resizing question

Jesse_L_B

Jesse_L_B

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Hi guys, i recently bought a 308 from the ee. Love the rifle. I also bought some IVI military brass. When i reloaded i did a fl resize and went just a hair under the max coal. When i chamber a round, say 70% of the time, i have to use more force than normal to close the bolt. From looking around on here i think the shoulder has been stretched for lack of a better term. Im going to load another batch tomorrow and was wondring, if i turn my fl die in a bit further will it bump the shoulder back down and make closing the bolt easier? I plan on getting just a neck sizing die since i only own 1 308, but wondered if this would help my issue until then. Thanks for your help.
Jesse
 
Short answer, yes. Turn die down until it touched shell holder with ram fully extended, then give it 1/2 turn more. Try you casing in the rifle before loading them. Also check case length before loading.
,
 
Was the COAL from a book or did you find the COAL and go a bit under that?

From the sounds of it, it's likely the brass but it could be the bullet jamming into the lands.
 
Turn the sizing die in several turns more, so that when you size the die hits the shell holder solidly and stops. Unless you do this, you are not sizing 100%.

On subsequent events with brass shot in your rifle, you only need to size the neck.
 
Thanks guys. Spawn, I also wondered if it was the bullet making contact so I cycled five rounds and check them. None had marks on the bullet so I'm pretty sure it's the shoulder.
 
Ganderite said:
Turn the sizing die in several turns more, so that when you size the die hits the shell holder solidly and stops. Unless you do this, you are not sizing 100%.

On subsequent events with brass shot in your rifle, you only need to size the neck.
Click to expand...

Ganderite, as I have huge respect for your knowledge and opinions, given the above recommendations, could one achieve just "neck sizing" by backing out a FL die a turn or so, and still cycle the press the full length?
 
kilohertz said:
Ganderite, as I have huge respect for your knowledge and opinions, given the above recommendations, could one achieve just "neck sizing" by backing out a FL die a turn or so, and still cycle the press the full length?
Click to expand...

Yes. I do this in the calibers I don't shoot enough to justify a dedicated neck sizer die.

When setting up the die to neck size, lube the case, just in case the body is sized.

Back the die off a lot and size. (Ignore decapping at this point.) You will see a ring or mark on the neck, so you can see how much got sized. Then start turning it in a half turn at a time, and sizing again. The object is to size as much as the neck as possible, without engaging the body or shoulder. If I can size 3/4 of the neck, without having to lube, I am real happy. If I have to lube, so be it.
 
A bump gauge is extremely useful here - you can set you FL dies for a min bump - i have gone this route on some cartridges, bumping the shoulder 1-2 thou and they work great (cycling and accuracy).
And as mentioned, DO lube the inside of the neck!
 
I have one rifle with a tight chamber. If my brass is at max length per the spec it is difficult to close the bolt when chambering a round. I make sure my max case length is 5 thou less than the book and that solved the issue.
 
I had the same problem more or less with my new BLR .308 (Stainless/take-down). I could full length resize in RCBS die set from my own rifle, but not my son's SAKO. Asking a couple of other members for advice, one told me to check into "Small Base Resizing Dies". I happened to be driving through Montezuma, Iowa the following week on business and dropped into Brownells. They had RCBS Small Base dies in .308 so I bought one and took it back to Toronto with me when I was done with my trip.

Tried it the next day, it worked great. Not just with the brass from my own rifle, but also with once-fired from my son's SAKO - and for good measure some range pick-up brass. I gather what these Small Base dies do is size it down further towards the base than normal Full Length Sizing dies. I do segregate the resized brass from the Small Base die from the normal F/L resize die, with the S/B resized being reserved for the BLR, as I believe that the brass gets worked more, and likely would expand more when fireforming, adding to wall stress.

Just for what it is worth - and I stand to be corrected as required with my assumptions on how the Small Base dies do their thing.

OldNewGuy
 
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