Brass problem discovered at range

[DRNewcomb]

Have you set the die so that it requires significant force to top the shell holder? There should be a "thunk" as the ram passes over TDC. (When resizing unknown brass, that is). You may need to lap a thou " off the face of the shell holder.

 

[Texas10]

It's possible your headspace was set up a little on the short side. Remedies are re-setting your barrel, if that's as convenient as it is on a barrel nut setup, or shortening the die a few thou. Both are easily done.

I bought a box of 200 Hornaday 308 Match brass a while back. Not all shot from the same rifle, but all where once shot.
I full length sized them all, ran them through my chamber and sorted out the ones that were tight. Then set my die a bit lower and sized the tight ones again.

Once I had them all chambering OK and fired at least twice from MY chamber they would respond to sizing in a predictable fashion.

Annealing the neck and shoulder would also help making them size and chamber consistently in YOUR rifle.

 

[divingin]

Have you set the die so that it requires significant force to top the shell holder? There should be a "thunk" as the ram passes over TDC. (When resizing unknown brass, that is). You may need to lap a thou " off the face of the shell holder.

I would advise against blindly setting the die for hard cam-over. That's a recipe for excessive headspace when chambered, leading to possible (or probable) case failure due to body stretch.

Set the die up to get the amount of shoulder setback (or bump) that you need (if you don't know that, figure out how to measure it, or at least spend time and creep up on it.) Finesse the other processes of loading (primarily your lube technique, but dwell time and other factors may help as well) to get consistent results.

The hard cam-over works fine with straight wall cartridges, but can cause problems with bottleneck cartridges that headspace on the shoulder.

 

[DRNewcomb]

I would advise against blindly setting the die for hard cam-over. That's a recipe for excessive headspace when chambered, leading to possible (or probable) case failure due to body stretch.

In this case the OP already stated difficulty chambering reloaded rounds. I once had an '03A3 that simply didn't like to chamber my reloads. Setting the die with a few of thousandths contact solved the problem.

 

[HuntClub]

In this case the OP already stated difficulty chambering reloaded rounds. I once had an '03A3 that simply didn't like to chamber my reloads. Setting the die with a few of thousandths contact solved the problem.

But I also stated I brought them home and resized them again. I pulled the bullet, pushed out the primer when I resized the case (full length) and even trimmed a smidgen (more like buffed the top of the case) off the top - case would not allow the bolt to close as a plain ol' resized piece of brass. BUT it did fit the Hornady case gauge perfectly.

Then i checked the rest of the brass and found a few more that would not let the bolt close at all - some that would but it was a tight fit. Tight fitting were saved and the others were tossed.

Overcamming is not the answer for this problem/issue - I feel cofident of that.

 

[Artisan]

Asking for help understanding what the problem might be.

Ordered some once fired 7mm08 brass a couple of years ago and finally opened a pack to use. They still had primers so i did full size and trim and they fit beautifully in Hornady gauge. Doing a load test with some new Star brass and these once fired RP brass. Star line worked very well but TWO of the RP brass would not load. That is, the bolt handle would not close on them. I only loaded five of each and the other three RP brass worked very well too - but one was a little tight on locking the round in.

I bring them home and size check - then full length size again. even set trimmer to dust of the top and they still will not let the bolt close. Did a check on the rest of the bag and found six more (of the 50) that the bolt would not close on and another 5 that the bolt was tight on (like they had just been shot with over pressure).

The only thing I can think that it might be is the base of the brass - maybe a little oversize? But, I have never had this problem before. The brass that will not let the bolt close on have been trashed. the other in a bag for the zombie apocalypse.

Working from the bottom of the case up. Did you measure the "BAD" cases, with a caliper or micrometer? I have found, if R-P are used for Maximum-loads, they develop a slight bulge, 1/2 inch or so above the case-head. Like the Glock-Bulge with pistol cases. These were 223/5.56 R-P cases, had I shoved them in my die, they would still be there. Might be R-P's are not strong enough in this section, to use more than once, with a maximum load?

 

[JFrank]

But I also stated I brought them home and resized them again. I pulled the bullet, pushed out the primer when I resized the case (full length) and even trimmed a smidgen (more like buffed the top of the case) off the top - case would not allow the bolt to close as a plain ol' resized piece of brass. BUT it did fit the Hornady case gauge perfectly.

Then i checked the rest of the brass and found a few more that would not let the bolt close at all - some that would but it was a tight fit. Tight fitting were saved and the others were tossed.

Overcamming is not the answer for this problem/issue - I feel cofident of that.

Agreed' hard cam over is not the answer.

As a follow up question how many thousandths of cam over are you experiencing?

 

[divingin]

In this case the OP already stated difficulty chambering reloaded rounds. I once had an '03A3 that simply didn't like to chamber my reloads. Setting the die with a few of thousandths contact solved the problem.

OP said he had trouble chambering; I don't think he ever ID'd where the problem was (though marking up and chambering a piece of brass as suggested earlier should do just that.)

Comparing the base to shoulder measurements on good vs bad brass would say whether that's the measurement that's causing problems or something else. If it's something other than base-to-shoulder, that implies the current headspace is fine, and screwing the die further in will cause it to be too short (assuming OP is using a standard consumer full length sizing die.) While that will fix the base, it will cause other, potentially dangerous, problems. The correct fix for that would be to use a small base die, which will size the base of the case without moving the shoulder too far back.

OP said he has a 7-08, which, I believe is a re-neck-sized 308 case? Quick and dirty base to shoulder measurement is as easy as taking a spent 9mm or .38 Special case over the case mouth and putting a set of calipers on it. Check cases that chamber and those that don't. If they're the same, then base to shoulder isn't the problem.

The problem with using a case gauge to prove the case is good is that the gauge may or may not be the same as the rifle's chamber. Ideally it will be, in practice, not so much. Until you can verify that the two match up, in my mind that would be suspect as well.

 

[Artisan]

TWO of the RP brass

I understand the ???????????????, it leaves in your mind.
But you are talking about 2, yes I said 2 pieces of brass, toss them, be more concerned with making the cases which work, even better.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

Have you bumped the shoulder back. It only takes a small amount of shoulder expansion to cause the case to not chamber.

A small base die would most certainly solve your problem. These dies are made to form cases to the exact new case specifications.

Call the manufacture of the die and tell them your problem. They will give you the best idea of how to fix the problem. This has always worked for me.

 

[HuntClub]

I understand the ???????????????, it leaves in your mind.
But you are talking about 2, yes I said 2 pieces of brass, toss them, be more concerned with making the cases which work, even better.

A lot of smart and experienced reloaders here - and with good input. I did just what you suggested before I made the original post - thinking it just best to use what does fit and forget the "trouble makers". I may certainly look into the small base sizing die for sure - but that will be later too.

For the record, a total of 6 got tossed. 8 (snug on the close) more will be loaded and fired to see if that corrects them - but at a later date for sure. Probably save them for the zombie apocalypse!

Thanks all