.308 Brass - What's Wrong with this Picture?

[TheCracker]

I had a problem once with 308 using my lee fl sizer die. I had the die set up incorrectly. It was not making firm contact with the shell holder. Since it was not bumping the shoulder back all the way it would not chamber at all. After I pulled all 100 and resize correctly it was perfectly fine.

I suspect this is your problem. Break one down, readjust your die following lee's directions. It should work then

 

[Innovative]

TheCracker ......... +1

If you're not going to accurately measure your work, that's step number one.

 

[A Pause for the Coz]

W.E.T said, If you're not using a case gage to measure your sized cases to set up your sizing die, you're doing it wrong.

+1 to that. Different shell holders of the same brand will give different results when full length sizing. Without the gage you are pretty much clueless.

Discovered this after picking up the wrong shell holder (both shell holders are the same numbered RCBS) and sizing a ton of 5.56 brass. When I finally stopped and checked with the gage I was over the minimum. The amount I was over was less than any of my rifles chambers, but I went ahead and ran that brass through the sizing die again with the correct shell holder.

Not so sure stuff doesn't change even though it is locked down. You don't have to check every case but you need to at least spot check.

Lennie

This is what I was thinking. I quit resizing rifle brass on my Turret press and have never done it on my progressives.
I only resize rifle brass on my single stage and then I run them through a gage.

Getting the proper set back on the shoulder is important. Wont say it cant be done on a turret or progressive. But it does not work consistently enough for me.

On a turret you have give in the turret it self that has to be accounted for when setting up the die.

On a progressive... I dont see how you could set it up for a consistent resize on the shoulder. There is flex in the shell plate that changes with every round you load. because you have 4 other stations that effect it depending on their set up.
Plus if its a LNL bushing or a pinned tool head, there is play in that too.
I suppose for a bolt gun that your shooting the same cases in you may never know. But if you have multiple guns or semi autos.

Its just a whole bunch of variables to factor in I choose not to have to deal with.
A good solid full lenth size using a solid non bushed single stage work 100% of the time.

 

[kayaks]

I couldn't tell with all the replies if this was mentioned. I have a Hornady LNL Progressive press and had a similar problem with the mouth of the cases in .223. They looked like the one pictured at the post of this post.

The problem with my press was the powder measure, it was adjusted too low for the cases and was hitting the cases as they cycled through.

I also started out using a Hornady seating die and had better results going back to using my RCBS die. I had several accordion trying to seat a bullet.

 

[djwalker60]

Update !!!

Well the Jury is in......

Had issue with 100 rounds of cartridges that I reloaded because of over crimping. Because of the over crimp, the rounds wouldn't load into any .308 rifle. It was obvious that there were issues with the case, they appeared really deformed. After posting here it was pointed out to get a case head space measuring device (RCBS Micro) After checking the cartridges the head space was measured between 8 - 10, should be a zero (0) = 1.6340 according to SAAMI. So there was a major issue. I also purchased the a new RCBS small base resizing die. After making several adjustments with the height of the resizing die, I was able to get the cartridges down to either 0 or a -1.0 to -1.5.

After this I made a few dummy rounds and they loaded very easily into the a .308 bold rifle. I will remeasure all of the brass before reloading.

So.... The cartridges can be saved and so far I have resized about 30 rounds and they are usable.. So thank you to those on this site,, Had to buy a few more tools ( about $80.00 ) but was able to save the cartridges and in the future I will be able to measure .308 brass better.

Time to buy a RCBS Micrometer for 5.56 / .223

Oh, pictures attached before and after.