7.62 x 39 resizing

[gacajun]

I am trying to resize some 7.62 x 39 brass and I am having trouble with a particular head stamp. I am using a Lee depriming/resizing die that came with the 3 die set. The case goes all the way into the die but when I check it with a case gauge it does not go all the way in....stops just a little above the rim. I've attached a pic file showing the head stamp and the case gauge with a piece of brass inserted as far as it will go.

I have resized other head stamped brass just fine...it's this particular one that is causing me trouble.

 

[Gadawg88]

I had a similar problem when I started loading x39 except I only had one brand of brass I was dealing with. Some would drop in the gauge all the way and slide out with no problem, but some would not drop all the way in on their own. However, if I pushed on them or lightly tapped them with a wrench they would insert fully. This indicated it was not a headspace issue, rather the base was not being sized enough for the gauge. Mine were not sticking up as much as yours in the picture. Here is the link to the thread I started on my problem.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-740459.html

I found the third post by steve4102 the most helpful. Basically, even the rounds that would not insert into the gauge freely from gravity alone fit the chamber of my Saiga conversion and had no problems chambering or extracting. Don't know if this will help you or not, but it seems like a similar issue.

I am not familiar with that headstamp and the picture is a little fuzzy. Are you 100% certain they are 7.62x39?

 

[gacajun]

I see you are in GA....I live close to Athens.

I checked and they are indeed 7.62 x 39....the writing on the case is not the regular alphabet....may be Russian or some other alphabet.

Thanks for sharing the link to your previous thread concerning this.....I did get a few ideas from it. My main takeaway is to try it in the chamber of the rifle and see if it chambers easily. I have a Ruger Mini 30 and a Yugo AK.....I'll check both of those before proceeding any further.

 

[mstreddy]

The headstamp is NNY, what I believe to be the cyrillic equivalent of PPU which is Privi Partizan brass.

 

[Gadawg88]

I am in the burbs of ATL. That is interesting that it is PPU because the brass I was having my issue with was PPU.

 

[saitek]

it is ppu
rvi Partizan-Namenska Proizvodnja, Titovo, Uzice 31000, Yugoslavia. These are actually Cyrillic letters equal to "PPU in the Western alphabet.

 

[gacajun]

What would make this particular headstamp brass larger in diameter near the rim than other brass so that it will not go all the way down into the case checker?

 

[tyeo098]

Was PPU even making commercial boxer primed ammo in '89?
Those cases look an awful lot like my berdan conversions.

 

[LAGS]

Do they make a Small base die set in 7.62x39 ?
I had trouble with some of my .308 cases in semi autos, and that cured the problem.

 

[NuJudge]

Does the brass freely chamber in your rifle? If so, the problem is with your gauge, not with your die.

 

[gacajun]

Something else I've noticed about this brass too....the rim is a little thicker or it seems so. It is harder to put in the shell holder. I looked at them closely under a magnifying glass and I found some little raised edges which might be causing them to either not go into the shell holder or fit tightly. Do some rifles ding the edge of the rim as the brass is being extracted?

I did check some of these in my Ruger Mini 30....all would chamber but some were really hard to get out. Using the handle on the bolt to extract them was pretty hard. In some cases I had to stand the rifle vertically and hit the butt of the gunstock on my loading bench while pulling down on the little handle on the bolt....it took an extra bit of force to get it to extract.

I've got about 75-100 pieces of brass like this.

 

[Blue68f100]

Sounds like the neck area is too thick for your chamber. Mark it up with a marker or smoke it with a candle and see where it's binding. It probably would not hurt to make a seracast of your chamber so you will have the actual dimensions.

 

[Steve Marshall]

You might have banana cases, i.e. the cases are bent. Take some that fit on the snug side and look at the case mouth re. the gage. If you see a gap that varies in size, you have banana syndrome.

 

[stubbicatt]

I believe the issue is that your case gage is too narrow at the fire ring to accept your cartridges. If they chamber easily and fully in your rifle, you will know.