Aguila .308 brass problem.

[mmb617]

I'm wondering if anyone else has problems with reloaded Aguila brass being hard to eject from a .308 bolt gun.

I bought my first rifle chambered in .308 a couple months ago. It's a Savage Axis II. Since I didn't have any components on hand for that caliber I bought 5 boxes of factory ammo thinking I'd then use the brass from that 100 rounds to start reloading. With the ammo situation I bought what was available and that was 2 boxes of Federal 150 grain 308 Winchester and 3 boxes of 150 grain Aguila 7.62x51. All rounds of both brands of factory ammo worked without problems, but I wasn't getting the accuracy I thought I should. Since my rifle has a 1:10 twist I thought it would work better with some heavier bullets so I bought some 168 grain HPBT to load.

Since I had H335 on hand I used that and loaded 40 grains to start. I ran into a problem with some of the rounds when I tried to eject them. I could easily rotate the bolt up but could not pull it back without a lot of effort or even a few taps from my small plastic hammer. I didn't see signs of over pressure but didn't know what else it could be. So I loaded up another batch using 39 grains of H335, but that didn't solve the problem either. Then I tried 38 grains of H335 which is below the recommended starting load and still had the problem.

I hadn't been paying much attention to head stamps to this point, but some rounds ejected easily and some were really hard to get out so I took note and sure enough there was no problem with any of the Federal .308 brass but there was a problem with all the Aguila 7.62 brass.

Next I considered that H335 is not ideal for my .308 with 168 grain bullets so I bought some BL-C(2) thinking a slower powder would be better. I loaded up 20 rounds of each brass with 44 grains which is the recommended starting load. All 20 of the Federals ejected without drama and all 20 of the Aguilas stuck. Side note - the accuracy was much better with the heavier bullets.

At this point I'm not loading any more of the Aguila brass, but I wonder if anyone else has had a similar problem with it. Other than the additional step of swaging the primer pockets on the 7.62 brass the prep was identical on both. Sizing die set the same, trim length the same, COL the same. I can't wrap my head around what the problem is. It's not a big deal as I've just bought 250 pcs of once fired Win .308 brass so I don't need to use the Aguila brass, I'm just curious.

 

[TEXASJD]

1. Check the neck thickness of the brass
2. Check the OAL of the brass

 

[gifbohane]

I usually discard all Aguila brass.

 

[AJC1]

I'm not a fan of that brand at all. It's cheap and people buy it because of that. If you can still find the Norma white tail for 24 dollars a box you'll not regret it.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

I usually discard all Aguila brass.

Yep every single issue I've had in 9mm is aguila.
It bulges out right below the base of the bullet.
Loaded up about 2k worth of 45acp, same thing.

Now that crap goes in the recycling bin.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I've never seen it in 7.62x51, but haven't had any issues with it in other calibers (but it's a small sample size)
It's actually one of my favorites to load in 30carbine

 

[243winxb]

High pressure may expand brass near the case head. The die may not size that area enough. A small base die may be needed. Brass fired in a different gun may also need a small base die.

The camming action of the bolt, on opening, makes it seem like hard extraction. Can be hard to tell the difference.

Open bolt slowly and watch. The cam will move the bolt back about 1/8" more.

Axis -

I hope thats the cam? Much easier to see on Rem 700.

 

[Engineer1911]

My Aguila brass has a horrible crimped primer and very tight primer pockets. I found a good supply of Federal 308 range brass and very looked back. I tumbled to clean, annealed the necks, resized and primed on Dillon 550, trimmed to length, deburred neck ID, reloaded with 42,? grains of IMR 4895 powder and 168 grain BTHP bullets. 5 shot group is less than 1/2" at 100 yards.

Rifle and loaded ammo is going to shooting school end of September.

 

[mmb617]

Thanks to all who offered input. Since the problem existed with every round of Aguila brass, I dumped that brass in the scrap bin. I've since bought some mixed commercial headstamp brass from Diamond K that is all .308, no mil-spec, no Aguila. I've loaded 50 rounds of that and if I get a break from the rain I'll try it out today. I'm reasonably confident there will be no problems.

 

[gwpercle]

Thanks to all who offered input. Since the problem existed with every round of Aguila brass, I dumped that brass in the scrap bin. I've since bought some mixed commercial headstamp brass from Diamond K that is all .308, no mil-spec, no Aguila. I've loaded 50 rounds of that and if I get a break from the rain I'll try it out today. I'm reasonably confident there will be no problems.

As soon as it becomes available , pick up a supply of brand new Star-Line cases ...
quality brass that will go a long way to consistent loadings and no problems like ...that "other" brand .
Mixed once fired range brass is okay ... but for accurate loads and proper load development nothing beats a batch of new Star-Line cases to work with ... life is short and new brass isn't that expensive .
I've ordered my last two orders directly from Star-Line ... they were in stock and promptly sent
357 Magnum and 38 Special but 308 may be in-stock now ,

www.starlinebrass.com

Gary

 

[FROGO207]

I can understand why you stopped trying to make things work. I, on the other hand would try to figure out just what the problem is so going forward if it happens again with another brand or caliber of brass I would know what to look for. I have an extremely small sampling of Aguila brass sprinkled throughout my whole reloading brass supply (other than a bunch of 38 SPL) I have never noticed a problem with any of them so far. Thank you for posting about your problems OP.

 

[AJC1]

I can understand why you stopped trying to make things work. I, on the other hand would try to figure out just what the problem is so going forward if it happens again with another brand or caliber of brass I would know what to look for. I have an extremely small sampling of Aguila brass sprinkled throughout my whole reloading brass supply (other than a bunch of 38 SPL) I have never noticed a problem with any of them so far. Thank you for posting about your problems OP.

If he bought the brass factory loaded and shot it only in his gun, not range pickups that can require tons of problem resolution, it's probably cheaper and easier to just move forward. If the problem reappears under another brand, then figuring it out is worth it. I trust this brass less than new production winchester and that's not a lot.

 

[FROGO207]

Got ya. It would take lots of precious resources when we are in a component drought at the present though. Guess I have too much time on my hands as the OCD part of me would want to figure it out. Just so I know what's up.

He did buy that as factory ammo and shoot it in his rifle with no problems before reloading it with said problems.

 

[Random 8]

I know the OP has resolved his issue, but others read these posts so I'll reply.

I have had issues with Aguila brass in 7.62 (and other calibers). The problem based on measurements before and after sizing were traced to brass springback. The Aguila was springing back from the sizing die to around maximum dimensions for my chamber. Using a modified shellholder I use for case forming, I was able to undersize the brass slightly and it worked OK but still occasional difficult extraction. I believe a small base die if I owned such an animal would have solved my issue also, but as with the OP, the scrap bucket was a simpler solution for such a common caliber of brass.

In 9mm I have found at least 3 distinct species of Aguila brass. "Normal," "ring," and "cannelure." The normal shows no outward signs of modification and works...normally. The Ring is flat garbage. There is a deep ring impressed into the case that causes a healthy bulge in less you are loading a very short bullet shank into case. The "cannelure" exibits a heavy cannelure that will cause issues in a tight chambered handgun. My FNS eats it without complaint, the wife's CZP07 and my FM90 require an occasional forward assist on the slide or they will choke these cases. This only seems to be true on the first reload, after that the cannelure is ironed out enough to cause no issue. On first reloading a very slight bulge at the cannelure is visually evident and quantifiable.

 

[mmb617]

I went to the range yesterday and fired 30 rounds of the mixed commercial brass I'd bought from Diamond K with no problems, so I don't feel bad about scrapping the 60 Aguila cases. I still have the 40 pieces of Federal .308 brass plus the 215 pieces I bought from Diamond K. Now that I've confirmed that the Diamond K brass works I'll order another 200+ and that should give me all the .308 brass I'll need for the foreseeable future as I only have one rifle that uses that caliber.

I don't know how many cycles I'll get out of a piece of .308 brass yet since I only recently got into that caliber but if it's even close to my .223 brass I'll be well set. I anneal my bottle neck cases at each reloading and .223 brass seems to last forever.

 

[AJC1]

I went to the range yesterday and fired 30 rounds of the mixed commercial brass I'd bought from Diamond K with no problems, so I don't feel bad about scrapping the 60 Aguila cases. I still have the 40 pieces of Federal .308 brass plus the 215 pieces I bought from Diamond K. Now that I've confirmed that the Diamond K brass works I'll order another 200+ and thaif t should give me all the .308 brass I'll need for the foreseeable future as I only have one rifle that uses that caliber.

I don't know how many cycles I'll get out of a piece of .308 brass yet since I only recently got into that caliber but if it's even close to my .223 brass I'll be well set. I anneal my bottle neck cases at each reloading and .223 brass seems to last forever.

If your not hot enough to bend rims and blow out primer pockets 8-10 loadings isn't unreasonable. Bolts get longer life than semiautomatics and both need to be checked for head separation.