RAISED PRIMERS

[DEADEY307]

WHY ARE MY PRIMERS RAISED UP OUT OF THE PRIMER POCKET AFTER FIRING ,THIS WAS A 40.0 GRS OF VARGET IN NEW WINCHESTER CASES THAT WERE PREPED AND SIZED CCI L/R PRIMERS SIERRA 165 GR SPBT IN A REMINGTON 700 .308

 

[expiper]

you are sizing your cases too much,,,,giving excess headspace,,,ooo wait those are new cases,,,try seating the bullets out to touch at first ,,,then size just enuff to close the bolt easily,,,Roger

 

[Zero333]

Are you using a Headspace comparator or a Headspace micrometer gauge when sizing your cases ?

You would be surprised how many dies full size well below the measurements of a go-gauge for that cartridge, giving you excessive headspace and limited brass life.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

As has been mentioned, it may be that the new brass is short. This is common. That said, only improperly adjusted sizing dies will push the shoulder back too far. This is within your control. It may be a combination of short brass and a long chamber. Use headspace gages to verify the chamber is within spec. Regardless, you need to make sure that the clearance between the case head and bolt face is minimal....000"-.003" with closer to .000" being more desirable. Too much clearance here is how incipient case head separation begins as the brass is forced to stretch too much.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Cases too short from the start. As mentioned, seat the bullets into the lands. That will hold the case head back against the bolt face. When re sizing, make sure you arn't pushing the shoulders back too far.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

That seems like a very light load. It could be the cause of the problem.

The brass should stretch to fit the chamber on the first firing. It sounds like yours is not. I will suggest that you stay within the guidance of the reloading manual, but work upward. Hodgdon's data (for Winchester cases) shows a starting charge of 42 grains of Varget.

The 308 is an odd reloading job in that various brass manufacturers have quite different internal volumes. I tend to pick on Federal and Winchester. Federal is so small inside that charges must be reduced for safety. If you use Federal case data (Sierra has worked with Federal cases for years) with Winchester brass, the opposite happens - you can't get the pressure and velocity up to normal levels.

 

[timeout]

WHY ARE MY PRIMERS RAISED UP OUT OF THE PRIMER POCKET AFTER FIRING ,THIS WAS A 40.0 GRS OF VARGET IN NEW WINCHESTER CASES THAT WERE PREPED AND SIZED CCI L/R PRIMERS SIERRA 165 GR SPBT IN A REMINGTON 700 .308

Fellow cheesehead here. Tell me about the rifle. I had a chamber job one time where the Smith chambered excessive headspace. Primers popping rearward, being flattened big time, and cases starting to separate. Check your headspace.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

That seems like a very light load. It could be the cause of the problem.

The brass should stretch to fit the chamber on the first firing. It sounds like yours is not. I will suggest that you stay within the guidance of the reloading manual, but work upward. Hodgdon's data (for Winchester cases) shows a starting charge of 42 grains of Varget.

The 308 is an odd reloading job in that various brass manufacturers have quite different internal volumes. I tend to pick on Federal and Winchester. Federal is so small inside that charges must be reduced for safety. If you use Federal case data (Sierra has worked with Federal cases for years) with Winchester brass, the opposite happens - you can't get the pressure and velocity up to normal levels.

I agree with Keith. I'd go up on the charge to near book max and very lightly lube one case, and fire it. Then set your dies up to bump the shoulders back .002 shorter than this piece of brass. If the new brass is significantly shorter, you MAY be able to actually make it longer, depending on how the new brass fits the die, by backing the die off to where it does not contact the shoulder but does around the circumference of the brass. The forces any sizing that takes place to let the brass all flow forward and can move the shoulder forward a few thou. Otherwise, jamming the bullet hard into the lands with a lot of neck tension may be enough to hold the base of the case against the bolt face.

 

[DEADEY307]

THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR HELP

 

[Kings X]

Once the brass is sized "too short" is not going to resized to fit the chamber. Some sort of fire-forming is needed.
To me jamming the bullets to force the brass to hold tight in the chamber has not worked 100% of the time.
I would treat it like a wildcat and form a false shoulder. Neck it up to 8mm with just a cheap expanding ball. Then size back down until the bolt just closes with a little resistance. A plus doing it this way is you can still work up a load that needs the bullets to "jump". You don't have to waste bullets, powder and time just to get the brass to fit the chamber.

 

[waldo1979]

What length? There's less volume on those winchester cases than lapua IIRC. I just checked QuickLoad and in theory you should be good to go up to up 44.0gr. I even tried a case volume of 52.0gr which was closer to 43.0gr.