Military Brass-2 Issues

[Pointman308]

I just ran into a gob of military brass. I have been taking out the crimp in the primer pockets with a Lyman crimp remover, but they still go in hard as shit. I'm wasting a lot of match primers. Also I noticed my first 50 rounds through my Savage are really hard to lock the bolt down. I am using Hornady Resizing dies. I have noticed that my Savage has always been a lot tighter than my Rem. 700. Does anyone else have this problem. Any suggestion. I have done some reading, but could not find any answsers.

 

[Heman]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

As far as the primer pockets I use a Dillon tool and if I don't remove enough of the crimp they do go in hard. Can you adjust to take more crimp out?

As far as caming the bolt are you pushing back the shoulder enough? When I went through a very quick neck sizing only phase on my prone rifles I started noticing this.

Other things is the brass to long? Do you have a factory chamber or is a custom chamber. If the later maybe you have to much neck thickness. Just trying to think of options here.

The military brass is fine to use just have to make sure you get it sized back down properly especially if it is machine gun fired.

 

[1Sg (ret)]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

Make sure your dies are set per instructions.Most people use small base resizing dies with military brass.What lube do you use?Most .308 military brass is fired in a machine gun Thus excessive headspace issues.I have had success by sizing the brass all the way down.Then on the up stroke once you get the brass out of the neck sizing part.Rotate the brass 180 degrees and size it all the way down again.Get you a case guage to put the brass into the guage to make sure it is sized properly.If it doesnt fit it may need more attention in the sizing die.If you have several .308 rifles some of the brass may fit in one chamber and not in the other.You may have to sort.Once you get it to fit in the chamber of choice and fire it once it should size eaiser the second firing.Then watch for casehead separation.Hope this helps.

 

[nso123]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

I just got an RCBS primer pocket swager to use on a bunch of military brass I had. You have to adjust it until you get it just right. Are you using a Lyman hand cutting tool? If so, you may want to change to a different tool like the RCBS or Dillon. As far as chambering tight, are you full length sizing? I use a single stage press on the sizing of rifle brass because I can "feel" it better. Like 1Sg(ret) said, if it feels tight coming out, I size it a second time.

 

[2ndPanzer]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

Look at the base of the brass, it may have bent rims from extraction, I have seen that with M60 fired brass, not so much with M240 fired. Or SAW. BUT, it will make the bolt hard to close as you describe and it isnt a sizing or shoulder issue. The only way to fix it is to fire it. With Military brass thats been MG fired I like to size it down 100% and shoot it with a plinker bullet in one of my other rifles then size as normal and prep and these problems all go away.

Check your rims..

 

[Pointman308]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

Thanks for the replies everyone, I appreciate them. When I get some new brass that has already been fired either out of a machine gun or other rifles I do a full length resize. I think I will trying turning them 180 degress and running them through again though. I have noticed after the first firing they drop back down in size and then I can usually just do a neck size on them about 4 or 5 cycles. As far as the primer crimp I guess I'll get one of these other tools(maybe RCBS)and give it a try. Im not sure if its the Federal Match primers I use or not? Thanks for the replies.

 

[Heman]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

There are primers that do fit tighter. I know Wolf (now Tula) primers fit tighter due to being slightly larger in diameter.

 

[George63]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

here is a list I made a while back so current production may vary:

Rem 9 1/2 -----------.211
CCI 34 --------------.212
wolf -----------------.211
magtech 9 1/2 --------.212
WLRM --------------- .209
WLR ----------------- .206
CCI BR2 -------------- .211

if you are looking for maximum cycles on the brass, it is better to keep the primer pockets small - if these dimensions still hold, maybe try some Win primers instead of enlarging the pockets

 

[High Binder]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

I personally don't like to swage my pockets, rather I like to cut the crimp out. Now I only buy match brass so that's not an issue but for years I played with it one once fired and cutting the crimp was the best method.

 

[Pointman308]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

Update: I bought an RCBS swaging tool for my press and it works like a charm. Now the work begins!

 

[l115a3]

Re: Military Brass-2 Issues

Give a try with K&M Primer Pocket Reamer.