Is this brass safe to reload?

[Stampy]

I am getting ready to finally start to work up a load for my Remington 700P .308, and after having sorted through my once fired brass from it, I noticed something that concerned me. I have about 60 pieces of Winchester ammo that I have fired through it. Every single piece is showing the exact same problem.

On close inspection, it shows that the cartridge has expanded immediately in front of the head, there is a very distinct line that wraps about half way around the case. A new piece measures 0.464" and the fired case is 0.468" measured right on the line, so there is 0.004" expansion. Would this be considered excessive? Again, these are once fired factory Winchester ammunition, so never resized or reloaded.

Here is a picture of the case. I positioned the lighting to make it appear as apparent as possible. I think it actually looks more obvious in the picture than in person.

Any thoughts on this? Would this be caused by an overly large chamber, or maybe excessive headspacing? Or am I just concerned over nothing?
Thanks.

 

[fiddler]

Just trim it down. As long as there is no cracks on the case its fine. Looks like you can make some head spacing adjustments for the next batch.

 

[shredder0]

That is pretty normal. The solid case head stayed put and the brass in front of it expanded to fill the chamber. Easy with the sizing die when you re size them. You may consider backing the full length die off 1/2 turn or so. That should leave a small portion of the neck un-sized. That way you have not moved the shoulder back and the little bit of un-sized neck makes sure things line up in the chamber. I smoke the neck and shoulder of the case with a candle then run it into the sizing die to determine where to set the die. Once you get it set, run your re sized empty case into the chamber and try to close the bolt. It should close with a slight resistance or "feel". If there is more than slight resistance turn the die down some more until you get it right.

 

[Longwalker]

That expansion in front of the web has nothing to do with headspace!!! - or "trim" either.
Your chamber is possibly a touch large in diameter, but not excessively. Looks normal to me. All brass expands to fit the chamber on firing. If your other brands of brass has not expanded the same way, it could have stated out a couple thousandths larger diameter or more likely the Winchester ammo was loaded a little higher pressure than your other stuff.

 

[bigedp51]

Below are two different .303 British cases fired in the same Enfield rifle there is absolutely nothing wrong with the rifle that fired these cartridges. The difference in these two cases is very simple, the Greek HXP cases have a smaller base diameter and expanded outward further. The Prvi Partizan case has a "larger" base diameter and the case walls are .010 thicker and the chamber pressure did not cause the base of the case to expand.

The base of your .308 case should be .470 "BUT" American made cases are notorious for being undersize and having a smallish base diameter. Welcome to the wonderful world of non-existent quality control and the reason American bench rest shooters buy Lupua brass cases made in Finland.

Bottom line there is nothing wrong with your rifle, reload your cases and watch out for warped banana shaped cases after resizing your small base cases.