308 brass ppu problem

[nagantguy]

I have several dozen once fired ppu headstamp brass- all range pick up at one time. Anyhow the case head seems thicker- is in fact thicker by about 4-5 thousandths to fat to fit in either a lee or RCBS shell holder.
Two questions is there any easy remedy for this ?
And or should the whole batch just be scrapped?
I’m loading these for an DPMS 308-

[tankgunner59]

I have ran into that problem before with a few cases. Don't remember if they were all PPU though. I used my jewelers files to thin the case heads down slightly, but I didn't have that many. It was just one or two here and there. Are all of them 4-5 thousandths over? The only idea I can think of off hand would be a Dremel. It would definitely be time consuming. This is something to think on. Maybe a milling machine?

[frkelly74]

You can perhaps get the shell holder for the 6.5X55 and be good to go if you have a lot of brass to use up. I switch back and forth depending on which one fits better.

[Hamish]

I've run into 30-06 PPU that was enough of a pita that I bagged it and put it aside for a time when need was great enough to jack with it.

My intention to fix the over thick case heads was to tape a sheet of sandpaper to a flat surface and take them down enough to function. A judicious hand with a belt sander and a fine grit belt would probably be pretty spiffy too,,,,,.

[Misery-Whip]

I have had different problem with PPU brass being too thin in the neck. So after sizing, priming, charging, the j-word fell into the case.

[nagantguy]

Thanks guys ; I’m probably just gonna round file them, ie trash can. Seems a shame though. But the free time I have now will be short lived so I’ll stick them aside and work with the other brass I have .

[slim1836]

Send em to me, I'll pay shipping and handling.
Give me something to do.

Slim

[tomme boy]

It also could have been over pressure loads and the head expanded. I would pitch them.

[fastdadio]

It also could have been over pressure loads and the head expanded. I would pitch them.

That's what I was thinking also. Possibly fired in a Nato chamber of overly generous dimensions. I would chuck it and move on. No sense in taking the chance of a case head separation to save 50 cents.

[slim1836]

Make ink pens with them.

[trapper9260]

I have some of these brass when I got some used brass and did not have problems with them.I use shell holder of Lyman and RCBS , when I got the dies at the time I got a extra shell holder since I use the same one in some other rounds i load that is not 308 win.I have a DPMS LR 308 and load cast in them without any problems . Like was stated that maybe the gun they where fired in was the problem, I seen it in a friends of my M1 the brass expand that I could not size and deprime .

[lotech]

I've used their rifle brass (new) only in 7mm Remington Magnum. It worked fine, but the brass weighed 14% more than Winchester brass - enough of a difference that the powder charge had to be decreased to get velocity comparable to that of the Winchester brass.

[Larry Gibson]

Over the years I have found the same [cases do not fit into appropriate shell holder] even with the best of cases, both commercial and military. It has nothing to do with the type of firearm they have been fired in. Realize that case dimensional tolerances [+/-] are used for the ammunition to function in firearm bolt faces....not shell holders, especially those cases that are factory loaded. I have recently found a number of LC 5.56 cases that are a difficult fit in Lee, Lyman and RCBS shell holders. Not many remember but "back in the day" 9mm case rim and extractor grooves were all over the place. RCBS sold 2 different size shell holders for them.

Additionally many shell holders are made for a several different cartridges with different dimensions. Add in the +/- tolerances and sometimes somethings just don't fit anyways.

Easiest solution, if the OP has enough of the cases, is to get the shell holder for the slightly larger rim 6.5x55 if it is the rim of the case that is too large in diameter. Or, he could as I've done in the past, if the extractor groove is to large in diameter simply open up the inside of the shell holder a little bit. A Dremel with a small diameter grinder is easily used. That is what I did with the #10 shell holder for the 5.56 cases and it works just fine with the slightly oversized extractor groove diameter and regular groove diameter cases......a relatively simple solution.

[BABore]

I've been processing brass for the last month or so and ran into a few cases with too thick of a rim. Don't recall what caliber or brand. I chucked the case up in my cordless drill and laid a small triangular jewlers file into the extractor groove. Took a couple seconds to bring it into tolerance. The rim thickness was about 0.005" over SAAMI spec.

[samari46]

Had a bunch of Remington 308 brass that was giving me fits. Brass shavings in the action and couldn't figure out where they were coming from. Checked the lot of brass I was using and evidently they cut the extraction groove a tad on the big side. This was all new factory bulk unprimed brass. It was also causing hard bolt rotation as the extractor would chew up the area were the extraction groove was. Fit shell holders fine. Frank