I just made a batch of reloads for my 308. This was using 1x fired winchester brass (fired previously as factory ammo in this rifle), and I also tried some military brass. The main issue I had is that the rounds were a bit stiff to chamber. There was more resistance to the bolt handle than there is on factory loads, which I also had some of at the range. The resistance occurs when the bolt is all the way forward, and you start to turn it down to lock the action. I am loading 175gr SMKs, and had some Federal GMM 175s with me to compare. The military brass would not chamber. I could not get the bolt handle to turn hardly at all, and almost got a round stuck in the chamber. The GMMs went right in with no resistance.
My trim to length is 2.005, which matches what the GMMs are. Both use the 175gr SMK bullet. The GMMs are actually loaded .015" longer than mine. I also tried pulling the bullet on some of my reloads to check if it was the bullet, but the empty unfired brass gives the same resistance. So it must be something with the brass.
The brass were all full length resized in a Hornaday die. I also ran a few through an RCBS neck size only die. Both had the same problem with being slightly hard to chamber. The dies were set up by raising the ram all the way, screwing the die down until it touched, backing the ram off and giving the die an extra 1/8th turn.
My neck diameter matches that of the GMMs. The base diameter matches as well (except obviously for the neck-sized only rounds. The hard to chamber rounds, as well as the impossible to chamber military brass rounds, both chamber with no issues in my M1A. I suppose that is good, meaning my savage bolt gun has a tighter chamber than the M1A.
I've measured everything I can measure, and can't seem to find a difference, or anything out of spec. What the heck is causing this? The chamber itself must be clear since the factory loads chamber fine. HELP! I'm tearing my hair out over here.
-Brian
My trim to length is 2.005, which matches what the GMMs are. Both use the 175gr SMK bullet. The GMMs are actually loaded .015" longer than mine. I also tried pulling the bullet on some of my reloads to check if it was the bullet, but the empty unfired brass gives the same resistance. So it must be something with the brass.
The brass were all full length resized in a Hornaday die. I also ran a few through an RCBS neck size only die. Both had the same problem with being slightly hard to chamber. The dies were set up by raising the ram all the way, screwing the die down until it touched, backing the ram off and giving the die an extra 1/8th turn.
My neck diameter matches that of the GMMs. The base diameter matches as well (except obviously for the neck-sized only rounds. The hard to chamber rounds, as well as the impossible to chamber military brass rounds, both chamber with no issues in my M1A. I suppose that is good, meaning my savage bolt gun has a tighter chamber than the M1A.
I've measured everything I can measure, and can't seem to find a difference, or anything out of spec. What the heck is causing this? The chamber itself must be clear since the factory loads chamber fine. HELP! I'm tearing my hair out over here.
-Brian