308 Sizing issues

[45ACPUSER]

personally if you spent that kind of ching on a rifle, then spending good $ on brass is what you need to do. Lapua, Redding Type S Neck Sizer with 336 bushing, and a body die to bump the shoulder occasionally.

You got crappy military brass fired from a MG. You need a small base die for the first resizing, and then you have all kinds of case prep to do remove primer pocket crimp etc. Sort by head stamp year.....but that is a lot of work...just get the Lapua brass and and be done with it. You will get great case life, and it will pay for itself over time!

 

[fguffey]

Fired in a machinegun? Need a small base die?

Seems to me all the problems would be solved if a/ the reloader would learn to measure before firing, after firing and again after sizing, it is one thing to claim a small base die is necessary, being able to measure the diameter of the case head is something else then....there is the violent extraction??? that does something to the case length??????. Fired in a machine gun, my favorite case is the case that has been fired in a trashy old chamber, the person that can appreciate a trashy old fired case is rare among reloaders, reloaders fire as in FIRE FORM,,,then measure.......

Where is the logic, fire first then measure????

F. Guffey

 

[fguffey]

and bump, how do you do that, the case body of my die is connected to the shoulder, the shoulder is connected to the neck...of the die, if the shoulder of the case contacts the shoulder of the die the case fits the die 100%.

If something moves .001 thousands, everything moves .001 thousands, unless you guys are getting your dies from the same place jack got his beans, I am not complaining, I adjust my dies with a feeler gage, nothing magic or fancy, my dies are solid, when I raise the die .001 thousands, I increase the length of the case .001 from the head of the case to the shoulder.

F. Guffey

 

[USSR]

Fired in a machinegun? Need a small base die?

Seems to me all the problems would be solved if a/ the reloader would learn to measure before firing, after firing and again after sizing, it is one thing to claim a small base die is necessary, being able to measure the diameter of the case head is something else then....there is the violent extraction???

We tried to get the Army machinegunners to measure the cases before firing, but the General's wouldn't let them.

Don

 

[fguffey]

“Seems to me all the problems would be solved if a/ the reloader would learn to measure before firing”

“We tried to get the Army machine gunners to measure the cases before firing, but the General's wouldn't let them.”

I no longer need more cases, while others were talking about acquiring more cases, I had already acquired them, and barrels, I doubt I will ever acquire another barrel, the last round of barrels was a choice between 308/7.62 NATO machine gun barrels and another machine gun type barrel, I choose the other, I still have access to the 308/7.62 NATO barrels and fired cases, lots of fired cases, and new unfired cases, and access to the fired cases that have been fired in the rifles built with the big/bull type machine gun barrel, and I can measure and or compare, I have small base dies, I have BAR dies, and again, I can measure and I can compare. I would like to take your word for the generous chambers, and again I could have been cheated, my chambers are not generous, I suppose that could happen to someone that does not have a machinegun barrel. I have purchased 4 in the last year, a friend needed two for commitments, so I shared, now I need to sacrifice two rifles instead of 4, both will be M 1917s, had I gone with the 308 type barrel I would have used Mausers.

Back when, in the old days, 30/06 ammo came in one size fits all, then came the Mi Garand, still, one 30/06 (ammo) fit all, The M1 chamber was not generous, but the clearance was cut into the chamber, at the rear of the chamber the clearance was +.0002 thousands, again I have small base dies and I have BAR dies, I purchases a Model 70 Winchester chambered to 300 Winchester Mag, anyhow, we had words, they thought I was difficult, then impossible, I wanted a chamber that fit my dies or dies to fit their chamber, their local warranty smith sounded like he worked for the pope, I questioned their methods/remedies and he would tell me ‘gotta do it, because they say so’ after he got through with it, it got uglier, he sent the rifle back to Winchester, and that is when they decided I was impossible.

Again, I form cases to fit, my favorite case is the 280 Remington, OR, cases that have been fired in trashy old chambers, problem, I do not get any benefit from 308/7.62 NATO cases fired in machineguns.



F. Guffey

 

[wsryno]

I used a Lee resizing die for .270's for my BARII, and they were too tight to manually cycle the action. I used a friend's small-base RCBS die and no problem manually cycling. I emailed Lee and explained. They told me I had a tight chamber, and they asked me to send the sizing die and 2 fired cases and they'd fix it. I'm still waiting for them to return the sizing die (it's only been a week) but I'll let you know the results. I don't know if they would do the same if you're firing MIL brass. I'd rather not use a SB die if I don't have to.

I received the modified die today from Lee, sized and loaded a handful of rounds and all cycle perfectly. Don't know about accuracy of the rounds until I get to the range this weekend, but at least they cycle now!

 

[popper]

If you are using the rubber ring locknut on the Lee - get rid of it(hornady style is best). Use a wrench to tighten the die down - just firm. The rubber ring lets the die bounce a few thou. You may need to grind down the shell holder or bottom of the sizer die to get proper sizing. Its either not setting the shoulder back enough or not sizing far enough down the base or both. If you have a case gauge, check a fired case for proper shoulder position, use a feeler gauge to measure and set your die to push the shoulder back only a thou or 2.

 

[wsryno]

If you are using the rubber ring locknut on the Lee - get rid of it(hornady style is best). Use a wrench to tighten the die down - just firm. The rubber ring lets the die bounce a few thou. You may need to grind down the shell holder or bottom of the sizer die to get proper sizing. Its either not setting the shoulder back enough or not sizing far enough down the base or both. If you have a case gauge, check a fired case for proper shoulder position, use a feeler gauge to measure and set your die to push the shoulder back only a thou or 2.

Excellent suggestion. I tested "tightness" before returning the die to Lee, I didn't take out the rubber ring which would have been best but I did tighten it down enough to compress the ring and take out the slack (at least I think so). I'll try your idea on some in the next batch. I've bought 2 die sets since this Lee; both are RCBS and both trouble-free so far.