I've been putting some thought to this and I'm a little confused . I'm asking about bottle neck rifle cartridges .
I've read and or talked to people about this and the answers are all over the place .
I've been told and or read :
It sits on the bottom of the chamber
It sits perfectly centered in the chamber .
It sits with the with the neck touching the the bottom area of where it sits and the the head touching the bottom where it sits making the the whole cartridge sit crooked .
I've been told and or read :
When the firing pin hits the primer it pushes the cartridge forward until the shoulder makes contact with the chamber .
Sooo , I was doing some basic testing as to why one of my bolt action 308s throws the brass 4x farther then the other . I was slowly extracting empty cases from each . I could see how the ejector and extractor were working together to throw the brass free from the firearm .I noticed that the case was pressed against the chamber and receiver wall at about 2 o-clock till it was thrown clear . I also was checking how the cases sit in the bolt face by placing them on the bolt with the bolt out of the gun . I would hold them in the bolt and let the ejector on extractor do there jobs and fling the brass across the room .
Now to the point of this thread .
It would seem to me that the cartridge is sitting in the chamber pressed up against the chamber wall at 2 O-Clock the whole time do to the force of the ejector pushing on the head and the extractor not allowing the ejector to push the case straight forward .
It also would seem that because the way the ejector and extractor are working together the case would not move forward at all when the firing pin hits the cartridge . The case is already being pushed forward by the ejector as far as it will go and because the extractor is holding it , there should be no foreward movement . Even if the extractor is not making contact with the rim until extraction . The ejector would still be pushing the cartridge all the way foreward to where the shoulder would be making contact with the chamber centering the cartridge in the chamber . Therefore there should be no foreward movement of the cartridge when the firing pin hits the primer .
That's my thinking , What say you ?
I've read and or talked to people about this and the answers are all over the place .
I've been told and or read :
It sits on the bottom of the chamber
It sits perfectly centered in the chamber .
It sits with the with the neck touching the the bottom area of where it sits and the the head touching the bottom where it sits making the the whole cartridge sit crooked .
I've been told and or read :
When the firing pin hits the primer it pushes the cartridge forward until the shoulder makes contact with the chamber .
Sooo , I was doing some basic testing as to why one of my bolt action 308s throws the brass 4x farther then the other . I was slowly extracting empty cases from each . I could see how the ejector and extractor were working together to throw the brass free from the firearm .I noticed that the case was pressed against the chamber and receiver wall at about 2 o-clock till it was thrown clear . I also was checking how the cases sit in the bolt face by placing them on the bolt with the bolt out of the gun . I would hold them in the bolt and let the ejector on extractor do there jobs and fling the brass across the room .
Now to the point of this thread .
It would seem to me that the cartridge is sitting in the chamber pressed up against the chamber wall at 2 O-Clock the whole time do to the force of the ejector pushing on the head and the extractor not allowing the ejector to push the case straight forward .
It also would seem that because the way the ejector and extractor are working together the case would not move forward at all when the firing pin hits the cartridge . The case is already being pushed forward by the ejector as far as it will go and because the extractor is holding it , there should be no foreward movement . Even if the extractor is not making contact with the rim until extraction . The ejector would still be pushing the cartridge all the way foreward to where the shoulder would be making contact with the chamber centering the cartridge in the chamber . Therefore there should be no foreward movement of the cartridge when the firing pin hits the primer .
That's my thinking , What say you ?
Last edited: