.308 Brass not fitting Redding body die

[sidewaysil80]

I have finally saved up and purchased a setup to reload .308 and I'm using Redding competition dies, shell holder (#1), and Big Boss II press. The brass is Federal GMM once fired out of OBR's and has been tumbled twice.

I took the appropriate measurements and installed bushing and successfully resized necks with no issue. However the majority of brass will only 1/3 or 1/2 into the body sizing die. I can force them in with a lot of force, but then when I try and remove it the shell holder will sheer the case rim.

I am lubing the necks with Redding dry lube and per the instructions on their site, I'm using Imperial wax on the bodies. This is happening regardless of whether I size the neck first or not. I cleaned the inside of the die out with copper cutter until the patches came out spotless and it still happens. Furthermore, I noticed a striping pattern on the brass. After cleaning however the striping does not seem to happen, but regardless the brass won't fit. Also, the dies were installed per Redding to where it just kisses the shellholder when the ram is in upright position.

Am I missing a step or is their body die too tight for AR fired .308 brass? I'm stumped and disappointed as I was hoping to get some load development done today. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[918v]

It’s the flutes on your brass. They kill the mechanical properties of the lube by causing it to run into and pool in the grooves.

 

[sidewaysil80]

It’s the flutes on your brass. They kill the mechanical properties of the lube by causing it to run into and pool in the grooves.

The flutes are appearing after the attempted resizing. The brass doesn't have any to begin with.

 

[GIXXER2000]

I have use Redding for most of my reloading. The only thing i have seen that come close to your problem is some once fired Federal brass from military surplus in 300 WIn Mag. I got 500 pieces but was unable to size about 150 or so. The military had the rounds loaded pretty hot. So the brass from the middle of the case to the base had expanded a lot.

 

[918v]

The flutes are appearing after the attempted resizing. The brass doesn't have any to begin with.

No they are there you just can’t see them. OBR’s have fluted chambers.

 

[DrewC]

The lube that works best for me when resizing brass from OBR’s / Tobr’s is the RCBS case lube. When you hit that lower part of the case when sizing and it starts taking some real force, back it out and relube the brass. Slowly work it back up till you can six’s the whole piece. After a few pieces it’ll get easier. Don’t know why. It’s like you have to break in the sizing die. The fluted chamber makes it kind of a bitch till you get some experience dealing with it.

 

[4darkseid]

I had trouble fitting older brass into new chambers on three rifle using Rcbs and Redding dies....ordered whidden dies and was pretty easily able to get them to fit the new chamber.

Better fit to match chambers maybe?

 

[sidewaysil80]

No they are there you just can’t see them. OBR’s have fluted chambers.

Okay, that makes sense then. Out of about 300 pieces of brass that I tumbled/deprimed, only about 100 were able to get successfully resized. That really sucks because I have about 1k-2k pieces of brass from OBR's. In your experience is there a die or lube that overcomes the flutes?


Thanks to everyone for helping. I'll try some of that RCBS lube as well as call Redding on Monday and see what they offer.

 

[sidewaysil80]

Just checked the body die, it's a small base die. I'm sure that exacerbates the issue...

 

[DrewC]

The only sizing die I’ve ever used for the obr’s has been Forster. Now for lube I’ve tried them all and by far the RCBS stuff worked the best. One shot don’t even bother. It’s terrible for anything high pressure and any lanolin / alcholol mix is ok but that starts separating and goes bad. Once it starts it’s almost a guarantee you’ll get a stuck case when sizing brass shot out of an obr.

Once you get your die broke in it’s no biggie at all. Just got to learn the nuances of dealing with the xtran chambers. Dealing with those chambers you’ll really notice what brass is solid. Federal is soft so the flutes seem to be more pronounced than say LC. That brass is hard and handles the xtran chamber fluting better.

 

[DrewC]

Yeah I wouldn’t use a small base at all.

 

[918v]

I overcome the flute problem by first sizing 1/2 of the case, reapplying the lube, then fully sizing the case in a regular body die, then in a small base body die if it’s a strange case.

 

[Swamplife]

IMO, Federal is the hardest brass made. I never could get it to form like I wanted in my Ackley Improved chambered rifles. Compounded with the small base die your using, I can understand the issue. I’ve had no trouble sizing Federal brass in standard calibers with standard dies.

 

[918v]

IMO, Federal is the hardest brass made. I never could get it to form like I wanted in my Ackley Improved chambered rifles. Compounded with the small base die your using, I can understand the issue. I’ve had no trouble sizing Federal brass in standard calibers with standard dies.

You are confusing thickness with hardness. Federal brass is soft with the exception of their military 308.

 

[sidewaysil80]

Figured I’d update since there are not many threads with a solution.

I wrongly thought my die was a small base die. It’s not, standard redding body die.

After speaking with Redding, they recommended not using the imperial die wax and switching to their imperial bio-green. I was skeptical but after a couple passes on the pad, the brass resized with ease.