New to reloading .308

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fivehundredlimited

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Muskoka, Ontario
I'm new to reloading, but I resized about 50 cases for .223 with a new set of RCBS dies and it went pretty well. I bought a used set of Lee .308 dies from the EE and when I try to resize the cases, it takes considerably more force. Is this normal or is my resizing die damaged or need cleaning? I have a Lyman T-Mag 2 turret press mounted on an old cupboard unit, I only resized one case so far and it almost broke the countertop from the torque on the press. Do I just need to beef up the counter top?

Thanks,
Fivehundred
 
I think I have the die set properly, I have a case gauge for my .223 so they are sizing correctly and I set this one up the same way. I took the die apart and there was a build up of gunk on the mandrel. I cleaned it off as well as the inside of the die. Still same problem. I put some lube on the neck brush and run it in and out the case as well as roll it on the lube pad. Does the depth of the mandrel affect the resizing process?
 
If the cases were fired in a rifle with a loose chamber, they will be larger and need to be sized down to a greater degree and will take more force.
Tight chamber, less expansion, less reduction when sizing, less force.

Smaller cases also generally require less force because there is less material you are forming with the die.

I have a Martini-Enfield in 303B with a very nice chamber and the brass, when FL resized, goes without much force.
I also have a P14 with a loose military chamber and brass fired in it that I FL resize requires quite a bit of force.
A friend gave me some empty 7.62/308 cases fired in a machine gun (he said so and they had bands of discolouration on them from where the links would have been) and I resized one case and gave up. I almost had to sit on the arm on the press to get them to go up into the die. Also pulled the rim off when I tried to lower the ram. Machine guns are known for grossly oversized chambers so they keep working under terrible conditions.

All my resizing is done with Imperial/Redding sizing wax.
 
The counter top on my bench is half inch thick, maybe I need to beef it up and just push the cases in? I did notice the necks on the cases all have one spot where its slightly out of round. Does this indicate it was fired from a machine gun or the cause of the extra force required?
 
If it's RP brass I doubt it was fired in a machine gun. That's Remington Peters and is civilian branded brass. It could just have been fired in a rifle with an oversized or messed up chamber. If part of the neck is out of round consistently on all the cases I would be suspicious as if it's on all of them it most likely isn't from someone stepping on the brass. Were the cases fired in your rifle?
 
Shoot a few cheap factory rounds out of your rifle, clean the brass and try em' out. Or if you have some virgin brass, run one through and see if there's a difference. If there is, the brass you bought was fired in a loose chamber, if not, the dies might be dirty or oxidized.
 
My bench is double 3/4 and anchored to the wall. If you can lift your bench, it's too light.

Are you having a problem on the up stroke, or down?
lubing the inside of the neck?
press a "cam over" design, and your dies not?
too much lube?
crimped primer?
pin centered in the die?

An out of round neck can just be from hitting the floor. Some semi's chuck them hard.

Any suggestion are with the assumption that your dies are set correctly... ;)

Adjust up 1/8 of a turn and try it. Take your measurements and go from there.
 
I had problems on the up stroke, it goes about 3/4s of the way into the die before I hear the top of my bench starts to creak. On the one I did manage to resize, I also almost broke the top on the down stroke aswell. I am thinking I have to beef up my bench top.
Just feels like a lot more force needed than for the .223 cases.

It is a cam over press and Lee 3 die set. Not sure if this is a cam over die?
I am lubing the case necks.
 
I forced another case through the resizing die and the down stroke was much easier now that I cleaned the mandrel. Pretty sure I have to beef up my bench top, its only 1/2 inch thick.
Thanks for all the help everyone.
Fivehundred
 
1/2" is pretty thin for a reloading bench. I just measured and mine it's 1-1/4" straw board (not the best material but it's what I have).
To test the rigidity of things I often just lean most of my weight on them. Since I'm North of 250lbs it's usually a good test for my purposes.

In a perfect world I'd make my reloading bench top out of ~1-1/2" thick solid hardwood. Maybe some nice figured maple if cost isn't a concern.
 
Check the Lee manual on how to set up Lee FL sizing dies. You mentioned RCBS for 223 and Lee for 308. They may set up the same, but to be sure RTFM
 
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