Well this is frustrating... .308 not fitting in case gauge.

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Wow, I thought I was the only one having this problem. I have the same EXACT issue with my .308 and the Sheridan gauge. What's even stranger is that all of the rounds fit flawlessly into my Dillon case gauge. While firing some rounds as a test, I had to remove a stuck round from my Remington model 700, but then stopped shooting until I figured out the issue (I still haven't). I am using Hornady dies in my Dillon 750 press. I have over 300 rounds built, and easily 50% of them have the same problem. I guess I have no choice but to un-build all suspect rounds and start with fresh brass. Very frustrating...
 
If the brass is the culprit buy a Body Die like the Redding Bushing Die minus the bushing. This die will allow you to size the brass without disassembly. It does not touch the neck. Just the body and shoulder. All my Redding dies seam to run on the small size like a SB.
 
That’s a problem with small base or ill fitting dies’ gross under sizing not only at the base but the case shoulder junction as well.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.
 
South Prairie Jim said:
How would you approach the OP question and please share your suggestions.
Thx in advance
J
Click to expand...

It's already been answered by others above. Since you didn't read all the posts (that's ok, I don't always read all the posts in a long thread). Others have suggested trying a different die first and see if the problem still persists. If a different die fixes the issue then his (original) die was out of spec.

The reason this should be tried before your suggestion is that if it is the die then new brass won't fix the issue.
 
packetloss said:
It's already been answered by others above. Since you didn't read all the posts (that's ok, I don't always read all the posts in a long thread). Others have suggested trying a different die first and see if the problem still persists. If a different die fixes the issue then his (original) die was out of spec.

The reason this should be tried before your suggestion is that if it is the die then new brass won't fix the issue.
Click to expand...
I read the important posts.;) and I say this in jest..
Added. I have seen dies that did not match a chamber reamer very well but that doesn’t mean they were out of spec.
 
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ManFromMontana said:
Wow, I thought I was the only one having this problem. I have the same EXACT issue with my .308 and the Sheridan gauge. What's even stranger is that all of the rounds fit flawlessly into my Dillon case gauge. While firing some rounds as a test, I had to remove a stuck round from my Remington model 700, but then stopped shooting until I figured out the issue (I still haven't). I am using Hornady dies in my Dillon 750 press. I have over 300 rounds built, and easily 50% of them have the same problem. I guess I have no choice but to un-build all suspect rounds and start with fresh brass. Very frustrating...
Click to expand...
I've seen a lot of people saying this is bad brass or bad dies. The common denominator usually turns out to be spray lubes. When you are full length sizing brass the down stroke is pushing the case into the die which sizes down the case and bumps back the shoulder. The upstroke pulls the decapping rod and sizing button back through the case mouth. If you have a lot of friction the case will not fully seat to the base into the die on the way in, and then will stretch the neck on the way back out resulting in inconsistent cases. The difference in pressure needed to full-length size larger bottleneck cases, especially those oversized from machine gun firing, is huge between the sprayed lanolin and manually applied machine oils or waxes (pad or rag on body, brush in neck). Your press has leverage and should size with little effort. If you have to push or pull hard change the lube before changing dies or brass.
 
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OOC:
- Did GravelRider (the OP) ever 'unstick' :confused: that SB die ?
- Did it solve the problem ? :)


(post: Remind me what lube's being used....)

,
 
FYI I had this very issue with and was able to speak with Brad directly the owner and creator of Sheridan Gauges. I sent him a piece brass and the case gauge back and he looked at both as we both thought it was the rim. Turned out to be not the rim he offered to open the case mouth on my gauge but it wouldn't be minimum saami spec then. It would still be within spec just not minimum. I told him NO but appreciated his effort as it was not his problem. A great mind machinist friend of mine (both in the Corps together) had me send him my dies and shell holder I was using. Guess what it was or at least fixed it for me. My shell holder was to thick he took off .06thou and when I got it all back everything was perfect. I ran into this problem again with 224 Valkyrie took a few thou off the shell holder and magic it worked. Just my experience hope it helps.
 
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Have you tried anything like this to see what the rifle is happy with?



At this point I would do the above first without the decaping pin and expander, just to eliminate that variable from the beginning.
 
I have tried that jmorris, but thanks for the video. All of the brass that sticks in the Sheridan case gauge also cause my rifle to be very sad..
 
ManFromMontana said:
I have tried that jmorris, but thanks for the video. All of the brass that sticks in the Sheridan case gauge also cause my rifle to be very sad..
Click to expand...

More a question for the OP but where is the point of contact or where exactly does it “stick”?
 
Sorry about the delay in replying here. I got the Redding SB die in the mail. I resized a couple of cases, and they now fit in the case gauge without issues.

I also purchased an RCBS shell holder, as that was suggested here a couple of times. I was using Lee shell holders with the RCBS die.

I did use some unique case lube without much of a change, but I only tried it on a couple of shells

I plan on taking cases that didn't fit in the case gauge and try a few different things to see if it's just an issue of needing a SB die for MG brass.

1. SB die + Lee shell holder + One Shot
2. SB die + RCBS shell holder + One shot
3. SB die + Lee shell holder + Unique lube
4. SB die + RCBS shell holder + Unique lube
5. FL die + Lee shell holder + One Shot
6. FL die + RCBS shell holder + One shot
7. FL die + Lee shell holder + Unique lube
8. SFL die + RCBS shell holder + Unique lube

I'll report back if it appears the shell holder or lube make any difference. I likely won't get to this for a few weeks, as I'll be on vacation for a couple of weeks.
 
Well I thought I would post an update to this ongoing frustrating situation...

I managed to score a set of Dillon .308 dies for my 750 progressive. After a re-running the suspect brass through (again), about 20% of them seem to now fit inside the Sheridan case gauge. The rest are still the same. So I bought a Redding sizing die. Ran the bad brass thru again. Same issue. I then bought Lee die. Again, same issue. So...
  1. Hornady Die - no go.
  2. Redding Die - no go.
  3. Lee die - no go.
  4. Dillon die - better, but ultimately only about 20% improvement.
I still haven't tried the RCBS SB die, but at this point they seem the only ones I haven't tried....so what the heck. I'll buy one and see what happens.

The most frustrating part is I can't seem to figure out why. I even brought the brass, case gauge etc. to my reloading friends (who have decades of experience) and none of them could come up with a solution either. I'll follow up when I try again.
 
ManFromMontana said:
Well I thought I would post an update to this ongoing frustrating situation...

I managed to score a set of Dillon .308 dies for my 750 progressive. After a re-running the suspect brass through (again), about 20% of them seem to now fit inside the Sheridan case gauge. The rest are still the same. So I bought a Redding sizing die. Ran the bad brass thru again. Same issue. I then bought Lee die. Again, same issue. So...
  1. Hornady Die - no go.
  2. Redding Die - no go.
  3. Lee die - no go.
  4. Dillon die - better, but ultimately only about 20% improvement.
I still haven't tried the RCBS SB die, but at this point they seem the only ones I haven't tried....so what the heck. I'll buy one and see what happens.

The most frustrating part is I can't seem to figure out why. I even brought the brass, case gauge etc. to my reloading friends (who have decades of experience) and none of them could come up with a solution either. I'll follow up when I try again.
Click to expand...

Where is the brass failing in the gauge? base, neck/shoulder area? If neck and shoulder try anneaiing, it will reduce the spring back.
 
GravelRider said:
The brass is all once fired, ordered online.
Click to expand...

All this could have be avoided by just buying NEW BRASS. :)

Some available at Midwayusa. $1 each or more. :(

Lots of factory ammo for sale also at Midwayuse .

Have you tried factory ammo? This could be a gun problem. New gun-Always test fire first with a NEW box of factory ammo.
 
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31D56116-4600-46AC-8C2D-D4EFC042CC75.jpeg There are three areas to measure and monitor on brass.
Base - .200 line and Case shoulder junction are monitored with a caliper, typically a .002 reduction will be enough unless fired in a MG
Length from the base to a datum near the shoulder we use a headspace comparator of various designs to determine when and how much to size. When we fire cases they grow both directions so it’s important understand what’s happening and how to correct it.
Clues are heavy or firm bolt lift ? Increase sizing at the base and shoulder.
Firm bolt closer- indicates it’s time to bump the dreaded shoulder back.
Annealing or softening the brass won’t help the base but may help the shoulder.
Brass takes on memory that a press/die has to overcome.
 
@South Prairie Jim (BTW - nice to see a fellow Montanan around these parts...). The measurements I make on the bad brass seems to be all over the map. VERY small deviations just above the base, but then again, some of the "good" brass measures the same as the bad stuff. Go figure.
In my Remington 700, the bad rounds cause VERY firm bolt closures...so much so that I cannot even close the bolt with the more egregious culprits. The rifle is about 7 years old and has been used extensively. More details to follow...
 
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