I got some Lee dies and have set up my sizing/decapping die according to the instructions.  I made some dummy rounds with 147gr M80 bullets and they are feeding, chambering and extracting normally when I cycle the bolt but when I drop a round in the chamber it doesnt fall out on its own I have to close the bolt and use the extractor.

Is this normal or should I screw my sizing die in a bit more? The bolt handle is also marginally more difficult to lock (?) in the firing position than with factory ammo.

I'm new to bolt actions and this caliber. Don't have a case gauge for it yet. Any tips?

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Center and left are dummy rounds.  Right is factory 150gr Federal. Looks like the shoulder may be a slightly different angle than the factory stuff?

Kinda hard to see in pic (not close & clear enough),, how hard you hitting the crimp ??  Hit it too hard / deep and you can very well buckle shoulder, as the case has very minor taper to it,, buckle the front and the case bulge will hang the case n the chamber,, also look case cleanliness,, and chamber clean when testing this way

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I just very lightly touch mine

Looks like you have several things going on there.

The dummy rounds aren't crimped at all, trying to get sizing down first.

G, what are you seeing?

Is this pic better?

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The SP is the factory one.

What rifle? Did I miss it?

Some have an extractor which is designed to be fed from the magazine, not "drop in" rounds.

Its a T/C Compass.

First IMO, it's best to have the rounds lined up evenly on a flat surface, that way any differences in length can be easily seen.

It appeared from the first pic you had different length brass and different seating depths of the bullets (judging from the cannelures) and one bullet looks like it has a line on it from engaging the lands.

I've never tried to shake a round out of the chamber on a rifle, if it feeds and extracts fine, I call it good.

You do have one that looks like you just barely crushed the neck to an hourglass shape, by not having the crimp function of the die backed off just a tad more.

Looks like they need more deburring.

I never worry about free drop either.

OP, take a case and size it, does it drop in and out?
If no, try closing the die down 1/4 turn.
Use a sharpie mark on the case to determine if its tight at the neck or at the base.

If yes, then look at bullet seating.  This may be expanding the neck, take case and case+bullet  measurements to compare.

First thing I would try is lowering the size die either until you get the desired fit or you have solid contact under load or better yet cam over if your press will cam over.

If that doesn't correct it look elsewhere. I don't really mind if my bolt gun ammo will fall in and out of the chamber but you shouldn't have resistance when closing or opening the bolt.

You may have some resistance if you were neck only sizing which is why I don't neck only size my deer hunting ammo for bolt action rifles.

Another powder that does great in the 06' is good old W-760. Plus it dispenses perfectly like all ball powders do in dispensers like the Uniflow.

Motor

It doesn't have a Mauser type extractor, so I have to fall back on "beats the shit out of me".

It could be the design of the bolt face too.

I don't think there is any need to drop a round in manually. I only have mauser actions and can't do that anyway. Just load normally and if the bolt closes without much resistance you should be good. There are also gauges for checking cases. I always full length resize and have never used any.

I also don't crimp 30-06 or any rifle round actually. It does help to chamfer and deburr after sizing and trimming.

Were those cases fired in your gun? If not, you should full length resize.

Yes you can. Drop round in and press inward on back center of extractor. Extractor will then snap over the rim.

A couple of questions:

1. Have you trimmed your cases after resizing?  Is the trimmed length measuring the same after deburring?

2. Did you clean your chamber?  I recently purchased a TC Compass in .308, andvtge inside of that rifle was covered heavily Inn protectant.

Need more crimp on them.

Just guessing here because you provided no measurements at all. But 30-06 usually has a pretty bug chamber, so it's hard to imagine your completed cartridge is hitting the lands.

So the problem is most likely in the case. Assuming the shoulders aren't crushed by a crimp you probably don't need in the first place . . .

Without adjusting the die, size another case and chamber it. Getting the same results confirms overall length is not the issue.

From here, it's either case length (too long, trim it back), shoulder not bumped back far enough (screw the die down a bit further, resize the case, and try again), or a fat case down near the base (unlikely but to check: "paint" the power portion of the case with a magic marker, let dry, and chamber it again.  Scratches in the paint will tell you.).

GL and stay safe.

What headstamp?

OP, are you chamfering and deburring the case mouth prior to reloading?  I'm a new reloader and I'm also doing 30-06 and I can tell you that after trimming sometimes there is flashing or extra brass leftover that needs to be cleaned up.  If you don't clean it up, the case won't fit into a headspace gauge.  You absolutely must use a heads-acing gauge for safety sake.  They are $20 on Amazon and Lyman makes a good one.

If you are using a full length sizing die, chamfer/debur, trim if necessary, and make sure the brass and then loaded round fit in a cartridge gauge, then the ammo should fit in your chamber.

Some others have mentioned that you haven't crimped your brass yet so beware that when you do start experimenting with your crimp that too much crimp dialed in too early can cause you to crush your brass which would obviously not fit in your chamber.

If I missed it, sorry - but raise the shell holder all the way up on the ram arm.  Screw the resizing die down till it touches the shell holder, drop the ram arm/shell holder down and then turn the die down another 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn.  Raise the ram arm/shell holder back up and hold it while you tighten down the lock ring on the resizing die.

You don't need to trim every time you resize.  There are minimum and maximum case lengths, check your reloading manual for the numbers.  Trim when you need to trim.  Always deburr and chamfer the case mouth after trimming.  Always.  The trimming process leaves brass on the inside and outside of the case mouth that needs to be removed.  The stuff on the inside can make it harder to seat the bullet and damage the bullet base.  The stuff on the outside will eventually end up inside your rifle as hard debris that can cause operational issues if it gets in the wrong place.

A lot of people report only having to trim every 3 to 5 resizings.

I don't crimp any rifle cases.  Not .223 firing in AR15's, .308's fired in M1A's and AR10's, not 30-06 fired in M1 Garands.

If you feel the absolute need to crimp (for some reason) you should use a bullet with a cannelure (seat the bullet to the cannelure and crimp the case mouth into it) and you should trim your cases to make sure they are the same length.  If you don't have cases the same length you'll get varying degrees of crimping with will affect your group size.  Another thing that can happen if you don't trim and you do crimp is you can bulge the case at the shoulder.  This will cause the cases not to chamber.  If you set the crimp die up on a shorter case and then try to crimp a longer case the die will push downwards on the long case hard enough that it makes the brass case buckle, right there where the case and shoulder areas meet.  Done it myself, many years ago.

I mostly use IMR4895 for .30-06, but I have to weigh every charge to get a consistent powder weight.  I've gotten good results with TAC and 150 grain bullets and TAC meters very consistently.  I have not tried W748 or W760 in .30-06 but they should also meter consistently.

Good luck.

First thing that I would check is to make sure the Brass length in not over the limit,  it doesn't take much to be too long and the  cartridge will not go all the way in or go in tight!

OP is not new to reloading rifle ammo, a drop in headspace gage can be quite useful on new to you rounds, as well as the Hornady tool.

That case was fired and still pretty much fits (bolt action).
People load rifle rounds without either just going by feeding and extracting by making small adjustments. Then all you'd have to worry about is caee length then OAL with the bullet seated.

Hey guys, appreciate all the replies.  Had a busy weekend so haven't had much time but will get some better info for you today or tomorrow regarding case length,  headstamp, COAL and stuff like that.