Lapua 308 brass

[Turbulent Turtle]

Let me put it this way. If the brass is normal, bending the rim like the OP says it does would require some work, more than what he is describing.

It is entirely possible that he has a bad batch of brass, but I'm just quizzical as to why this would manifest itself on the second trip through the sizing die.

Also, and not to be blasphemous or disrectpectful in any way to anyone, but I believe Jesus Christ would be using Winchester brass instead of Lapua brass, or maybe even LC brass; he always cheers for the underdog. So to speak.

 

[mshelton]

I always thought he would be an RWS man myself.

First sizings were done with a Wilson neck sizer, the only time they went through the FL sizer were when they bent.

Checked the inside of the die, she's smooth, not as slick as a couple Harrels I have but not rough either.

 

[jp]

M- do you have any other brand 308 brass? the reason I ask is, I have a custom die that is actually smaller id than my chamber is. I know some are going to say that's normal. But I have brass that gets hard to extract also after a couple of firings. Win,Lapua, Rem all does the same thing after a few firings. all trimmed to 15thou less than the reamer print,so i know it is not that. I plan on casting the chamber to see if how much difference there is. don't know if i have a bad rifle chamber or die. but i will find out. just trying to be of some help...

good luck..JP

 

[CJ6]

Do you have any other 308 FL or Body dies available? I would try running a case in to Completely FL size or thru a Body die . It may be a Die/Chamber mismatch. Measure the fired case .2-.3 up from the rim and do the same after FL/Body sizing.

 

[Elkbane]

I think the problem is that you have your die WAY too far out of adjustment - 5 turns off the shellholder???. Think about what happens when you insert a case into the die. The die contacts the sidewalls first, squeezes the case inward. Brass has elastic properties and the casedhead is is at fixed location held by the caseholder, so the expansion is forward toward the shoulder. WIth the die screwed out 5 turns from contact, you are going to get ALOT of elongation of the case, and of course it won't chamber. It won't chamber until the shoulder contacts the shoulder of the die and presses it back into its proper dimension.

In extreme cases like you have set up, the front of the neck can be in the neck of the die while the end of the expander ball is in the back of the neck at the same time - a recipe for wrecked case at best and stuck case at worst. If you want to "sneak up" on the sizing, screw the die all the way in, then back up a half a turn. You have the die way too far out. It wasn't designed to be used that way.
ELkbane

 

[mshelton]

I know you are trying to help and I don't mean to be a jerk but I'll probably come off as one, so be it.

After reading that I thought, "hmm having a problem by inserting the case a little way into the die, fix said problem by shoving the case all the way into the die"

Sounded like something I would have tried in my preschool days, if doesn't fit then wail on it...

So of course I had to give it a try to just see how bad the results would be, I present them to you now;

 

[wapiti25]

Make sure the decapping rod is not hitting the brass at the base as this has happend before. Just something to check.

 

[treeman]

looks like you need a stuck case remover if you have a lath you can make one from a 1/4 or 3/8 bolt. just turn the head of a 1-1/4" long bolt to the same size as the bottom of a shell holder. drill and tap the brass to size of bolt and insert bolt in the case screw die into press and slide the shell holder in place with the ram up and pull hard. the first time I did that i tried to drive the case out of the die with the decap rod... not good LOL. if you don't have a lathe they sell kits like rcbs

good luck!
ps I think you need more lube.

 

[KevinThomas]

mshelton,

Sorry for the delay here, but you caught me away from the office and at a match in AZ last week. Just now catching up on stuff from while I was out. Drop me a line at kthomas@nammoinc.com and we can figure out what's going on here. If there's an issue with the brass, of course we'll take care of it, no problem.

 

[Medic505]

Things that make you go HUMMM.....

I have 300 rounds of new box .308 Lapua that has been twice shot, neck sized X2 and is going to get FL resized today. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Medic505]

FL resized all 300, no ruins,rips or errors. Only thing I see different is I use a Bonaza co-ax press.