Lyman EZEE case length gauge verses electronic caliber

T_Furgenson

T_Furgenson

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Some questions....

I have a lyman case length gauge and an electronic caliper. There is a slight diffrence between them when I measure my cases. The lyman is coming up a bit short which one do I trust?

Also, I shot my first big batch reloaded ammo this weekend. I had great sucess and was pretty happy with the results for the most part. I fired a total of 80 rounds but had problems with about 3 rounds. Three times I could not close the bolt. (I'm shooting with a .308 remington sps tactical). I took the rounds out and seperated them from the rest. Why did this happen?
 
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Maybe sizing was not complete, maybe there is a bit of buckling if you crimped. Could be any number of reasons.
Have you checked the caliper against something of known length? Zeroed it?
 
dan belisle said:
What's an electronic caliber? - dan
Click to expand...

I think he means Digital Calipers. The Lyman gage is basically a tool to help you sort cases that are to long,however you need to measure the gage itself with your zeroed calipers agents what the manuals specifications state as the trim to length. You can check your calipers with a quality set of feeler gages.

The gage itself can be cut anywhere for .005" to .015" difference from what the cartridges specs are in the manual there not always so precise. It's more of go/no go gage than a precise measuring device.

The Trim-To-Length for the .308 is 2.005" I believe the MAX length the case can be is 2.015"that should work in any .308 rifle.

A couple of question/reasons those cases may be sticking. Is this new brass and did you FL resize it and trim it to the correct length before loading. If it's once fired or has been fired multiple times do you neck size or FL resize it and did you check the case length before loading.

You probably have either a sizing issue or the cases are to long which will jam the case into the step of the chamber and squeeze the brass around the bullet,making the bolt hard to close and can cause pressure issue.
 
Test your caliper with a known measuring device (good calipers and micrometers come with them, if not you can buy one at a machinist's supply shop, or make your own). I would trust an actual measurement from a caliper over a go/no go gauge (nothing wrong with a go/no go gauge, but they aren't the most accurate measuring device around). Once you've sorted that out, your other issue sounds like your resizing technique needs a little work and attention to detail. Either you didn't resize the cases that wouldn't chamber enough, too much and you pushed back and flared out the shoulder a tad, or your col is too long (again, this is where a caliper has the advantage over the case go/no go gauge). - dan
 
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