What’s wrong with my .308 brass?

[55fairlane]

I personally find it hard to believe you get 2 sets of bad dies.
Grab the full leanth size die, raise the ram, thread in until die touches shell holder, lower ram turn in (down) ¼ turn raise rate (to hold die) lock in place.
Lube brass (use unique or some sizing wax, I like Hornady) do not use spray on sizing stuff. Now size your brass. This should fit the chamber.
I saw you said, die does touch the shell holder, you must "over cam" be ¼ish turn to get the correct resize. Good size wax helps a bunch as well.

Send me your die and some brass and I will size a few.....easy double check

 

[55fairlane]

After looking at the picture one more time, I see the case neck has definitely been worked, but nothing on the case body looking like has been touched/worked by the die. In plain words neck sized , not full length sized.

 

[billybob44]

Lyman Crusher II, I have tried Dillon, Lee and RCBS full length sizing dies.
I’m going to try to get back at it tomorrow. I got the part for my tumbler today and just started cleaning cases while assisting the wife with Christmas decorations.

Matt

Everyone has their opinions=here's mine:
Small Base size die (#1 choice Redding, #2 choice RCBS)
Sand down the TOP of your shell holder.

And=as said up thread keep your AR10 separate from your bolt gun brass..

Hope this helps...Bill.

 

[74 or more]

For my Armalite rifle I was thinking how much I liked my Redding full length small base die ,,, then there I was again on my hands and knees looking for the extractor pin on the floor . Yea I went through 3 different die sets before finding small base to run through a .762 . Think I’ll try a small Allen wrench for a pin this time , last time it was a drill bit ! Oh yea ,, size your.308 brass with a single stage press . I like Hornade exstractor pin design better.

 

[guardman7]

I started to process some of my .308 brass this past week. I’m using same full length sizing die I always have. But now hardly any will go into my case gage to depth. They are all stopping short of full depth anywhere from .030-.125 and the won’t chamber in my bolt gun. I went as far as buying a new die set just to be sure I hadn’t damaged my sizing die somehow.
After the new die failed to fix the problem I started looking deeper. I used a Sharpie to color a case and dropped it in my case gage. I pushed it with a bit of finger pressure and then knocked it out of the gage. You can see in the picture it’s hitting just ahead of the base of the case. My dies won’t reach down that far to reform that part of the case. My sizing die is set to where it is just hitting the shell holder. I don’t think it is pushing back the neck of the case. At least the few I checker aren’t pushed back.
Why are these cases bulged that far back and how can I fix them? I know I fired the majority of them from my AR-10. Is it possible that the chamber in my AR-10 is not properly supporting the case that far back? Are all these cases now junk?

Thanks, Matt

Just curious, is this by any chance PPU Brass? I have heard multiple reports of this happening with their brass and it I guess springing back?

You don't have a .243 or 6.5 creed by any chance do you? I'd hate to think you got sizing dies mixed up lol.

 

[Notalentbum]

May have been a few PPU cases but not all of them are.
No die confusion. .308 and .223 are my only rifle die sets.
I have gotten sidetracked a while on this issue but I should be getting back to it soon.

Matt

 

[Hawkeye7br]

Forgive me if this has been asked and answered... Is this with brass that was fired ONLY in your bolt gun? and if not, I suspect that is your problem. Keep the brass from your AR-10 segregated and shoot only brass that has been fired in only your bolt gun. Then see if your problem goes away.

 

[Notalentbum]

Forgive me if this has been asked and answered... Is this with brass that was fired ONLY in your bolt gun? and if not, I suspect that is your problem. Keep the brass from your AR-10 segregated and shoot only brass that has been fired in only your bolt gun. Then see if your problem goes away.

I’m pretty sure the problem brass are coming from my AR-10. I believe that the cases fired in my bolt gun still chamber even before sizing.
The brass that has been fired from my AR-10 still needs to be properly sized before I can reload it. This is the problem.

 

[pbs817]

Not an expert, but RCBS offers special dies for reloading AR fired brass to address the reason you mentioned. I think Bill2905 advice on keeping AR and Bolt brass separated will help. They also recommended taper crimp on the bullet when reloading for AR rifles.

Check out info on SMALL BASE TAPER CRIMP DIE SET - AR SERIES on the RCBS website.

 

[Notalentbum]

Not an expert, but RCBS offers special dies for reloading AR fired brass to address the reason you mentioned. I think Bill2905 advice on keeping AR and Bolt brass separated will help. They also recommended taper crimp on the bullet when reloading for AR rifles.

Check out info on SMALL BASE TAPER CRIMP DIE SET - AR SERIES on the RCBS website.

I had pretty much decided the problem was from my AR-10 fired brass. I just didn’t know anyone had a die set that could fix the issue. I will look into these RCBS dies.

Thank you!
Matt

 

[rb288]

Ok, just a thought.
You have consistently said you have the die touching the shell holder.
Most dies with yhe ram all the way ip, you adjust the die to touch the shell holder.
Then lower the ram and adjust the die an additional 1/4 turn or so, so that you get that bit of cam over.
It sounds like you are not doing that extra 1/4 turn.

 

[Notalentbum]

Ok, just a thought.
You have consistently said you have the die touching the shell holder.
Most dies with yhe ram all the way ip, you adjust the die to touch the shell holder.
Then lower the ram and adjust the die an additional 1/4 turn or so, so that you get that bit of cam over.
It sounds like you are not doing that extra 1/4 turn.

I’ve gone as far as tightening it to the point I can’t get it to break over. I was going to face off the top of the shell holder but haven’t gotten lathe access recently.
I ordered the RCBS die set pbs917 suggested. It should be in house one day this week and I’ll try that next.

Matt

 

[Notalentbum]

RCBS die set arrived. I installed the sizing die as people have said, contact the shell holder plus a 1/4 turn. It takes an extraordinary amount of pressure to resize. Much more than I’ve ever used before. I started with Hornady One Shot lube then tried the Hornady Unique paste lube. The Unique lowered the effort noticeably but still quite a bit required. I resized 30 cases and all but a couple just drop in and out of my case gauge. The few that don’t drop are hanging up on the very heel of the case but they still easily chamber in both my bolt and AR. I’m not liking the pressure it takes but I’m getting useable brass now.

Thank you to everyone that helped and offered suggestions!

Matt