In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options
.308 cases won't chamber
dannej
Member Posts: 478 ✭✭✭
I am reloading factory once fired brass for .308. Some were fired in an M1-A and the rest in a Tikka T-3. I decapped and sized (full case) all the cases in the same die. I trimmed all cases to 2.005 inch. Now I have discovered about 30% of them will not chamber in the Tikka but will chamber in the M1-A. By not chambering, I mean the bolt will go all the way forward into the chamber, but it will not close, not even a fraction of an inch. I suspect the ones that won't fit the Tikka were fired in the M1-A. I bought the RCBS dies new last week for this project.
What I don't get is why, after full sizing they don't all fit in the Tikka. A couple, I could force the bolt down and closed. These showed the base of the case had been scored by the bolt face.
I also trimmed several cases to 2.000 by mistake. I assume these are safe to load and shoot, but would like to know if there is a problem there besides, maybe some accuracy loss.
My goal is to create good hunting loads, so inch to inch and a half groups are fine.
What I don't get is why, after full sizing they don't all fit in the Tikka. A couple, I could force the bolt down and closed. These showed the base of the case had been scored by the bolt face.
I also trimmed several cases to 2.000 by mistake. I assume these are safe to load and shoot, but would like to know if there is a problem there besides, maybe some accuracy loss.
My goal is to create good hunting loads, so inch to inch and a half groups are fine.
Comments
do you have the die set to touch the ram when its all the way up ? if not try screwing the die in just a bit more
I wonder if the M1A doesn't stretch the extractor groove, causeing the case to be to long by a hair, as the bolt pushes the shell into the chamber and you can see the bolt start to move down and then stop.
I haven't heard of a 'small base resizer die'. Does that resize the cas all the way to the extractor groove. This die sizes about a quarter inch short of the groove.
I really appreciate all you info!
You are getting a bit of springing in the press and if you look you could probably get a .005 feeler gauge between the shell holder and the cartridge base when the ram is up and the case is sized.
Drop the ram, screw the die in untill it takes a little force to lock the ram in the up position. That's what gskyhawk mentioned.
The RCBS Piggyback has so much spring that you can't no way size a tough .50bmg case unless you beef it up with a strongback and even that's iffy.
Screw the die down with the ram up until it touches the ram, let the ram down, then screw in the die another 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Especially since you are using different brand shell holder / dies.