.308 resizing consistency issues

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Duke878

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Okay I'm still a newbie at reloading. Only done about 250 rnds of .308.

I've recently bought a WFT from a fellow CGN-er in .308 and haven't been able to get consistent trims.

I know my shoulder lengths are consistent, so I re-resized about 30 rounds of my mixed brass to try and get the shoulder lengths consistent. Then I tried to setup and trim with the WFT... still no dice.

What can I be doing wrong? I've looked at a few YouTube videos to make sure I'm resizing correctly and I'm pretty sure I am...

OH and I use Redding FL dies on a Lee single stage press, if it matters.

Thanks for the help! I'm still new so try to keep it simple :p
 
Well - Thats the point - trimming is supposed to bring the cases back to spec. - OAL, not neck dimension. You started out with mixed brass of varying OAL's...
 
cosmic said:
Well - Thats the point - trimming is supposed to bring the cases back to spec. - OAL, not neck dimension. You started out with mixed brass of varying OAL's...
Click to expand...

Okay, I know trimming brings to back to spec, but how can I resize correctly so my shoulder-base length is the same?

Yes I have mixed brass, but I tried to set up the WFT with the same stamped brass and it was still inconsistent....
 
Are you trimming then sizing
or
Size then trimming ?

If you do not have enough cam-over set up on your dies your shoulder location will change depending on the brass


Trimming brass case length should not change more than +-0.002 -----? or less

ie set up for 2.005 cases will vary from2.003 / 2.004/ -2.005-2.006 /2.007 or or 2.004-2.005-2.006 or even less
 
just having some fun said:
Are you trimming then sizing
or
Size then trimming ?

If you do not have enough cam-over set up on your dies your shoulder location will change depending on the brass


Trimming brass case length should not change more than +-0.002 -----? or less

ie set up for 2.005 cases will vary from2.003 / 2.004/ -2.005-2.006 /2.007 or or 2.004-2.005-2.006 or even less
Click to expand...

I size then trim.

I set the cam up the same for all my brass. Cam raised, insert die until touching, lower cam, then half turn tighter.

You're right, when I use my lee which does OAL, it varies +/- .002". But the WFT uses the shoulder.... all my base to shoulder lengths seem to be outta whack...
 
What might be ocuring is that some of your brass was not fired in your rifle
the rifle that it was fired in could of had a short chamber--- so when you trim with a trimmer that uses the shoulder as a stop --the brass would be shorter
 
Part of your problem is that the brass is fired in an M14.
The '14 is pretty hard on brass, with factory/commercial .308 ammo (which is generally a little on the hot side for a gun designed for 7.62 NATO), the unlocking and initial extraction happens very quickly, perhaps even before the chamber pressure has dropped enough, so the effect is that the back (head) of the hot case is being jerked to the rear, while the front (neck and shoulder) of the brass is still obturated in the chamber. This can lead to slightly inconsistent cases. Which may not be returned to exactly uniform dimensions because of the brass "spring-back"

What did you hope to gain with this new trimmer over the Lee that was working so well for you?
 
^^ ahhh that must be the issue! Yea I've seen a few dents on the shoulders of the brass that the m14 chews up.

I got the WFT because I thought it would help me speed up the trimming process.
I plan to get a bolt action .308 so I hope to reuse the WFT with that brass.

For those m14 reloaders, what trimming system do YOU use since it beats up our brass?
 
For my M14 and all 308 Win I have been sizing then using the Lee 308 case length gauge stuck in a Lee ball grip cutter and spin the brass on a Lee Zip Trim. Then chamfer and debur and reload.

thought about a WFT or Giraud. Havent spent the money yet. I have a lyman universal lathe type trimmer it was around $90. I havent been that happy with it and if I needed another manual type for the 1000yd match ammo type trimming I would consider a Forster or Wilson lathe type.
 
hk33ka1 said:
I have been sizing then using the Lee 308 case length gauge stuck in a Lee ball grip cutter and spin the brass on a Lee Zip Trim. Then chamfer and debur and reload.
Click to expand...

Does the zip trim center the case perfectly? I use the drill bit plate thing and every now and then it not perfectly center and itch a little pressure I bust my knuckle... Doesn't make for great times :p
 
For precision rifle I use the Forster, because I can neck turn too. For normal stuff I use the Lee. When I'm doing a lot of brass, I sit on the couch and watch TV with the wife and cover my lap with a towel. Untrimmed cases in a bucket on my left, then to an ice cream bucket in my lap, which I trim over/inside of to catch the mess, then I drop the trimmed case into a square rubber-maid bin at my feet. Its big so I don't have to look.
In fact the whole Lee setup is a "no-look" set up. Once I'm situated, I never have to look away.
Maybe next season I'll keep my CamelBak mouthpiece clamped in my teeth and use a large Depends too!
 
Gas gun can do strange things to your brass, you even have a hard time using the Hornady cartridge case headspace gage to set your dies up for shoulder setback or shoulder bump. The problem is the ejected cases can end up "LONGER" than your chamber depending on gas port pressure.

I just got the WFT and it works fine on my .223 cases fired in my bolt action, BUT it acts up with some of my brass fired in my AR15 "rifles" meaning my two and my sons AR15. On the AR the bolt is turning when the case is still gripping the chamber walls on ejection. And if the rifle is over gassed you can mI have read that you can still have slight chamber pressure on ejection and this blows the shoulder forward.

I have heard both of the reasons above for the "longer" cases and I'm not sure which is more correct, BUT they do get longer. Another thing that controls this type trimmer length is the shoulder angle, brass spring back after firing, annealing or softness of the brass and assorted other reasons. The WFT is meant for speed of trimming, if you want accuracy then you need a trimmer that trims from the base measurement.

I'm prepping three five gallon buckets of .223/5.56 brass and I want speed and less finger bleeding when removing crimped primer pockets and trimming to length.

trimmers.jpg


I got modern this week and everything is now machine powered to take the load off my fingers. And a few thousandths difference in case length on ammo fired in an AR15 isn't going to effect practice ammo for 100 yards or less shooting practice. It also should not effect your Chinese M14 clone either. ;)

trimmers-b.jpg


Tips on Case-Trimming from PMA Tool
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/07/tips-on-case-trimming-from-pma-tool/
 
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I haven't read all the posts here but brass can stretch at different rates, some cases may not stretch as fast and others will stretch faster, especially if you have mixed brass. If the shortest case is still within specs, you might just trim all your brass to that length. Or, trim to the spec length and leave it at that, knowing some cases will be short and will likely catch up after a few firings. That may affect your accuracy some but for hunting purposes it may not really matter much.
 
Some cases wobble in the zip trim just like they can in the hand trimmer. This is the case, sometimes a sizing issue or sometimes the case itself. They still trim and chamfer up ok, but I doubt the wobbly cases would be 1000yd match ammo regarless of trimmer used but then again theres lots of surprises in reloading.
 
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