Once fired military brass

[Cojaq]

Hey guys, I am wondering if any of you have any experience with once fired military brass in 300 win mag? I purchased some and am having problems re-sizing them. I have standard full length re-sizing dies. For some reason the cases are sticking or in some cases not even chambering all the way. I first thought it might have been the shoulder wasn't getting bumped back to correct head space dimension, but it seems as if the last 1/8th inch of the case just before the belt isn't getting sized. Not all of the brass is doing this, but about 20% of the cases. At the current cost of 300 win mag brass I hate to toss any. Not to mention the fact that I can't find very much. Any suggestions?

 

[RT2506]

From some research I have been doing I found some information that might help answer your problem. Black Hills did the load work up for the military with the 300 Win mag to get a load that would compare ballistics wise with the 338 Lapua. They use a 200 gr Sierra Match King bullet and run it 3000 fps which is over SAAMI pressure. You could have some of the cases from this type of ammo and it has been really stretched by the higher pressure. That part just before the belt is what really expands with over pressure loads. Have you taken all the spring out of your press? By that I mean screw the die all the way down until it touches the shell holder with the ram raised all the way. Back the ram away and screw the die down about 1/2 turn more. When you raise the ram it should let the press do what is called cam over. This will give you your max FL sizing.

 

[mitch260]

I found the same thing. I ordered 50 pieces of brass, got 52, ended up with 45 usable cases. I tried re-sizing a couple of the badly bulged cases, but it just seemed to form a "donut", so to speak, in front of the belt. I'm not super worried about it, but I agree it is kind of a waste.

 

[Cojaq]

RT2506
Yeah I have done what you said about turning the die down a half turn and it still doesn't change anything. I guess it's just bad brass. Thanks for your help.