New at this, a couple questions...

B

BeerBaron

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
50   0   0
Location
Saskatoon, SK
Hi, I'm just getting into shooting centerfire and reloading here. A couple weeks ago I bought myself a remington 700 sps varmint in .308 and a RCBS rockchucker reloading kit. I wasn't able to find any brass, so I picked up a couple boxes of cheap federal ammo. I've shot 25 rounds of it and I'm ready to give this reloading bit a try. I've got my press and full length die set up as per the instructions, and last night I deprimed and resized my 25 cases. Then I went through and cleaned the primer pockets, deburred the flash holes and chamfered and deburred the mouth. I was hoping to reload a few or all of these cases to try out over the weekend, but I've ran into a problem. It seems every one of my cases after only a single firing and sizing are exceding the maximum case length of 2.015 inches. They aren't a lot over, but the ones I've measured range from 2.016 to 2.018. The cases all chamber without any resistance at all, but this still has me a little nervous. The kit I purchased didn't come with a case trimmer, so I'm out of luck on that front for this week anyways (though this has moved to the top of my upcoming purchase list...). I guess my question is basically is it safe to load these cases even though they are a little longer than the maximum spec if they chamber easy in my gun, or am I looking for trouble if I try this?

Also, I have some Lapua brass coming in the mail. If I was to work up an accurate load with unfired brass, would the performance remain the same using the load from the unfired brass in brass that has been fired and resized using a full length die set to just size the brass enough for easy chambering, or would I be best to wait until all the brass has been fired once before seriously working on a load?

Thanks

*edited my case lengths from 1.016 and 1.018 to 2.016 and 2.018*
 
Last edited:
Having the brass a little long isn't going to be bad,after 2 firings I trim.
The cases grow in the resizing process as it stretches the neck out when the expander plug is worked through the neck. There is an easy way to check if your fired brass is too long,before resizing try a bullet in the case neck,it should drop inside without any resistance.If it pinches the bullet then the case was too long when you shot it. Lee makes a case length gauge that works very well and it's cheap,you have to buy one for each caliber. They're about $7.00 and come with a shellholder.Hope this helps some...........:wave:
 
BeerBaron said:
Thanks 303, I think I should be ok, they all chamber easily. Anyone else have any input?
Click to expand...

Be sure to stick with the published load data and start at the lower charges and work up for YOUR rifle. Each rifle will show pressure signs differently and will often shoot the same bullets different as well. Neck sizing your brass will make a custom fit for your rifles chamber and should extend the life of the brass. Whether I full length or neck size only,I always fit the brass in the rifle to be sure that it will chamber properly. After perhaps three or four times neck sizing the brass may have to be full length sized for proper chamber fit.
If the loads are HOT, then brass will not last as long and will have to be full length sized more often.
 
If you pick up some brass somewhere, do a full length size on it. If it's been fired in your gun, it's now formed perfectly to your chamber and should only need to be neck sized and then trimmed from then on out. I've got some 300 win mag brass that's been fired 10+ times, and it's still looking great. I trim every firing just to be consistant, but it's not completely necessary to do it everytime. Like the other guys said. If you load on the light side, the cases last longer. If you're running hot loads everytime, you'll start to see signs of fatigue on them sooner.
 
Well - If you change brass, then you should expect different performance. Brass from varying manufacturers has different internal volumes. For 308 its a major consideration, as military brass is commonly available, and has a much lesser volume.
Common newbie mistake = mixing brass
 
It's very common for once fired manufactured shells to be at or exceed max length. You very close I'd suggest it OK to reload those once before trimming.
 
cosmic said:
Well - If you change brass, then you should expect different performance. Brass from varying manufacturers has different internal volumes. For 308 its a major consideration, as military brass is commonly available, and has a much lesser volume.
Common newbie mistake = mixing brass
Click to expand...

I have loaded Winchester 22-250 brass and Winchester 22-250 nickel plated brass, both shoot in the same place but the nickel plated makes a slightly larger group.
 
I'm pretty new to the reloading thing too and learning still, but what these guys are saying about the case length I've found to be true as well. You pretty much have to trim a little bit each time regardless of the rifle used.
Another thing I've learned is to be quite picky about what brass you use. I relaod .223 for my Tikka T3 among others, and I bought 800 cases from a local shop here thinking I had hit the jackpot. So far, I've only been able to chamer 70% of the brass in my Tikka because some of the cases have warpage or nicks in the head, which for some reason my rifle doesn't agree with and I can't close the bolt on the cartridge. After carefully measuring and double checking everything and finding all measurements to be exact I filed a little material off the head to flatten it out, and I was able to chamber a few more. It's much better if you can buy factory, shoot it and neck size your cases in my experience.
Also, stay away from the military ammo if you can as they have a crimp around the primer pocket which is annoying to reload because you have to "swag" the crimp out of the pocket or your primers won't go in. Time consuming.
 
Prepping on your brass will give you the best out of your gun, after you get your trimer to fix lenght of cartridges, I think the best thing you could add is a neck turning tool
And when you get your Lapua brass and prep brass you won't be looking at any other brass as it is by far the best I have ever used.
Here is some good info for you to look at for the .308win

http://www.6mmbr.com/308Win.html
Hope this helps
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the input guys. I loaded up my first 25 rounds last night and hope to shoot them this weekend. Went with 5 of each of 42, 42.5, 43, 43.5 and 44 grains of varget, 168 grain sierra matchkings, and CCI BR2 primers all in my slightly long once fired federal brass. I'll be watching super close for pressure signs, but I'm excited to give my own loads a try.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom