.308 Resizing Problem?

[BackFromDC]

IDK what I did, but I screwed up a few .308 brass while resizing today. Reloading Sages of INGO...please help...
Did 150ish cases today and 4 turned out with this weird neck and shoulder.

 

[Aszerigan]

First question - is it all 308 brass? I know it sounds dumb but range pickup can vary.

Just spitballing but that looks more like a Weatherby shoulder on the left, even on the "correctly" sized ones. So you have lube buildup in your dies? Do your dies have a vent? Any chance you mixed up the sizer and seating die?

Not trying to offend, just throwing ideas out there.

 

[mcapo]

Looking at the pic before reading your post my first two thoughts were 1) that’s a weird looking Weatherby and 2) dies must be dirty/obstructed.

 

[BackFromDC]

First question - is it all 308 brass? I know it sounds dumb but range pickup can vary.

Just spitballing but that looks more like a Weatherby shoulder on the left, even on the "correctly" sized ones. So you have lube buildup in your dies? Do your dies have a vent? Any chance you mixed up the sizer and seating die?

Not trying to offend, just throwing ideas out there.

Checked the head stamps of the 4 and they are all .308 brass. No lube build up. It went in and out as easily as the others but just came out with this weird shoulder. Another old sage told me to check the locking ring nut as either the die or the neck sizer could be coming loose. I took out two wrenches and gave it a good squeeze just in case.

Do you have any recommendation for adjusting the the sizer/deprimer? The recommendation I received just not was "make sure it's enough to push out the primer and it should be sufficient." IDK if there's a specific measurement that's best practice.

 

[BackFromDC]

For more info, head stamps of the bad brass. Lake City and Fiocchi.


Here some LC and Fiocchi brass that went through the die just fine.

 

[gassprint1]

I'm no loader, but the brass on the right looks pretty smashed down and left looks like it was inserted in the die crooked.

 

[Nazgul]

I would recommend annealing and cleaning your brass. My thinking is that reduces the chance of putting dirt/corrosion inside your dies.

The thickness of the neck varies greatly as well as the hardness. Especially between military and commercial cases. Some military brass can be quite hard.

Just finished annealing and cleaning 1,000 7.62/308 cases.

Don

 

[Bill2905]

Do you have any recommendation for adjusting the the sizer/deprimer?

1. With the die backed out, raise the ram to it's highest point

2. Start turning in the die until it makes contact with the shell holder

3. Lower the ram and turn the die in another 1/8 turn or so and tighten the lock ring.

You should get a little bit of cam over when you raise the ram against the die although some presses may not do this. From here, you can make fine adjustments to the die depending on how much shoulder bump you want and how it fits in your chamber.

If this is mixed head stamp range pickup brass, you will get varying results due to brand differences and the fact that the various pieces will have been fired in different chambers.

 

[BackFromDC]

Update! Thanks for all the advice.

1. Looks like the culprit with the 4 pieces was some dirt causing pressure that pushed and pulled the de-primer resizer needle in and out. Put the next batch in Tupperware with some dish soap water and there was some mud shaken out. Makes sense, we do shoot on farmland and neglect to pick things up.

2. Readjusted resizer/de-primer needle and gave it another good tightening some stiff dual wrench action. Put it at the recommended "just enough to push out the primer" length. Also backed it out a bit and re-indexed the locking ring, was about 1/4 past ram instead of 1/8.

3. Gave the dies a look through, no dirt or damage to it but still cleaned it out.

Still don't know what to do about these 4 pieces, or how to adjust for different sized brass coming from different brans or fired out of different chambers. Didn't know .308 could be more complicated than 9mm or .223

 

[Hawkeye7br]

Sometimes that happens when the neck lacks enough lube. The sizer grabs the neck and pushes it down into the shoulder instead of sliding over it and compressing the neck wall inward.

 

[billybob44]

Take this anyway that you want=I really don't care....

You should NOT be handloading any ammo to shoot.

"1. Looks like the culprit with the 4 pieces was some dirt causing pressure that pushed and pulled the de-primer resizer needle in and out. Put the next batch in Tupperware with some dish soap water and there was some mud shaken out. Makes sense, we do shoot on farmland and neglect to pick things up."
^^^
With this lack of due care, putting powder into cases and shooting said rounds is something that you should NOT be doing..
I would NOT want to be at the bench next to you at the range..
Flame away, but just stating facts.....Bill.

 

[BackFromDC]

Sometimes that happens when the neck lacks enough lube. The sizer grabs the neck and pushes it down into the shoulder instead of sliding over it and compressing the neck wall inward.

Do you think there's any salvaging of them or should just toss them away?

 

[Hawkeye7br]

The lesson learned cost you 40 cents. Toss them.

 

[BackFromDC]

Thanks to everyone who bestowed their sage advice. Next batch came out without a single incident.

 

[billybob44]

Thanks to everyone who bestowed their sage advice. Next batch came out without a single incident.

View attachment 333864

Clean brass is a GREAT start==Now where did i put that Powder Scale??..HA.HA....Bill.

 

[BackFromDC]

Clean brass is a GREAT start==Now where did i put that Powder Scale??..HA.HA....Bill.

lol first I need to find the unobtainable Large Rifle Primer
The main reason to keep my arms from accidental explosions is to give it up along with a kidney for a box of primers.