I have a problem resizing once fired brass from my 308. The bolt is tight to close. Doubled checked the lenght and re-adjusted the resizing die and still shows that the taper on the shoulder is making things tight for me. Did I mis something here? Also the 308 die is stamped RCBS CRL-Z. Any input would be great. Thanks.
Problem resizing 308 case
- Thread starter Ghunter
- Start date
The thing to do is smoke the shoulder area with a candle and then re size to see how far down the neck the die is reaching. It should lightly kiss the shoulder but not set it back in order to fit the chamber perfectly. If the cases have been fired in another gun, all bets are off. Especially surplus brass as most of that has been fired in machine guns and stretched to the limit on first firing.
What rifle, chamber? Stock factory or a custom?
Is your sizing die adjusted so it comes down and bottoms on the shell holder? It should, for a full size.
But if the brass is coming from your rifle, you should only need to size the case about 3/4 of the way down the neck(assuming it is a bolt gun).
Is your sizing die adjusted so it comes down and bottoms on the shell holder? It should, for a full size.
But if the brass is coming from your rifle, you should only need to size the case about 3/4 of the way down the neck(assuming it is a bolt gun).
I did the smoke test but only through the rifles chamber and noticed rub marks on the shoulder, I will try the test trough my die also.
The once fired brass were all factory ammo that I ran trough this Savage Edge XP, I did run the die as close to the shell holder as i could but the results are the same. It seems the die won't "bump" the shoulder back no matter how deep I push the brass.
Thanks,
The once fired brass were all factory ammo that I ran trough this Savage Edge XP, I did run the die as close to the shell holder as i could but the results are the same. It seems the die won't "bump" the shoulder back no matter how deep I push the brass.
Thanks,
Turn the die down until it touches the shell holder, then back off the ram and turn the die down another half a turn. I don't know what press you are using, but some have some "spring" that needs to be taken out to make all the shoulder set back you can get from the die.
Is the die new? Has it been used before to resize .308? I'm wondering if its a little on the "large" side of the tolerances. If it is an experienced die, ignore that idea.
Is the die new? Has it been used before to resize .308? I'm wondering if its a little on the "large" side of the tolerances. If it is an experienced die, ignore that idea.
I did the smoke test to see how far the die is from touching the shoulder and even after turning down the die to absorb the "spring" effect, I still can't set the shoulders back thus making my once fired brass hard to cycle. Is it time for a better die? This one was bought used.
My bet is that rral22 had you going in the right direction telling you to make sure you were getting the brass sized far enough towards the base. Lube them well and let the shellholder touch the bottom of the die...lift enough so you can turn the case 1/2 turn and apply pressure again. Also, did you check the trim length?
You are supposed to smoke the CASE and use smoked case to track the sizing die's progress down the neck to see if it is contacting the case shoulder.
It sounds like you are smoking the rifle's chamber which would be a definite no no. same with the die. Don't put a smoking candle in there! If you have done this, be sure to clean scrupulously before you do anything else.
It sounds like you are smoking the rifle's chamber which would be a definite no no. same with the die. Don't put a smoking candle in there! If you have done this, be sure to clean scrupulously before you do anything else.
Northman999
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You could try sanding the top of your shell holder down some so the brass is pushed a bit farther into the die and the shoulder gets pushed back a little.
After the smoke test that were done on casing vs die and vs chamber. Doubled checked the lenght and made sure the die is a Full Lenght. I still counld not set the shoulders back.
I decided to "polish" the shell holder and bottom of die to have more reach. With the die set touching the shell holder I finally reached re-sized specs on the 308 casing!! Feeding is flawless and smooth.
Thanks again for all the troubleshooting tips!!!
You guys are awesome.
I decided to "polish" the shell holder and bottom of die to have more reach. With the die set touching the shell holder I finally reached re-sized specs on the 308 casing!! Feeding is flawless and smooth.
Thanks again for all the troubleshooting tips!!!
You guys are awesome.
