.308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

O

oneshot onekill

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 29, 2008
1,955
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62
DeBary, Florida
#1
Hey Y'all,
I'm having a little trouble with my brass... Still! I had posted previously about primers backing out and with the help of the experts here discovered I was pushing the shoulders too much while Full-Length resizing. As per instructed I was pushing the brass into the die until the die touched the shell-holder. So I backed my die out a little and used a Case-Length Gauge to measure my brass. It's now within tolerance on the gauge but I have a new problem and just want to be sure shooting the rounds won't do any damage or be dangerous.

The new problem is that now the shoulders appear to be too tall because I have to force the bolt closed. It's not so tight that I need to wack it but I do need to use my thumb to lower the bolt handle. After firing there is a scrape along the bottom of the brass. No signs of over-pressure and the rounds are very accurate. I'm sure I'm just smashing the shoulders tight against the chamber.

I measure the overall length of every piece of brass after I trim and de-burr it and they all fall right around 2.010". I also measure the overall length of each round after seating the bullet and they all measure 2.800"

I was told years ago by another shooter that it wasn't a problem (when I ran into the same issue with other reloads) and actually insured the round was straight and true and would probably enhance accuracy.

What say you?...

Thanks in advance!

John
 
#2
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

Save yourself a lot of hassle. Get a set of competition shell holders...
wink.gif


Then you can get the exact amount of shoulder bump needed.
 
#4
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...


If you have a tight bolt closing I'd thread the die in just a 1/8 frog hair to bump the shoulder back another .001" at a time until it was no longer tight.

When I close the bolt on my hand loaded ammo I like to *barely detect* a teeny bit more drag on the lugs than closing the bolt on an empty chamber.

I disagree with the shooter you ran into years ago. I have found that if you start with a really snug bolt closure in a field rifle, a few round down the road you will have extraction problems.....
 
#5
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I disagree with the shooter you ran into years ago. I have found that if you start with a really snug bolt closure in a field rifle, a few round down the road you will have extraction problems.....</div></div>

Along with galled lugs.
shocked.gif
 
#6
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AJ300MAG</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I disagree with the shooter you ran into years ago. I have found that if you start with a really snug bolt closure in a field rifle, a few round down the road you will have extraction problems.....</div></div>

Along with galled lugs.
shocked.gif
</div></div>

Yea, "Lug-Galling" was one of the things I was thinking about while this was happening. They look OK for now and I tend to put a little dab of grease on them from time to time anyway but thanks for that confirmation...

...And the other responses too!
 
#9
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

TresMon has it right, you backed the die off a tad too far.

You DON'T want to use any force to close the bolt, a jam fit isn't usually good for accuracy.

Cases vary a bit no matter how we resize them so I can't see how any "competition" shell holders add a thing. Just try to get the "longest" cases sized to a slip fit and let the others fall where they may.
 
#10
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

Ya know, now that I think about it, there's something pretty important that I didn't even take into consideration. I'm using different brass on this latest batch then I used on the last batch. The newer brass is Lake City which I know is quite a bit thicker than the Winchester brass I used on the first batch. Damn... These are the things you learn... I knew the powder volume was different and adjusted for that but wasn't thinking about it when I resized them. But still, they were within tolerance on the Case Length Gauge. Where-as when I measured one of the Winchester Brass it sunk too deep in the Gauge.

Well, I got a good method emailed to me and I'll put it into effect immediately!
 
#11
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body">TresMon has it right, you backed the die off a tad too far.

You DON'T want to use any force to close the bolt, <span style="color: #FF0000">a jam fit isn't usually good for accuracy.</span>
Cases vary a bit no matter how we resize them so I can't see how any "competition" shell holders add a thing. Just try to get the "longest" cases sized to a slip fit and let the others fall where they may. </div></div>

I don't think I'm dealing with a "Jam Fit" in the sense I've heard that term used before. I'm not jamming the bullet into the lands and I'm not jamming the case-neck into the barrel. It's all in the shoulders... And actually I shot several 1" 5 shot groups at 200yds with these reloads. It's a shame I'll be pulling the bullets out of the last 20 or so. I don't want to Gall my Lugs.
 
#12
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

Using your Bolt to adjust headspace is a dumb thing to do, and trust me just about everybody has done it once or twice, IDK what a "Case-Length Gauge" is, but a headspace measuring tool is what you need, it simply works by telling you how much the shoulder has been pushed back, get one and measure a fire case, then resize that piece of brass until the headspace measuring tool says .001-.002 less. One other issue may be your shooting brass that was fired in another weapon first, the web of the case may be expanded and FL resizing is not going down far enough to resize that part of the case, thus the bolt is hard to close, throw those cases away.
 
#13
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

Dillon Rifle Case Gages

Rifle headspace case gages assist in proper size die adjustment and in checking cases for whether they need to be trimmed. Essential for long case life, especially with semi-automatic firearms. Made of stainless steel for long life.

12679_m.jpg


Stoney Point / Hornady Gage:

EB01-0814085_xl.jpg
 
#14
Re: .308 Full Length Resizing Trouble...

Well, I think I may have figured it out. I'm using a .308 case length gauge and my rifle is actually chambered in 7.62X51. I guess the subtle differences in the two translated to my brass being too long at the shoulder. I have the die set correctly now for my chamber but the brass sits ever-so-slightly deep in the case length gauge. Not below the minimum length but between minimum and maximum. I had been sizing them "flush" to the maximum initially to avoid the "primers backing out" problem I had before. Many thanks to ALL who helped!!!

The education continues.....
 
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