.308 has me at my wits end

[Daniel_187]

I have some .308 and 7.62x51 brass from a friend and de-capped it on my universal de-caper. I FL re-sized it(hornady dies) as I do for my brass for my .308 savage, I re-sized it and it will not chamber in my savage .308. Any ideas? I think the brass was shot out of a 7.62x51 Enfield if that helps

[esaabye]

is the should not pushed back? I did that one, about 1/2 would not chamber.

[SideShow Bob]

Are you using the same set up on the FL die as you did for the other brass, no readjustments and lock ring tightened so it didn't move ?
And the obvious, did you trim the breasts to proper length after resizing ?

[spleify]

Double check how you FL resizing die for how it is set up. You should turn it in until it hit the shell holder, lower the ram and turn it in 1/4 to 1/2 more turn . Resize a few and check them.

[spleify]

Are you using the same set up on the FL die as you did for the other brass, no readjustments and lock ring tightened so it didn't move ?
And the obvious, did you trim the breasts to proper length after resizing ? [pick-me]

[SideShow Bob]

[pick-me]


That was supposed to be brass, I blame that on auto spell correct. That's my story and I'm sticking with it .........

[esaabye]

well played, I also blame should vs shoulder...

[Danimal]

That was supposed to be brass, I blame that on auto spell correct. That's my story and I'm sticking with it .........

Ha ha, I had a text message with swipe the other day that was supposed to read "I'm on my way in right now" but somehow "I mango tapped a right thigh" came up. I sent it anyway, they were a little confused when I arrived.

OP, you can take a sharpie and color a single piece of brass black then try to chamber it with just a little force a couple times, then when you take it out look at where the marks are. That should tell you what dimension is out of tolerance or if it is too long. I had to do that with some 300 BLK, but it turned out that the neck was too thick so when the throat expanded pulled out of the case, it would expand too wide and would jam on the neck so bad.

[SA Friday]

Sigh... There are two other threads in reloading discussing this exact same problem. Not all resizing dies are made equally. Some have much more liberal dimensions than others. If you have once fired brass from a loose chamber, a resizing die on the side of max dimensions for resizing the brass, and then try to chamber the case into a tight match grade chamber, it's going to either not chamber or jam like satan needed to laugh as someone and he chose you.

If you know your resizing die is adjusted to the max resizing possible, the above is your problem and finding a resizing die that will resize to minimum case dimensions is the cure. I've tried three, and the crazy expensive Dillon Carbide resizing die is the hands down best. My other two died after terminal case suckage occurred. (Ya, ya, I kill a serious amount of dies, I know. Learn from my testing...)

[buckshotbarlow]

small base should fix your issue...it did mine:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/597261/rcbs-small-base-sizer-die-308-winchester

redding or rcbs, take your pick

[Daniel_187]

thanks guys, some things to try this weekend.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

If you want I can bring you my small base die and we can see if that fixes it.

Sent from my teepee using smoke signals.

[RANGERRON72]

A chamber gauge works nice, FL resize, drop in the chamber gauge, and check both ends............

[SA Friday]

A chamber gauge works nice, FL resize, drop in the chamber gauge, and check both ends............
Unless the gun's chamber is smaller than the gauge. Then it's useless. Seen this twice.

[RANGERRON72]

So, if the chamber is smaller than a SAAMI spec correct chamber gauge, wouldn't that make the rifle "out of industry specs" and need a trip back to the gunsmith or manufacturer??

[SA Friday]

So, if the chamber is smaller than a SAAMI spec correct chamber gauge, wouldn't that make the rifle "out of industry specs" and need a trip back to the gunsmith or manufacturer??
Not necessarily. If it's factory maybe. If it's custom, probably just a tighter chamber reamer.

Not all chambers are made the same. Not all manufacturers use the same specs when they cut a factory chamber. The only way to know for certain the ammo will chamber is the gun's chamber. Buy three chamber gauges and you will get three different answers about if your ammo will chamber or not. How would you know if the chamber gauge is smaller than SAAMI spec? It said it on the box, right.... What were those specs and what was their acceptable standard deviation (SD) within the measurements? Does the SD take it out of what will chamber in your tight "within specs" chamber? If you don't test the ammo against the chamber, then you have no idea if the gauge is going to work for you or not. You definitely won't be able to speculate if it will work for another chamber.

[Hoser]

So, if the chamber is smaller than a SAAMI spec correct chamber gauge, wouldn't that make the rifle "out of industry specs" and need a trip back to the gunsmith or manufacturer??

SAAMI spec has a lot of wiggle room. Cant remember the number, but it is big.

Lets say Remington cuts 20 chambers with that reamer then has it resharpened. Now its smaller. Still in the acceptable range, but smaller. Then they resharpen it again. Smaller still but now right at min spec. Go and no-go gauges still work and all is well.

That is why I think gauges blow.

If you are going to rely on a gauge, have your gunsmith make you one with the reamer and go/no-go he used right after he cut your chamber.