Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Reloading Military Brass

Then you set it to deep, set the die deeper than needed to chamber in your rifle, do it to see if you can turn it down far enough to see ifn it works..
if the die won't go down any more and it won't cam over either. start over.

Get your cases to chamber if possible don't use em yet, then back off the die just so it chambers, then turn down a bit more.
Check headspace with any kind of device that fits over the neck and butts up about midway on the shoulder, lots of things work for this.

He's got a bolt action, he can set it pretty tight.
I"m with Hanco if I'm having problems like this BS get SB dies. you will like em if you use military brass a lot.

I know all that.

What I'm saying is that the "contact and quarter turn" recommended by the manufacturer of the die moved the shoulder back too far. What I simply did after that was use a comparator to measure shoulder set back, giving it about .002" room instead of a quarter-mile. That greatly extended the life. I know the chamber is in spec, I cut it and headspace gauges confirm it. The people who made the dies gave bad information.

When you fire about 2000 rounds a year, you'd like your brass to last, especially .30-06, it's not surplus any more.

I had been doing that for my ARs, both precision and the ones with 5.56 chambers, and the majority of the brass I use in these rifles is Lake City once-fired brass which is of military origin.

My press will cam over, and in no instance have I ever had to go a quarter turn to get the .002" I want, more like just past contact.

The exception may be my .45-70.....

That die setting that moves the shoulders of perfectly good brass 10 thou will fail to move the shoulder of an overstretched piece sufficiently. This is exactly what is being described.

Because springback. Folks tend to think dies move all pieces the same at a particular setting. Not so.

Which leaves you wondering if you need a SB die. So you can move shoulders......probably less. But works the brass more. Which shortens brass life on the good pieces that didn't need a SB die. The overstretched pieces then fit in your gun......great!!........whoops partial separation on first fire???

Cull the overstretched pieces first. Then you won't need a SB die. Then you can use your die to bump shoulders just enough. Then you won't have short brass life.

A case gauge can save you a lot of grief by checking your brass. Turn your FL die down 1/4 turn at a time and try chambering the resized case. I've had to do this with once fired brass that was fired in another rifle. Another thing you can try is running your brass through a 45acp carbide die to squeeze the base of the case at the web area.

Wouldn’t a slightly shorter shell holder do the same as a small base die? I have never used SB dies so I am asking.
One could file or grind down the top to allow shorter case sizing.
I have found there is a lot of difference in shell holder heights even of the same brand, which effects the case sizing.

You can push the case up farther but that will push the shoulder down, you are trying to get the bottom of the case sized.
I have been using SB dies a long time in 223, I reuse cases many times. Check inside web with a paper clip. Don't make to much of SB dies.
Op also uses a BLR all the more reason to get a SB die and be done with it. A BLR needs cases to fit without being tight or it wont cycle.
Also it would be tough to extract a half stuck case in the chamber out in the sticks. In the BLR I would just use new brass with SB die.

Some shellholders can be ground a bit. Too much and you have a stuck case. Someone on another board found 5 thou was all of it.

SB dies don't necessarily bump the shoulder more, maybe even less due to displacement of brass from below. Dies vary, just like chambers tho. One of my SB dies bumps the shoulder exactly same as the standard FL die. But not more.

I used a black marker on a case and it showed marks about 1/2" up from the base, so the case is bulged. I ordered a small based die and am going to resize them. I used a standard die, and a full length sizing die on every case, still won't load in my rifle. I also trimmed the case length. It obviously is bulged and has spring back from the standard dies. Hopefully the small based die will size them to the minimum tolerance and if there is spring back it will not exceed the maximum tolerance. Will try one more time.

Good luck to ya. You done right.
It's not unheard of to have to throw some machine gun brass away. If they are blown out that bad you won't trust to fire them anyway.
I had a BLR very nice rifles, the case needs to be sized to minimum specs to give trouble free function.
I have 50 brand new 308 cases to get you started for what I paid, if you need em holler.

what was the fit like for the unsized cases in your chamber?
would they slide in as if you were hand loading a single round?
or hang up partially inserted?

It's time to take some measurements. Get the SAAMI diagram for .308, and you calipers, and start measuring everything you can, especially on the rounds that won't chamber. You will likely find some dimension that, even after resizing, is larger than SAAMI max cartridge. You will likely have to adjust your sizing setup, or may even have a faulty sizer but that seems unlikely.

If you convince yourself that all dimensions are correct, then you have to contemplate the possibility that some dimension of the chamber is smaller than SAAMI min chamber (which will hold the max cartridge of course). That requires a chamber cast to investigate.

+1 on the small base dies. I use it on all my 7.62 reloads. Check the rounds in a Lyman checker block.

Similar and I would add that whenever I've had a problem with semi autos, bolts (usually.older Mausers) or single shot rifles it's because I didn't size them correctly. I either full length sized them and push the shoulders back too far or neck sized them and had chambering issues.

To fix my issues, I fully prepped the cases (clean, deprimed, size and trimmed) but when I sized them I did a partial full length size. That mostly fixed my issues for all actions except semi automatics. With those, an ammo checker and or comparer tool has kept me honest. Never had a problem after that.

Sierra Bulletsmiths will tell you (cause they are always telling me) all reloading should be done using a PFLS method.

HaYen

I didn't think anything about it but reloaded 100 rounds that won't work. AND I crimped the case, so pulling bullets is a pain. I have 300 more cases, but will only try to drop the empty cases in my bolt gun and if it closes and chambers and ejects them, I know they will work. It is time consuming, but hate to waste 300 rounds of brass.

I'm going to try the kinetic bullet puller on the others, as the die puller just will not work. Hate to waste the bullets (fmj) and powder. worse case will use a copper tubing cutter to destroy the cases to get the powder and try to get the bullets out, maybe with a Drimmil tool after cutting them open.

The only time I have needed a small base sizer die was for .308 military brass that I had acquired to feed my son's FAL. Using a regular sizing die did not work, so I tried a small base die that a cousin had bought for use in a .308 lever rifle. It took well lubed cases and a lot of pressure, but the cases came out useable and have not needed the small base die ever again.

@dixie_Dude I use the RCBS Collet bullet puller. To me it's a lot less fustrating than pounding the crud out of the kinetic. I also break the crimp first using a seating die (seat to loaded round than back out one full turn if the die; seat the stem on the bullet and add 1/8 of a turn). Breaking the crimp makes it easier to pull.

Thanks for the tip on the small based die. Got it in and worked some through. Some were really hard so I worked them, re-lubed and worked them in again until I could work them all the way in and out a couple of times. Anyway, they load fine in my rifle now.

I have a RCBS Collet bullet puller. I'm not sure what you mean HaYen? Seat the loaded round in seating die first? Are you saying push the bullet in more, then it will come out?

Yes push the bullet in a bit with yer seating die before trying to take the bullet out, it breaks the grip of the case on the crimp. Then pull the bullet.
ESP. if using a hammer puller.