Headspace guage

spyderchop

spyderchop

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Hello

I have a lyman headspace guage and I have a few old 308 brass

That even after full length resize still won't quite fit in guage

My question is are these cases now no good? Have about 200 others that are perfect

Thx
 
Try to resize again and pause for 4 or 5 seconds at the top of the ram stroke, this reduces brass spring back after sizing.

You also need to know if its a case diameter or shoulder location problem.

I buy bulk once fired military 7.62x51 Lake City cases and I size them the fires time in a small base die.

The small base die reduces the case to minimum SAAMI dimensions and helps with over size machine gun brass.

Below a fired 7.62 case in a Dillon case gauge and the case diameter is stopping the case from dropping all the way into the gauge.

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Below the same case in a JP Enterprise gauge made with a finish chamber reamer and smaller in diameter. If the case fits in this gauge the case will fit in any chamber.

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NOTE, if there is a ding in the case rim this will also prevent the case from dropping into the gauge. Turn the case 180 and put it in the gauge base first and see if it hangs up. I keep a small fine file on my reloading bench and file down any raised dings in the rim. This happens frequently on brass fired in semi-autos from the extractor pulling on the rim.
 
If you are using range pickup brass fired in someone else's chamber its a very good idea to test fit them in your chamber.

That is why I use the blue JP Enterprise gauge to make sure the cases are reduced in diameter enough after sizing.

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Below Forster makes three different .308 sizing dies to cover all the bases.

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spyderchop said:
I have not tried.should I try to chamber the ones that don't quite fit in headspace guage?
Click to expand...


Yes you should! A lot of us older reloaders have never used those fancy comparator gauges, the rifle chamber is the ultimate gauge. Anytime we resize a batch of brass, the first thing we do is check the first few cases for fit.
And since you're asking fundamental questions, you can do this with empty brass - no need to reload them. Finally, please ensure you have trimmed the cases as they may be too long for your chamber.
 
I don't use range pick up brass because unless I'm there watching the guy pull fresh factory rounds from a box and leave them on the ground I have no idea how many times that brass has been fired.

Did you trim to length after sizing before trying it in the gauge? It shouldn't be overly difficult to tell where the brass is hanging up on the gauge.
Personally, if I have any issues with any brass I just throw it out and buy more. Brass is cheap for 308 so I suggest you start off on the right foot with some new brass that you know the history of and then keep track of how many firings it has and don't mix it with older brass.
I also only load brass of the same head stamp and number of firings in each batch.

The only brass I'll pick up from the range is 9mm or 45 auto brass and even then it gets a good inspection before it's added to the box to be reloaded.

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted out soon.
 
spyderchop said:
Hello

I have a lyman headspace guage and I have a few old 308 brass

That even after full length resize still won't quite fit in guage

My question is are these cases now no good? Have about 200 others that are perfect

Thx
Click to expand...

The only gauge that matters is your rifle chamber.

Unless it is special brass, just toss it. 308 is available by the bucket.
 
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