbing.

    F&AM, NRA Life (25 yrs)
    "The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
    Edmund Burke (1729-97)
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  • Iconoclast
    All good advice. Highly unlikely it was re-chambered in either 7mm-08 or .280 as you would have far more dramatic problems with the brass itself.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain)
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  • JustC
    if they are handloads, you might want to back off on the powder a bit.

    why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
    Got Balistics?
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  • scoutfowler
    I had worked at it with just a brush by hand but can try the drill and scotchbrite. I laid a straight edge accross a shell fired in this gun and two fired from other 7mms. (don't have a mic) This shell is larger than the others so not too hopeful. Not sure if the difference is enough to cause rupture or just continued sticking.

    Thanks for the replies!

    Colin B. Fowler
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  • gulliblebuyer
    Sounds like this gun has been re-chambered for some other caliber. The change to the shoulder angle and or neck size on a fired case might not be obvious unless you are specifically looking for it. If a fired shell "appears" larger than an unfired one, that is a major danger signal to me. Run, don't walk, to the nearest gunsmith with the rifle and a couple of fired cases. BTW, if they are handloads, a flattened primer is also a clue of excess pressure.
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  • JustC
    the 7x57 mauser is a case design unto itself. IF it were rechambered to another caliber, say 7mm-08, then the bolt would not close due to the 7x57 being a longer case. If it were rechambered to the 280rem (7mm express) it would come out looking like the neck had all but been sucked backwards into the case with maybe a couple 1/100's of an inch of neck left over if any at all, and if it were a 7mm rem mag it would come out of the chamber looking like a straight walled pistol case with NO shoulder or neck whatsoever.

    That being said,..what you need to do, is go to the hardware store or local gunshop, and borrow a set of calipers for 5 minutes. Measure the fired cases at the "expansion ring" which is just ahead of the casehead, where the brass becomes thinner and the internal capacity portion of the case begins (you should see this expanded area on your fired cases when set next to an unfired/new round) If the case is growing it's circumference by more than a few .001", then the chamber may be excessively sized or simply worn out from field use under dirty condintions in war-time and had been repeatedly fired with contaminates (dirt) in the chamber or on the rounds. Too much expansion ring growth is a sign you need to THROW THAT BARREL AS FAR AS YOU CAN. Even in a mauser action, a casehead seperation is not something you'll wish to re-visit after the first time.

    why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
    Got Balistics?
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  • scoutfowler
    Great idea on the hardware store! Thanks

    Colin B. Fowler
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