My first attempt reloading .308 is pissing me off

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So I've been reloading for a couple years now, numerous pistol calibers as well as .223

So I try my first kick at the can today reloading .308, and I've been met with a few stumbling blocks. First I'm using the following:
Winchester once fired factory brass
Hornady 168 gr bullets
CCI 200 large rifle primers
Lee .308 dies
RCBS hand primer

So my first level of frustration is with priming my brass. Depriming no issue, but when trying to seat the primer some would go in smooth as butter, and others would not fit, and using a little more pressure than one should need to the primers crush. So I thought hey I'll just get a deburing tool and give it a turn in the primer pocket and that seemed to do the trick (for the most part).

So I measure out my powder and get everything all tuned up and once I seat the bullet in the case to the minimum overall length of 2.80 the round won't fit in the chamber. I can get it about 90% in but stops. So I get the next brass and the bullet pretty much falls into the case so I'm thinking it can't be the diameter of the neck when the bullets seated because I can chamber the brass no problem before hand. So I seat the bullet with a very gentle crimp just to hang on the bullet. Again the round barely chambers and is hard to eject. Upon looking at the neck once out of the chamber I can see scuffing on the neck indicating some serious friction between the neck of the case and the chamber.

The completed bullet looks good, brass looks good but I can't figure this out.

Does win brass suck or should not seat the bullet to the minimum length, or am I a frickin moron and missing something??

Your suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.
 
your 1st problem. the primer pocket is crimped and it needs to be removed
2nd problem.lower handle turn your sizing die all the way down till it hits the shellholder and move the handle up and turn the die 1/4 of inch lower. just do these and you should be fine.
 
How dies one remove a crimp on the primer pocket? Or is my method the correct way?
I've followed the instructions to the letter for setting up the die, but something is still out of sorts. I have some steel cased rounds which are just a hair shorter than 2.80 and they chamber fine. I'm wondering if I should make the OAL a little longer? Thanks for the info
 
Remove the crimp with Primer Crimp Removal tool/reamer. Looks like a primer hole cleaner . Comes in small and large just like the primer pocket cleaner
Clint
 
What was the brass "once fired" in? I got some once fired brass that I had to full length size twice in order to push the shoulders far enough back (and have them hold there) for them to chamber easily in my Sako. The original gun they were fired out of apparently had a pretty sloppy chamber. For me, it was the shoulders. I've never had an issue with primer pockets though (knock on wood).
 
Try Just a resized brass
no primer
no powder
no bullet
and see if it will chamber
if it will not (your resizing setup is set up wrong)
2.800 is a max length
each rifle is different yours could be shorter and a 2.800 length might not feed from the mag
 
jjkelowna said:
What was the brass "once fired" in? I got some once fired brass that I had to full length size twice in order to push the shoulders far enough back (and have them hold there) for them to chamber easily in my Sako. The original gun they were fired out of apparently had a pretty sloppy chamber. For me, it was the shoulders. I've never had an issue with primer pockets though (knock on wood).
Click to expand...

Factory ammo fired in same rifle. Without doing anything to the brass, the empty casing will chamber and extract nicely. It's just when I seat the projectile is when it won't fit.
 
You may need to use a small-base sizer depending on what the brass was once-fired out of. It tends to get the brass closer to factory spec with the drawback that it tends to work-harden it more than usual. Of course, after the brass is fireformed for your rifle, you could use the die you have.

EDIT: Didn't see the above post. My answer is invalid.
 
just having some fun said:
Try Just a resized brass
no primer
no powder
no bullet
and see if it will chamber
if it will not (your resizing setup is set up wrong)
2.800 is a max length
each rifle is different yours could be shorter and a 2.800 length might not feed from the mag
Click to expand...

According to my Reloading manual the Minimum is 2.80, but I may go shorter to see what happens.
 
Don't fire any reload that is tight on chamber to cartridge neck clearance. Pressures will increase dramatically, ... this ... if the lack of neck clearance is even detectable on bolt close.

Smoke a resized empty case with a bic lighter and carefully chamber it. Look for telltale rub/shiney spots where binding may be present.

Seat a bullet in another unprimed sized case, and repeat the smoke/chamber drill.
A dial micrometer, and a magnifying glass, may help you in your detective efforts.

Unless you have a very tight chamber neck/short throat, ... sounds to me like a die issue.

Hard to say exactly what the problem is, but a die caused bulge in the case's shoulder area, is not unheard of.


As to OAL?, smoke a seated bullet, to see if the length is a problem in your rifle's chamber/and/or throat.
Some .308's won't tolerate a full 2.8" OAL, with some bullets, in my experience.

Handloading devil's, ... are often in the details. :confused:
 
To set up your die screw it down until it touches the ram in the up, over cammed position. Then turn it in a little more so there is a little resistance when you over cam the handle. This should resize the brass properly and bump the shoulder back slightly.

You can remove the primer crimp with a deburring tool like you have been doing. However like you have found out sometimes you remove the crimp completely and sometimes you don't. That is why you are getting some primers that go in easy while others are a little tight. Not a big problem unless you are crushing the primer putting it in.

2.800 is mag length for the .308. Once you get the brass resizing problem sorted out, you will probably find you will be able to seat these bullet out farther it you plan to single load them instead of using the mag.

You do not need to crimp the case for 168's or any match bullet.
 
Didnt know Win crimped their primers...

Have you trimmed the brass? Dont go by oal in your manual, as the book doesn't know how short your throat is. Try seating a bullet in an unsized case and see how far the rifling pushes the bullet in.
 
Are you measuring your brass? What is your oal on the re sized brass. I have found that some brands of factory ammo after fireing is way to long for reloading and need to be trimmed. Also some bullets have to be seated deeper because of the ogive is higher than others.
 
Over crimping the brass will cause the shoulder to bulge, as i have found out when trying to crimp my .30-30 rounds. I will make a dummy round for my rifle to figure out seating depth before I even begin sizing the rest. I start at the max col and worked my way down until it chambers smoothly and cycles in the mag. I am in the process of reloading .308 right now and have had no problems using these methods to figure out my seating depth. Setup for the dies for sizing is no more than a 1/8 to 1/4 turn in after the ram is at is longest travel or touching the base of the die. lower the handle and turn in your die 1/8 to 1/4 turn. As others have stated you should feel a slight resistance when the ram contacts the base of the die. My new brass has hit and miss on seating primers but only had one that required excessive seating pressure by hand.
 
So an empty case chambers. But when you seat a bullet its sticky. Loosen the bullet seating die up a few turns. Insert a case in the press and lift it into the seating die. Screw down the die till it touches the case. 1/8 turn more and lock it down.
I say this because sometime the seating die is down too far and it is crimping the bullet and then it bulges the case because the bullet can go in no further, due to the crimp.
Hope this helps.
 
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