308 being a pain in the neck when sizing!

[arawls88]

this was once fired brass I had bought, kinda dirty. After tumbling the necks needed no attention. I'm assuming there was just enough residue to cause my problem.

 

[arawls88]

How many reloads on this brass and are you neck sizing or full length?

Full length, supposed to be once fired.

 

[Paper boy]

Supposed to be? Used brass without an accurate history is hard to tell. What I would do, if your so equiped, is to measure and inspect each piece. Look for pressure signs (expansion signs Etc. Then we take it from there. If the brass is from more than one manufacturer sort them out. Let me know the results and we'll go from there. Bill

 

[nocannons]

I found a torch head that is automatic on plus you can adjust flame that works great. Use shell holder from lyman ezee trim. Chuck it up in the drill and set flame on torch and you are ready to go. Some have said that they drop cases in water after heating but not sure I would do that. Cool to quick ?. Work with some old brass you do not use anymore for practice. I watch brass in flame trying to heat only neck and when a dark red all the way around remove from heat and drop in cake pan.to finish cool. You can do a lot of brass very fast once you get the hang of it. Any kind of shell holder you can put in a drill will work just so you can loosen it and case will fall out. Recommend leather gloves in case you accidentally touch a hot case. Do not need very high heat for this. Forgot to mention this torch stays on after you light it.

 

[Mike Matteson]

A couple of things: lubing the inside the neck is needed. The other is annealing the case. it doesn't take much to do that, and there several ways to do that. The annealing process has two advantage. The case life goes up and easier to run through the dies. look in your reloading manual to see how to anneal your case. It should be there or on the internet.
SSS
Mike

 

[BHP9]

Try STP,you will be amazed!

Ah yes, STP - stay together please!

 

[7stw]

Ah yes, STP - stay together please!

Slicker then otter snot!

 

[30BR]

Lord I don't have the money nor know how to anneal

Here is my easy foolproof annealing method.
1- Separate all the brass into bags by whatever criteria you want
2- put a slip of paper in each bag identifying the brass from each gun.
3- ship them all to djsbrass.com
Done!

 

[arawls88]

Here is my easy foolproof annealing method.
1- Separate all the brass into bags by whatever criteria you want
2- put a slip of paper in each bag identifying the brass from each gun.
3- ship them all to djsbrass.com
Done!

I may go this route later down the road, I'm going to explore the route of my own annealing first. I'll see how much I ruin first haha.

 

[nocannons]

I may go this route later down the road, I'm going to explore the route of my own annealing first. I'll see how much I ruin first haha.

You will figure it out pretty quick. ruin a few and get the hang of it. I got one of my first ones so hot it made a kind of pop noise and some of the metal separated. small amount of metal ran out when I turned it up.

 

[DSheetz]

Your case's are made out of brass they have some other metals mixed in to make it have the hardness they want them to be with a base of copper . Get a look at a machinery hand book or go on line to see how to anneal non-ferris metal , copper brass aluminum ect. . with most brass you can soot it with an acetline torch or a candle then heat it until the soot burns off and quench in water after you get the feel of it you don't need to soot it . I was taught by an older guy to put my brass in a small cake pan with water up to near the shoulder, with the primer still in them, heat them and knock them over into the water . If you over heat them you will make them , what is called dead soft and easy to dent , before you quench them .

 

[jimirwin]

I've never had this much trouble resizing brass. Goes in the die just fine but I can hardly get it back out. I know my little press(rcbs partner) requires a little more umph. But it's almost to the point of cases getting stuck. Using unique lube from the should down, dry neck. Any suggestions?

Your smart to recognize something's amiss here. Trust me, you don't want to deal with a stuck case if you can avoid it. Are there any scratches on the cases after sizing that weren't there before? Have you removed the primer unseater, neck expanding stem and cleaned out the die with solvent? Are there any other signs on your brass to warn about over pressure?

 

[arawls88]

Your smart to recognize something's amiss here. Trust me, you don't want to deal with a stuck case if you can avoid it. Are there any scratches on the cases after sizing that weren't there before? Have you removed the primer unseater, neck expanding stem and cleaned out the die with solvent? Are there any other signs on your brass to warn about over pressure?

Yea I cleaned the die twice before I said screw it and tumbled the brass. Outside of the neck had scoring on it and residue rings on the brass after sizing. Drastic improvement all around after tumbling.

 

[gator378]

Lube the inside of your neck a little. I take a Q-tip and dampen it just a bit with Hoppes #9. Then wipe it inside the neck fast and lightly, only takes a little. See if that helps you out.

Hornady One Shot Case Lube works on the 308 and 300 Weatherby with my RCBS junior no problem with full lenght.