So, I've been on the press the last few days, doing brass prep of the 308 kind. A few frustrations because I'm a noob, some observations and a question or two.
I bought in 250 "Once Fired" cases in 308 from a supplier I've used before. The brass arrived tumbled so first step was decap and inspect the cases for damage. All went fine, threw a few cases out that had really angular dents up close to the shoulder or gouged rims. Wondered about that because these damaged cases were pretty consistent in the way they were damaged. The gouged rims looked like a really aggressive extraction, and the angular dents looked like something had been in the way when the brass was ejected. All was fine though - the supplier added plenty of extra brass, so I still had over 250 acceptable pieces. Proceeded to get 'swagers cramp' cleaning the pockets while nursing a glass of scotch. Noticed while I was doing this that some of the brass had come from guns with fluted chambers.
Now, I've read conflicting things about reloading brass like this so, I separated any brass like that out pending more research. Stories range from "reload with confidence" to "expect catastrophic failures, widespread death and destruction" on the internet, so I'm not quite sure what to think, The engineer in me tells me that when you resize brass from a fluted chamber, you're probably working the brass more than with a normal chamber, so at the very least, expect the brass to need annealing earlier, and, if you persist without annealing, you're at a greater risk of case failure. Advice (particularly correcting me if I'm wrong) would be greatly appreciated.
So, on I go to resizing. So I set up the RCBS short base die that I've written about before, get out my Imperial reizing wax, roll up my sleeves and get started. I think from the specs, short base dies reduce the case diameter by about 2 thou, so I'm expecting to get a bit of a workout. Significant variation in the amount of effort I have to put into cases, but that's OK. When I pull 'em out and mic the cases, they all seem fine except for maybe 10% which will need trimming, but man, using a set of calipers is damn hard work, so I take a break and go internet shopping.
And order one of these.
Sheridan Engineering slotted ammo gauge in 308. Yes. Slotted. Just like that peepshow on 34th Street, you can see EVERYTHING!
After hitting the submit button on the payment screen, I figure out what I can still afford to eat until pay day, and wait on Mr. Postman.
fx: -- crickets -- -- rural autumn sounds -- -- calming elevator muzak --
Gauge arrives, it's a really nicely made piece of machining (as indeed it should be at the price) and I sit down with a coffee and get to work. Now, this gauge is built to minimum SAAMI specs, and I know already that I'll probably get some 'slop' laterally, because that short base die isn't intended to resize brass to SAAMI. But away I go.
None of the cases plunk. None. Deep sigh. Go back to press. Drop the resizing die in (I have a Hornady Lock-n-Load) and test the depth setting. Base of die touches plate, but there's no cam-over, so I hadn't resized the full length of the case. Is the problem REALLY that I had no cam-over, or is this a feature of sizing with a small base die? Take a deep breath, grab a couple pieces of brass and plunk 'em in each of my 308 rifles. They all drop into the chambers nicely. Then of course, I have to decide whether to run 'em thru' the press again, but with the die properly set or just settle for some 'nearly SAAMI brass'. Embrace the suck and start to resize the brass properly this time. Devote a lot of attention to deciding whether to just load for pistol in the future.
Once that's done, start to gauge the brass again. Hey, brass plunks in gauge, and under good light I can see that the shoulder 'fills' with no gaps, the case length looks correct, case seats fully, and then - not that I'm awfully bothered about it at the moment - the case can be rotated and checked for interference. Elation. Celebration. Satisfaction. I've sized this damn 308 brass!
And then - I get a few cases in and a piece won't 'plunk'. There's resistance there, and it's not super-obvious why, so I set cases like that aside and go thru' the rest of the 250 cases. Start to reconsider my dedication to Quality Control after maybe 150 rounds.
Once done, I consider what I held back. Some pieces wouldn't plunk and ALSO didn't stick following a bit of force to try and insert the case. Those turned out to be case length, so a simple trimming is all that is necessary. Another situation is where the brass won't 'plunk' but if you push the casehead, you can push the case a little further into the gauge (where, of course, it jams). The only plausible interference point for that is case diameter way down hear the casehead. The third (and unusual) issue was a where the casehead was slightly damaged and that fouled on the gauge. Easy to identify, easy to fix with some 120 grit wet and dry.
So I end up with three piles of brass.
Group 2 - I splashed out and spent more money on a full-length die, and reconsider my wisdom in going with a small base die to begin with (I might regret the purchase - but at the moment, I still like the promise of more consistent feeding in semi-autos - I'll carry on experimenting)
Group 3 - Fluted chamber brass. Still conflicted on this. Even if I throw them away, I still have 250+ pieces of brass, but I'm a bit of a skinflint. Is it worth processing them or am I just setting myself up for a future head separation?
There will be those that say that if I'm trying to make sure that my 308 chambers effectively in semi autos using a small base die, there's no point in then obsessing over making my brass to match grade with such a fancy gauge. And they're right. But the counter argument is that I want to git gud at building precision ammo and it seems to me that I need to master certain skills in reloading before I can expect to make precision ammo.
Lessons learned? Almost too many to list, but I guess setting up your dies properly has to be high up on that list. Having a case gauge (even if it isn't a Rolls-Royce one like I bought) is essential.
I bought in 250 "Once Fired" cases in 308 from a supplier I've used before. The brass arrived tumbled so first step was decap and inspect the cases for damage. All went fine, threw a few cases out that had really angular dents up close to the shoulder or gouged rims. Wondered about that because these damaged cases were pretty consistent in the way they were damaged. The gouged rims looked like a really aggressive extraction, and the angular dents looked like something had been in the way when the brass was ejected. All was fine though - the supplier added plenty of extra brass, so I still had over 250 acceptable pieces. Proceeded to get 'swagers cramp' cleaning the pockets while nursing a glass of scotch. Noticed while I was doing this that some of the brass had come from guns with fluted chambers.
Now, I've read conflicting things about reloading brass like this so, I separated any brass like that out pending more research. Stories range from "reload with confidence" to "expect catastrophic failures, widespread death and destruction" on the internet, so I'm not quite sure what to think, The engineer in me tells me that when you resize brass from a fluted chamber, you're probably working the brass more than with a normal chamber, so at the very least, expect the brass to need annealing earlier, and, if you persist without annealing, you're at a greater risk of case failure. Advice (particularly correcting me if I'm wrong) would be greatly appreciated.
So, on I go to resizing. So I set up the RCBS short base die that I've written about before, get out my Imperial reizing wax, roll up my sleeves and get started. I think from the specs, short base dies reduce the case diameter by about 2 thou, so I'm expecting to get a bit of a workout. Significant variation in the amount of effort I have to put into cases, but that's OK. When I pull 'em out and mic the cases, they all seem fine except for maybe 10% which will need trimming, but man, using a set of calipers is damn hard work, so I take a break and go internet shopping.
And order one of these.
Sheridan Engineering slotted ammo gauge in 308. Yes. Slotted. Just like that peepshow on 34th Street, you can see EVERYTHING!
After hitting the submit button on the payment screen, I figure out what I can still afford to eat until pay day, and wait on Mr. Postman.
fx: -- crickets -- -- rural autumn sounds -- -- calming elevator muzak --
Gauge arrives, it's a really nicely made piece of machining (as indeed it should be at the price) and I sit down with a coffee and get to work. Now, this gauge is built to minimum SAAMI specs, and I know already that I'll probably get some 'slop' laterally, because that short base die isn't intended to resize brass to SAAMI. But away I go.
None of the cases plunk. None. Deep sigh. Go back to press. Drop the resizing die in (I have a Hornady Lock-n-Load) and test the depth setting. Base of die touches plate, but there's no cam-over, so I hadn't resized the full length of the case. Is the problem REALLY that I had no cam-over, or is this a feature of sizing with a small base die? Take a deep breath, grab a couple pieces of brass and plunk 'em in each of my 308 rifles. They all drop into the chambers nicely. Then of course, I have to decide whether to run 'em thru' the press again, but with the die properly set or just settle for some 'nearly SAAMI brass'. Embrace the suck and start to resize the brass properly this time. Devote a lot of attention to deciding whether to just load for pistol in the future.
Once that's done, start to gauge the brass again. Hey, brass plunks in gauge, and under good light I can see that the shoulder 'fills' with no gaps, the case length looks correct, case seats fully, and then - not that I'm awfully bothered about it at the moment - the case can be rotated and checked for interference. Elation. Celebration. Satisfaction. I've sized this damn 308 brass!
And then - I get a few cases in and a piece won't 'plunk'. There's resistance there, and it's not super-obvious why, so I set cases like that aside and go thru' the rest of the 250 cases. Start to reconsider my dedication to Quality Control after maybe 150 rounds.
Once done, I consider what I held back. Some pieces wouldn't plunk and ALSO didn't stick following a bit of force to try and insert the case. Those turned out to be case length, so a simple trimming is all that is necessary. Another situation is where the brass won't 'plunk' but if you push the casehead, you can push the case a little further into the gauge (where, of course, it jams). The only plausible interference point for that is case diameter way down hear the casehead. The third (and unusual) issue was a where the casehead was slightly damaged and that fouled on the gauge. Easy to identify, easy to fix with some 120 grit wet and dry.
So I end up with three piles of brass.
- Those pieces (about 230) that pass because they plunked beautifully in the gauge
- Those pieces (about 20) that fail, probably because down near the base of each case, it's not to SAAMI spec
- Those pieces (about 20) which clearly came from fluted chambers that I haven't done anything with yet
Group 2 - I splashed out and spent more money on a full-length die, and reconsider my wisdom in going with a small base die to begin with (I might regret the purchase - but at the moment, I still like the promise of more consistent feeding in semi-autos - I'll carry on experimenting)
Group 3 - Fluted chamber brass. Still conflicted on this. Even if I throw them away, I still have 250+ pieces of brass, but I'm a bit of a skinflint. Is it worth processing them or am I just setting myself up for a future head separation?
There will be those that say that if I'm trying to make sure that my 308 chambers effectively in semi autos using a small base die, there's no point in then obsessing over making my brass to match grade with such a fancy gauge. And they're right. But the counter argument is that I want to git gud at building precision ammo and it seems to me that I need to master certain skills in reloading before I can expect to make precision ammo.
Lessons learned? Almost too many to list, but I guess setting up your dies properly has to be high up on that list. Having a case gauge (even if it isn't a Rolls-Royce one like I bought) is essential.
