Lee .308 Winchester Dies... Hand loads not chambering in my 700

kuziwr

kuziwr

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Hand loaded a bunch of .308 for my 700 it seems the only brass that would work was my Remington brass... Everything was sized with the same die, trimmed with the same guide. Only difference with the RP brass and the others is the RP has a shallower shoulder angle than the rest of the brass...

Any thoughts?

Factory ammo does chamber though, any ammo, just not my hand loads.

What am I doing wrong???
 
When you run the ram to the top of its stroke while sizing a case, check to see if there is any gap between your shellholder and die. If there is, lower the ram and screw the die in another 1/16 to 1/8 turn at a time until your shellholder makes contact with the die. If that doesn't fix it then the die may be defective.
 
Your problem is headspace. The die is not sizing the case shoulder back far enough. You can turn the die in 1/4 turn at a time until you get enough sizing to allow the bolt to close on the case. Or you can invest in the proper tools to measure headspace and set your die via that method
 
Im using a Lee Full length sizing die for this one. I have the die almost touching the shell holder, maybe a piece of paper could fit in between the two when the ram is at the top of its stroke. I sharpie'd the whole shoulder of a round and tried to chamber it and the marks on the shoulder were about half way down the shoulder where it was hitting... Could it be a headspace issue? The rifle is brand new. He got it right from Wholesale Sports... Wouldn't Remington have the headspace perfect from factory?
 
If there's a gap then you're not fully sizing the case. The shoulder is not being pushed back as far as the die is capable of. It may be that the shoulders are still pushed forward by the die, this happens during sizing as the die squeezes the case diameter down it grows in length before the die pushes the shoulder back to complete the sizing. Were these fired in the rifle that they don't fit in? If they were fired in a generous chamber and are stretched excessively they will take some extra sizing to squeeze them back down without springing back. Either additional trips through the die or a small base die is the fix for that issue to get them fitting a saami or tighter chamber. I feel the problem is the die needs turned in a little more until the shellholder makes contact.
 
In the illustration below is what others have said in their postings above about pushing the shoulder back further. You need to push the case shoulder back below the red dotted line. You do this by lowering the die until the case fits the chamber, many times this means the die must make hard contact with the shell holder with the press reaching cam over.

We live in a plus and minus manufacturing world and no two chambers and dies are the same. So you adjust the die until the case fits your rifles chamber. Some times this means removing a few thousandths off the top of the shell holder to push the case further into the die.


shouldersetback_zpsrefii5sv.jpg


Below is a fired case from my AR15

headspacegauge005_zps20685e73.jpg


Below is the same case after full length resizing and bumping the shoulder back .003

headspacegauge004_zps4465b7bc.jpg


Bottom line, having gauges is a big help in letting you know the fired length and the resized length when adjusting your dies.
 
Have you checked function with factory ammo?

EDIT: Sorry, I re-read the OP and see that factory ammo does indeed chamber...therefore unlikely that the chamber is out of spec
 
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kuziwr said:
Im using a Lee Full length sizing die for this one. I have the die almost touching the shell holder, maybe a piece of paper could fit in between the two when the ram is at the top of its stroke. I sharpie'd the whole shoulder of a round and tried to chamber it and the marks on the shoulder were about half way down the shoulder where it was hitting... Could it be a headspace issue? The rifle is brand new. He got it right from Wholesale Sports... Wouldn't Remington have the headspace perfect from factory?
Click to expand...

You have been told on this post several times, turn the die down until under full pressure there is no gap between the shell holder and the die.
Now you tell us there is just a little space!
Why are you asking for advice, when you won't listen to it?
 
The problem is cartridge headspace, not chamber headspace. I don't think the OP understands that quite yet. He has stated that factory ammo chambers. Hopefully he applies what everyone here has directed and replies with his results. This exact procedure is documented very well in many reloading manuals.

This is the problem with the 'information superhighway'. One can now cherry pick as little information as possible for a given application - just enough to foster a great amount of unknowns that has the potential to turn dangerous. Not to mention all the false information out there.....

Rooster
 
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kuziwr said:
Im using a Lee Full length sizing die for this one. I have the die almost touching the shell holder, maybe a piece of paper could fit in between the two when the ram is at the top of its stroke. I sharpie'd the whole shoulder of a round and tried to chamber it and the marks on the shoulder were about half way down the shoulder where it was hitting... Could it be a headspace issue? The rifle is brand new. He got it right from Wholesale Sports... Wouldn't Remington have the headspace perfect from factory?
Click to expand...

Go google the definition of "headspace".

Headspace is measured to the middle of the shoulder. So yeah, you have a headspace issue. And the way to solve a headspace issue is to screw the sizing die down a bit at a time till the case fits into the chamber.

If you choose not to listen to the half dozen of us telling you this then we really can't help you.
 
kuziwr said:
Hand loaded a bunch of .308 for my 700 it seems the only brass that would work was my Remington brass... Everything was sized with the same die, trimmed with the same guide. Only difference with the RP brass and the others is the RP has a shallower shoulder angle than the rest of the brass...

Any thoughts?

Factory ammo does chamber though, any ammo, just not my hand loads.

What am I doing wrong???
Click to expand...

kuziwr said:
Im using a Lee Full length sizing die for this one. I have the die almost touching the shell holder, maybe a piece of paper could fit in between the two when the ram is at the top of its stroke. I sharpie'd the whole shoulder of a round and tried to chamber it and the marks on the shoulder were about half way down the shoulder where it was hitting... Could it be a headspace issue? The rifle is brand new. He got it right from Wholesale Sports... Wouldn't Remington have the headspace perfect from factory?
Click to expand...

Your rifle is brand new so I doubt you have a "rifle" headspace problem. "BUT" many here think your resized cases are too long for your chamber.

Screw the die down until it makes hard contact with the shell holder and the press cams over. And then let us know if the cases will chamber in your rifle.

Was all your brass only fired in your rifle?

Also a posting should be a informative and pleasant experience. ;)

Signed
Attila the Hun

The beatings will continue until morale improves.
 
turn the die 1/8 at a time and size the case. Technically, before you get a hard cam over, the case should fit in the rifle.
for more precision use a HS gauge, but you dont absolutely need one if you just do what we said.
 
I don't think i will get another 8th turn before the die bottoms out on the shell holder, but i will bottom it out. Is it common to need to file down the shell holder to get the extra distance?

Thanks for all the input guys
 
kuziwr said:
I don't think i will get another 8th turn before the die bottoms out on the shell holder, but i will bottom it out. Is it common to need to file down the shell holder to get the extra distance?

Thanks for all the input guys
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised how much extra you can get by hard contact with the shell holder. I'm not talking just touching the die - bring the die down to touch the shell holder at the top of the ram stroke and then turn it another 1/8th of a turn. If that isn't enough to chamber in your gun, turn another 1/8th. Trust us, you WILL get it.

If you don't try it, you won't get it. I haven't filed a shell holder yet. In only one case did I modify a die (shortened it by .005" on the surface grinder). Turns out, I had been setting my dies up incorrectly (sound familiar?). I haven't used it now for 19 years.

Rooster
 
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