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Greenhorn loader here..

Shot once from a 99 .308, and resized. The sign was there before resizing.
Is this normal or do I have a problem?
Is this a concern at this point, or normal wear for a 99 in .308?
About 75 pieces, all show the same marking. R&B brass, probably from manufactured ammo and saved.

Thank you.

Excess headspacing... either the brass has been set back too much, or the rifle has developed too much headspace.

Those look pretty bad. May want to feel in them with a dental pick or paperclip and toss the ones that you can feel a heavy groove in, or you'll wind up with head splits or separation.

*added* hot loads greatly exacerbate the problem, but if it's really bad even midrange loads will end up splitting brass after a couple loadings.

That looks like a "kaboom" looking for a date/time/place to happen. Too much danger potential for me to feel comfortable shooting. Do once fired factory load cases show the same sign of incipient separation?

99s aren't known for their escaping gas handling, so a really good pair of shooting glasses might save your sight if you have a case let go and blow the cheeks out of the stock. Makes me nervous just to think about it.

You can make that work if you don't full length resize. Adjust the die to just bump the shoulder on fired brass. I had one like that and got by with that for a long time. See more .308s like that any other.


Start with some new brass and toss that stuff.

Having my 300 split a handful of cases was enough for me to decide to get it rebarreled. Never blew out the stock, but it was not a good time, especially being a lefty. It was bad enough a couple of the splits were brand new brass.

Use something like this to feel inside the case near the head to find a separation ring groove forming.

The brass has been set back too far? How do you control that?
I’m going to inspect other once fired brass and see if it is the same. The only .308 I have is that 99

The brass has been set back too far? How do you control that?
I’m going to inspect other once fired brass and see if it is the same. The only .308 I have is that 99

I have 25 once fired Federal shot with the same rifle, not nearly as apparent? Is there something I could have done last reload to cause that?

Brass set back to far???

Other R&P, different batch.
I wonder if I had bought some somewhere and bought some worn out brass??
Not as bad but showing the same effect

I’m going to trash that first group, load up the Federal and see what they come out like next round.

That looks like the swell that occurs when the chamber is a few thousandths bigger than the brass down near the head.

What manner of sizing die are you using? Would it be a small base die by chance?

So I should try adjusting the die so it only forms 50% of the case, and adjust the primer pin out further?

Back your sizer die way off, run one through, and see if it will chamber. If won't, keep working it down a little bit at a time and trying until it will. Once you get to where one will, try a handful more, and if they'll all chamber, leave the die there.

Those head bulges are headspace related, so it's either oversizing brass, the chamber, or a combination of both. Rear locking rifles are generally a lot more touchy about overly resized brass than front locking bolts.

Bulges are not necessarily headspace related.

I’ll try resizing as suggested.

Thank you for all the advice, I’m glad I asked!!

Taking a measurement like this before firing, after firing and after sizing may be informative.

Thank you, I’ll do that.

Ordered some new Winchester tonight, but I’ll load that federal as soon as I prep the brass and experiment around resizing. Glad I asked before priming!

Notice exactly how I've placed the brass. The rim is not being measured. On new brass the greatest diameter will occur just at the edge of the extractor groove. After firing there will be an expanded ring, maybe very slight, a little bit forward of the extractor groove. That is a telltale of how the brass and chamber fit together. After sizing the expanded ring may or may not be completely removed.