Adventures in "once-fired" brass

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;


My Son Thomas is staying here for the winter. He got the fever for a 7.62x51 (no rifle yet) so he bought 200 "once-fired" military cases on-line. ~ In doing this he didn't consult with me since the deal was so 'good'.


Yesterday as I worked out in the casting shed building inventory of 30 caliber bullets for next season he set up with the intent to run the brass through the necessary FL sizing procedure. When he was done he anticipated removing the crimp from all the primer pockets as well.


Shortly he came out to ask; "Why does it take so much force to size these cases?! ~ I can hardly move the press handle on these darn things.." I put my furnace into a holding pattern and went in to see what was going on.


Sure enough, although he had properly lubed the brass and the press was set correctly it was all I could do to run a case through the die.


Short of seeking out a larger more powerful press I backed off the die so-as to use only the last little bit of ram travel. This, as you know, will provide the greatest leverage the tool is capable of. Then all I had to do was slowly advance the die with each short-stroke of the lever until it fully sized the case.


This worked - but still wound up making fairly heavy demands on my arm.


Next, I got out my Type 38 JAP, (re-barreled to 7.62x51) and tried a sized case in its fresh chamber. ~ It was possible to chamber the case but it was a 'wringing' fit - with the last closure of the bolt I could feel that the case, although it chambered, that there wasn't any space left over!


Thomas was using a bran-new RCBS die. I went looking and found an old, old C&H FL die in my parts pile. It sized the case the additional 0.0012 needed to chamber smoothly.


Then I went back out to cast a few more bullets, leaving him at the bench, working hard at sizing

It didn't take too long before he came back out, saying that he was so discouraged that he figured it would be better to just scrap the cases and go ahead with new brass.


I told him that the money spent on this lesson was well spent - going on to relate how I'd learned the same lesson the same way when I got out of the Navy, bought an M-1 and lots of "once-fired" brass.. It didn't take me long to sell the M-1 and I kicked the box brass under the tool bench, to be forgotten until this very day.


So, the young man is cured from beating his head to mush on the cases AND now that he knows how tough it is to run brass from a semi-auto rifle through this procedure I think he may have found the 'cure' for his fever for buying an M-1A


Good morning, Forrest

[ZippyHillbilly]

Life Lessons. We have or will all do these things at some point. LOL

[Omega]

Mayhaps he received once-fired from a machine-gun, they are a bit harder to size than ones fired from a rifle. I would not get discouraged, M1A are some mighty fine rifles.

[ZippyHillbilly]

About the only way I get "used brass" is at the range in person. Seems when I go to the range to work on my stuff and bring my spotting scope .... I end up spending an extra couple hours or so spotting shots for folks. If they don't reload most give me the empty brass in the boxes they came from. I know it's once fired because I called the shots for them. :)

[GRUMPA]

I use nothing but mil 308 cases for my conversions. Found out a couple of things real quick, dies will need to be altered, and that generally means removing an average of .005-.008 from the base of the die. Also, no matter who says what about lube, I make my own and have sent some out to others. Compared to what they were using, which I have no clue, they report back with it's the difference between night and day.

When I work the the 308 mil brass it's important to double plunge the case, size once and spin the case about 90deg and do it again. Brass has what's called spring-back, doing it twice helps keep things the same.

[C. Latch]

I have bought a fair bit of 'once fired' brass off Facebook and other sites. Some is great, some is not.

The worst was some .300 WBY brass - not cheap by any means - that had three different ejector marks plainly visible on the case head.

I literally had to sort through the pile and finally found 10-15 pieces out of 75 or so that would chamber in my .300. That gave me more than enough ammo for the hunting season (I do 99% of my rifle hunting with another rifle) but it was still frustrating. I could have bought Weatherby branded factory ammo and fired it for the brass for cheaper.

[Artful]

One always needs to remember that military chambers are usually oversize, so once fired brass is going to be on the large size - I actually bought the small base die because some I had resized with regular die wouldn't go in tight chambers of some of my rifles. And don't forget to trim because as you squeeze them back towards normal dimensions they tend to grow.

[triggerhappy243]

What case lube did your son use..... Just out of curiosity?

[EDG]

Sometimes these sizing problems can be caused by a too tight FL sizer or inadequate lube.

If you plan on being a handloader that takes advantage of once fired brass don't skimp on your press.

If you get a batch of tough brass get a tube of Mystic JT-6 chassis/wheel bearing lube (or equivalent).

It is messy to use but it takes about 1/2 the force of Imperial and being a waterproof wheel bearing lube is it hard to get off of your brass.

Once you get the tough brass sized once you will not have to use the JT-6 again.

[Tackleberry41]

Not all brass is equal. Can't say have ever bought any once fired 308, friend of mine has a huge box of it, all lake city, so very likely ran thru military weapons. I scooped up a bunch of it to run thru my cetme. Standard small base die does the job, lube em up enough and its not really that much effort. Just a touch to little and it gets to be hard to do. They work fine in my cetme.

[RogerDat]

Another example of wisdom is gained by experience and experience is gained by making mistakes.

I think maybe size matters. I can tell the difference in some once fired 5.56 it does take more arm action to size and deprime but not all that bad. I'm guessing the larger calibers would amplify that extra effort. The .5.56 I do are run through a resizing die a second time after doing the trimming and primer pocket swaging. Mostly just because I prime on the press so they end up going through the die when I bring the brass up to load the primer.

Debated extra pass being more working of the brass vs. getting a better sizing the second time.

[EDG]

There is a guy that shoots a lot of 5.56 who has a youtube video.
He uses a Dillon 650 to size and prep his brass. he has 3 FL sizer dies in this press and each is set progressively deeper.
The Dillon sizes the brass by cycling it through the 3 FL dies and then it goes through the Dillon trim dies.

Once his brass is prepped he loads it on another Dillon. PP swaged, primed, charged and bullets were seated.

His set up would size any case back to original size and would do it with out pulling off a rim - even at high processing speeds.

[alamogunr]

After reading this thread, I got out some of my .308 brass. I've got both once fired and some that, if fired, has been sized and primed. All LC brass. I have one set of .308 Winchester dies, Redding. I put the size die in the RockChucker and sized one case using Imperial wax. It didn't take an extreme amount of effort just more than cases fired in my 788 Winchester.

When I tried to chamber the case it lacked a little going all the way. I couldn't get it in with extra effort on the bolt. I guess I could either do as Grumpa suggested and take a little off the base of the die or get a "small base" die. I would be inclined to go with a small base die since I don't do well trying to "Bubba" my way thru modifying tools.

The primed LC brass has apparently been sized if it has been fired. It sized fairly easily(yes, I removed the decapping pin). It chambered with some difficulty which leads me to believe that it may be new brass that has been primed.

I have enough brass that, once it is sized to chamber with a small base die, I probably wouldn't have to use it again. Does anyone have a comment discouraging use of a small base die?

[toallmy]

I love LC. LR brass thick and tuff I have found it to be well worth the fight plus primer pocket does not need cuting . The thick neck tightens up groupes in some of my riffles.I could just order some nice brass ,but its not as muchj fun.

[GRUMPA]

When I tried to chamber the case it lacked a little going all the way. I couldn't get it in with extra effort on the bolt. I guess I could either do as Grumpa suggested and take a little off the base of the die or get a "small base" die. I would be inclined to go with a small base die since I don't do well trying to "Bubba" my way thru modifying tools.

When I size the brass, I alter the die by removing some off the base, but that isn't all I modify. The reason behind removing some material off the base of the sizer die is to bring in the gauge dimension from the shoulder to the base of the case. You would be surprised how some dies just don't size enough to bring in the gauge dimension back to spec.

I do use a small base die in another station when I do those, that way everything is as close as possible to S.A.A.M.I. spec.

I use gauges and indicators when I form/resize a lot of what I do. Without the gauges or indicator there's no real way to be in control of what your doing.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134544&d=1426859682

154603

I hold the 1.6017 gauge dimension when I size those.

Edit: Dangit....I thought I posted a picture of a 308, instead I have a picture of a 300Sav.....anyway....you know what I mean.

[Tackleberry41]

Yea alot of dies do not properly size. But think alot of it is just tolerance stacking. I was having issues with tight brass in my 8mm. Just not pushing the shoulder back enough, quality die, good brass. Not some shot out war gun, but a Yugo M48. I didn't modify the die, but the shell holder. I had several that would fit, but thickness was all over the place. The thinnest one gave the least problems. So I shaved one down, now it sizes fine. A $3 shell holder vs a $30 die.

I have used plenty of once fired brass, a friend worked at a range so got it by the bucket. Plus stuff I had bought or picked up. The lube was critical. When they got harder to size, it was time to add some lube to the pad, then they went thru easy.

[EDG]

The total tolerance between most SAAMI go and field gauges is .010.
Some of the ammo tolerance is +.010-.000 and some is +.015-.000. You can see how you can wind up with a sloppy fit with factory ammo.

One of the better die makers cheats toward the SAAMI no go length. That brand of FL die is about .004 longer than the Go chamber length so you can wind up with tight ammo. You might have to trim one now and then but it better than having sloppy ammo.
That same brand seems to used rifles for the dimension when there are no SAAMI standards. So their FL dies are nearly an exact match with the length of the rifle chambers....

[leadman]

I use my old Rockchucker for sizing difficult brass. If real bad spring back exists I put a .020" feeler gauge under the case base in the shellholder. I use a feeler removed from the stack that has a hole for the pivot screw in one end. This keeps the decapper pin from going thru the feeler gauge. The pin goes thru the gauge real easy, but it makes it hard to remove the case from the shell holder!
I do have one shellholder I sanded down the top on for one of my 1891 Arg. Mausers that has a short chamber. I don't want to correct it since the gun is very accurate and I'm afraid I might spoil it.

[Lead Fred]

Ive been nawing away at 10,000 mil surp 30-06 cases for over 10 years now.

Slow and easy beats sore hands any day

[pretzelxx]

Those 240 machine guns have a very loose chamber. The warning gage is still a pass!

[facetious]

Maybe some thing like a Lee push through die to get the heads down to size before using the FL die. The same way thy deGlock hand gun brass.

[GRUMPA]

Maybe some thing like a Lee push through die to get the heads down to size before using the FL die. The same way thy deGlock hand gun brass.

I do just that when I do the 35Rem conversions. But folks need to keep in mind that's just a small portion of the whole equation. There's a multitude of dimensions that need to fall into place and a person needs to be aware of all of them at all times.

When a person sizes 308Mil brass down for themselves it's 1 thing, when a person sizes them down for others it's another beast all together.

[Eddie2002]

Been using a lot of LC brass for my 30-06 rifles, one has a tight chamber, the other is a sporterized A303 with a loose chamber and I don't seperate the brass after shooting. I anneal all my "new" once fired brass just to be consistant and even then get some that just don't resize properly. Had a bag of 100 that had 4 or 5 with loose primer pockets. When the brass gives me a hard time I break out my Hertzer Model 3 single stage which has plenty of umph.

[alamogunr]

I hesitate to try to remove any material from the bottom of my .308 sizer. I have some Norma brass that works fine. I would prefer to not have to remember how to set the sizer depending on which brass I am using.

As a trial, would it work to file down a shell holder to allow the case to enter further into the size die? I have a Lee shell holder that would not be a great loss if I ruined it. Grumpa mentioned removing .005-.008 from the die. Would removing approx. that same amount from the shell holder accomplish the same thing. My logic says it would but my logic has been wrong before.

[FISH4BUGS]

I bought 2500 CAVIM 90 and 91 milsurp cases a number of years ago. I have been working on those ever since. They were fired in a machine gun so they are not easy to resize, nor are they impossible. They DO grow after the first firing so trimming is a bear to do but resizing is not so bad. I use a lanolin and alcohol mix to resize with and it works fine on my Dillon 550.

[William Yanda]

I hesitate to try to remove any material from the bottom of my .308 sizer. I have some Norma brass that works fine. I would prefer to not have to remember how to set the sizer depending on which brass I am using.

As a trial, would it work to file down a shell holder to allow the case to enter further into the size die? I have a Lee shell holder that would not be a great loss if I ruined it. Grumpa mentioned removing .005-.008 from the die. Would removing approx. that same amount from the shell holder accomplish the same thing. My logic says it would but my logic has been wrong before.


Fascinating thread, fascinating I say.
Alamogunner, see posts 17 and 19. Lots of ways to skin the cat, various lube suggestions, equipment modifications and techniques. I suppose the lesson to be learned is; If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Your idea sounds much simpler than modifying a die, and doesn't require a lathe. I bought some LC 1x brass and my first try was discouraging to say the least. With these ideas to draw on, I am ready to make another attempt. I have a couple of 308's that I would like to feed economically.
Regards
Bill

[Tackleberry41]

You can sand down a case holder pretty quick with a piece of sand paper, way cheaper to mess up vs a die. And if you get a gun with a bigger chamber later, just use a different shell holder.

[Maximumbob54]

Threads like this are exactly why I feel like everyone should have a good solid preferably cast iron single stage press. I've sized lots of milsurp brass on my Rockchucker that I wouldn't size on any of my other presses. And done once it shouldn't have to be done to that degree ever again. And I swear by Imperial case sizing wax.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Guys this isn't that big a deal. There is no reason to make this any more complicated than necessary.

Simply running the case half way into the die and then pulling out and running it in the rest of the way is all that needs to happen. It is a simple two or three stroke process and not that big a deal. I've done it hundreds of times, and so have lots of other people here.

Use a normal .308 sizing die. once sized this way you shouldn't have to do it again and the cases will size easily on future runs thru the Sizing Die. The cases were probably shot in a Machine gun and that's why they are bigger.

This is not that big a deal, and if Junior hasn't thrown that brass away he could try this process as it works for everyone here.

Randy

[destrux]

I've run into some 5.56 brass that was like this, but it all had the telltale mark of a SAW extractor on the case rim. It was pretty obvious that I got a pile of brass from an M249 with a very loose chamber. I used most of it for conversion to 7.62x25.

[alamogunr]

I tried sizing a few more. Not exactly like Randy's method(that's next) but it worked. I ran it all the way in and pulled it out, rotated it in the holder, ran it in again. All per a previous post.

I also ran the size die down until it just kissed the shell holder. Did this to a couple of cases. Both chambered easily when I tried them in the Win. 788. All that is left is checking length and trimming(?).

Saves me the cost of the small base die I was considering.

[EDG]

Brass takes a little time - maybe 2 to 4 seconds to creep to its final dimensions in the FL die. This creeping depends on the size of the die, the size of the brass, the amount of lube used, how fast you size the cases, the anneal or temper of the brass, how long you let the case dwell at the top of the press stroke. All of these things create variations in the head to shoulder length of the brass that you cannot see without a measuring tool.

You will get more sizing from the die if you let the brass dwell for 3 or 4 seconds at full stroke. Then pull the case down just far enough to rotate it 180 degress. The slowly size again with the same 3 to 4 seconds dwell at the top. This will give you about all the sizing the die can provide.

If you use one of the Stoney Point/Hornady "Headspace" gauges that clamp on to your calipers you can check you case during the FL sizing process.
You can also use a Wilson gauge and a dial indicator.

You will easily see the difference in head to shoulder length change. You can also check your once fired military brass compared to your rifle chamber.
You will be able to understand why variations in sizing techniques cause differences in the sized cases because the gauge will show you that identical appearing cases are NOT really identical unless your lubing and sizing techniques are really good.

The gauge will show you differences in chambers if you have multiple rifles in the same caliber. It can show you differences in FL dies if you have more than one die.

[C. Latch]

.......let the brass dwell for 3 or 4 seconds at full stroke. Then pull the case down just far enough to rotate it 180 degress. The slowly size again with the same 3 to 4 seconds dwell at the top. This will give you about all the sizing the die can provide.



This makes perfect sense and I'm ashamed to say I have never thought of it.

Definitely going to try to start doing that with my rifle brass.

[alamogunr]

You will get more sizing from the die if you let the brass dwell for 3 or 4 seconds at full stroke. Then pull the case down just far enough to rotate it 180 degress. The slowly size again with the same 3 to 4 seconds dwell at the top. This will give you about all the sizing the die can provide.


This makes perfect sense and I'm ashamed to say I have never thought of it.

Definitely going to try to start doing that with my rifle brass.

Ashamed? Definitely not. I may be ashamed in a couple of weeks when I forget this and size a batch of brass that won't chamber.

Am I the only one that can see the sunset of his shooting, casting and reloading activities on the far horizon?

[troyboy]

Resizing brass is not an issue. Lube and leverage. Dib not mention what press or lube. Just because a press is a massive hunk of cast does not mean it is up to the task at hand. Once again.. appropriate lube and press.

[EDG]

I bought the Hornady gauge and figured out what was going on when one round would chamber easily and the next was tight.
I was really on the ball. It only took me 35 years and a new tool to figure it out jajajajajaja


This makes perfect sense and I'm ashamed to say I have never thought of it.

Definitely going to try to start doing that with my rifle brass.

[44magLeo]

When I built my 250 Savage by screwing a 250 savage barrel into the Savage model 11 in 243 I bought just for the project I couldn't find a set of gauges for setting head space. I found a local shop that had some factory loads.
I used one cartridge as a gauge. I screwed the barrel in most of the way, chambered a cartridge, screwed the barrel down till I felt it come up on the case, backed it of a bit. Cycled the bolt a few times as I screwed the barrel in out til I felt it was good.
I then used some scotch tape and put on one layer at .002 on the case head/ I then carefully chambered this round. The bolt would only turn about 1/8 turn and stop.
T tried this with several cartridges, No tape cycled easily, with tape no chamber, all stopped at about 1/8 turn of bolt.
I shot up the box of factory loads. when reloading with Lee dies some would chamber ok others not so much. The same with 50 rounds I made from Hornady 6.5 Creedmore cases. These are almost the same as 250 Savage Imp cases, jut a bit longer. I also made 50 rounds of cases from Hornady 22-250 cases. These again some tighter than others.
I did as others mentioned, I took a tight fitting case and used my diamond knife sharping stone on the coarse side and altered the shell holder a bit at a time. Test fitting the tight case till the bolt closed properly on the case.
The New Jamison 250 Savage brass was the same way. It wouldn't quite chamber till one pass through the size die with the altered shell holder.
Being I use Lee dies and I have several die sets that use a #2 shell holder I keep this altered shell holder with the 250 dies.
On most of my reloading I usually partial resize cases, I set the full size die by sooting up a lubed case and resize a bit at a time till the soot gets wiped off the neck to just where the neck meets the shoulder, not enough to bump the shoulder back but just touch it.
Some of my die sets have Lee collet neck sizer and I use that on most of my loading, they just don't make one for my 250 savage with out a special order. That's a $70 purchase of a two die set.
Leo

[osteodoc08]

Been using Lanolin/Alcohol based sizing lube with RCBS small base Sizing Dies on thousands of LC 308 brass with good effect. I size twice and haven't had a single issue. I've found the lanolin to be superior to ever other spray lube I've tried. I stuck a ton of cases with the One Shot and tossed it eventually.

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

Today I have borrowed a larger, powerful old Forester turret press to process this brass. This brute weighs about 30 pounds and has a handle plenty long enough to size 50 BMG down to 222. I'm sure it'll make short work out of this mere 7.62x51 stuff even if it was fired in a M240 SAW.

I'll have to go out to the casting shed to use it though since the loading bench is too light for the work, as is my nice little RCBS “Junior”.

I'll keep you folks advised.

Forrest

[EDG]

The frame of your Junior is strong enough but the linkage does not have an overwhelming mechanical advantage. That is why you need a heavy loading bench.
Presses with compound linkage need less force applied to the handle to do the job.
If you still have issues just mail the brass to someone with an extra heavy press and he can size them for you. Once they have sized once you should not have any more issues with them.




Gentlemen;

Today I have borrowed a larger, powerful old Forester turret press to process this brass. This brute weighs about 30 pounds and has a handle plenty long enough to size 50 BMG down to 222. I'm sure it'll make short work out of this mere 7.62x51 stuff even if it was fired in a M240 SAW.

I'll have to go out to the casting shed to use it though since the loading bench is too light for the work, as is my nice little RCBS “Junior”.

I'll keep you folks advised.

Forrest

[Geezer in NH]

Ashamed? Definitely not. I may be ashamed in a couple of weeks when I forget this and size a batch of brass that won't chamber.

Am I the only one that can see the sunset of his shooting, casting and reloading activities on the far horizon?Dude, the best you can hope for is he will be a good man. His passion may be different from yours but embrace him in his.

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

Here is my solution to the sizing question;

156436

This is an old Forester turret press I located in the Club junk-storage shed ~ seen here for display purposes only.

I dis-assembled it, cleaned it up and now it is ready to be mounted out on my heavy work bench in the casting shed here at my place.

The press is seen with my C&H FL die in place. This die is plenty old too, so I didn't have any qualms about taking 0.015 off the bottom in order to get that last 0.001 base sizing that my son's new M12 Savage needed in order to accept the cartridges smoothly.

When I had the press all apart I saw that it has an alternate hole for the compound leverage system that permitted me to select the position to provide the greatest leverage. This will work I'm sure but it required me to remove the lock-ring from the die so it would extend down far enough to do the FL sizing necessary. This is because the increase in leverage also reduced the travel of the ram. ~ All is now ready to go and I look forward to mounting it today.

Good morning, Forrest

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

The big turret press is now mounted on the heavy-duty bench and I have just completed the test-run with once-fired GI brass. ~ It didn't work.

Somehow the huge 45-pound machine will not generate even as much leverage as my little light-duty RCBS Jr!

Here is how it went: I lubed a GI case, expecting it to kind of slip all the way into the die right down to the end of the ram's travel. ~ Nope. Instead it reached a certain point and stopped. I released pressure turned the case 1/4 turn and tried it again - same result - and I was leaning on the handle with all my weight!

I raised the ram again to where it stopped and looked for a possible gap between the shell-holder and the bottom of the die: And there it was, a gap was clearly viable between die and shell-holder, nothing I could do would close it. I tried all this on 6 cases, same feel, same result.

I measured the sized case heads at 0.4690, knowing that my son's M12 Savage must have case heads at 0.4683 or smaller in order to chamber. And, I double-checked them in the rifle, finding that yes, I could just barely close the bolt on some, not at all on others.

I went back outside, took the die out of the turret press and brought it indoors where I set up for sizing back with the little RCBS. ~ I instantly felt the press take hold and squeeze the cases down all the way (no gap!) and when I checked they were right at 0.4682.

I am shocked, amazed to find this all out today. It appears that this brass will be sized right here in the warm loading room - not out in the cool, unheated shed.

Good afternoon, Forrest

[tygar]

I have the RCBS Big Max. It will swage bullets. It will literally reform brass with hardly any effort at all. I've had it at least 40 yrs & it looks like it just came out of the box since few projects have actually needed that much leverage...but when they do, it sure is nice.

[FAsmus]

Tygar;

Well, I wish we lived a little closer ~

Right now I'm dead in the water: I really don't want to struggle with the little light-duty press all that much - so - I guess I'll go look around the shooting world right here in town. ~ Someone must have something like your Big Max I can borrow.

FAsmus

[tygar]

I started case forming in the late 60s early 70s when I got my first 25-06. I would form from military 06 brass. I used an old (I think) Lyman O mag or similar, with no problems. It was a strong old press & still in use by my son in AK. Use a good lube & if it's stubborn I would go until it was difficult, pull it out, rotate brass, go back up, repeat as necessary. It usually never took over 3 up/downs. Also 308 to 243, sometimes maybe a little harder but still not any big deal.

Those both "required" neck reaming (back then), I use neck turning now but not for reforming, as I usually only only go up, e.g. 338-375, 416- 450 etc. Neck turning is for accuracy in Bench guns.

Go on ebay or other site or put an ad in our Want to Buy section for a good single stage press. Worked for me for quite a while.

[tygar]

Not bad for a 40yo press

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

The big Foster press is back in its unheated storage shed at our Club House.

I did discover why it wouldn't size beyond a certain point: It has a hard mechanical stop in the lever mechanism that prevents the double-leverage design from going past center. In fact it doesn't even come very close at all. This prevents the maximum leverage even being available since when the radius comes up to top-dead-center is where the lever-power is greatest. We needed ALL of it and couldn't get it unless I were to modify the press - not indicated since it wasn't mine..

I figure that the press was designed that way in order to accommodate some need for operating the turret itself ~ I've never used a multi-station press so I wouldn't know. Anyway, it was of no help for the procedure we needed.

After all was said and done the little RCBS Jr successfully sized the 'once-fired' commercial brass and the new Savage is on the line at last.

FAsmus

[Barman54]

How to size Machine Gun Fired .308 Brass
Run them through a Depriming Die, remove the spent primer
Then run them through a 30.06 w/o the Expander, leave the lube on them,
The run them through your .308 Dies without a problem, may have to relube as needed.
Trim, swage the Primer pocket, then load as you wish.
This works using a Small Base Die in .308, in the final stage.
I have been shooting Highpower for over 22 years, and have "Stuck" a lot of .308 Brass sizing, very frustrating.
Found out about 3 years ago this process, seems the 30.0 Die reduces the base enough in the .308 that was fired in a FAT chamber, that you can size with ease in your .308 Die.
I do all my Reloading on A Dillon 550, have broke my Crank on it twice, sizing Service Brass, now it is a Breeze.

Barman54
Out

[StratsMan]

!!! A pearl of wisdom... Wish I'd thought of that years ago...

[GONRA]

GONRA has lottsa experience with "once fired scrap dealer military brass."
First, discard any that have "case stretch internal rings". (Beyond the scope of his thread.)
Second, size case in the biggest press you can afford, with RCBS SMALL BASE DIES.
Third, remove primer pocket crimp with a Dillon (or earlier mfg.) primer pocket swager.
Fourth, check it all out with a L. E. Wilson Case gauge.
Fifth, reload recognizing that internal case capacities vary twixt Military and Commercial brass -
so watchout for the powder charge!!!!
Sixth, use CCI MILITARY primers for semiautos!!!!!!