Hornady 308 Die Problems

[Slamfire]

You have a lube problem. Short and simple, the lubricants you are using do not provide enough lubrication. I use RCBS water soluble, and I can recommend Imperial Sizing wax.

BTW, this is all federal once-fired brass from a M1A with a Krieger barrel.

And as you suspected, this barrel has a big chamber. My bolt gun gunsmith told me that Krieger M1a barrels made a special reamer that cuts the chamber extra large in the case head. They did this for a purpose: TO ADVOID LAWSUITS.!

Kreiger does not want any lawsuits from reloaders who will have out of battery slamfires due to improperly sized ammunition.

There are a lot of reloaders who use Federal primers, size with standard dies, and don't use case gages to set up their dies. A number of these guys are very adamant that they know best. A very small number of these guys will blow their rifles to pieces, and go to court, because it has to be someone’s elses fault.

Clint’s Fowler’s opinion is that reloading for gas guns is too dangerous, and he does not recommend it. Probably influenced by the number of accidents he sees, and that he builds match rifles.

http://www.fulton-armory.com/

M1 Garand pages/Garand FAQ articles/ Reloading for gas guns

Worth reading his opinion on the matter.

 

[ranger335v]

With good lube and a willingness to push, we can put a .308 case into and out of a FL die (with the decap assembly removed) for 22-250.

What this problem needs is a good sizing lube, properly applied, not something from a spray can. It seems most such spray lube problems are due to a failure to shake/mix the can contents well before using it, resulting in applying a good coat of propellant but little or no lube on the cases.

 

[243winxb]

I use RCBS water soluble

Me Too. Order the RCBS lube, pad and neck brush Kit. http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=744565 But could be a bad die.

 

[30Cal]

And as you suspected, this barrel has a big chamber. My bolt gun gunsmith told me that Krieger M1a barrels made a special reamer that cuts the chamber extra large in the case head. They did this for a purpose: TO ADVOID LAWSUITS.!

Depends on who finishes the chamber. Kreiger is not the only place you can have install and chamber a Kreiger barrel. Mine (on my Supermatch) is as tight as they come.

 

[Slamfire]

Depends on who finishes the chamber. Kreiger is not the only place you can have install and chamber a Kreiger barrel. Mine (on my Supermatch) is as tight as they come.

You are correct. I made the assumption that the blank was a Kreiger short chambered M1a barrel. That may have been incorrect assumption. If the barrel started as a blank tube, then an entirely different rougher and finishing reamer could have been used.

Before Kreiger offered short chambered barrels, I know SA offered discounted Kreiger M1a barrels at Camp Perry. SA has barrel specials during the National Matches, of which I have taken advantage . SA has the ability to make M1a barrels from blanks, or at least, they have a subcontractor that does. When SA rebarreled a M1a for me, they used a Clymer reamer to finish the chamber. Maybe that is the chamber on your Supermatch.

If it is, there is nothing oversized about it.

 

[Jon_Snow]

I ended up sending in my dies to Hornady. They couldn't find anything wrong with them, but they polished them anyways. I got them back and still couldn't get a case to size. So I tacked some Imperial sizing wax on my most recent Midway order. Now I feel really dumb. The cases go in just fine with this stuff. Thanks to everyone who had suggestions.

 

[Kernel]

All's well that ends well.