learned a thing

I still learn things, Or maybe re-learn things, or maybe I should have learned them. Any way, I wanted to load up some 308 brass that I have been lugging around and some is sized and some is just deprimed and some is unfired with the bullets pulled, So [I] was trying brass in the rifle. It is an older Remington 700. Any way some would chamber and some wouldn't so I got out the sizer die and ran the ones that didn't fit into the die .... and they still wouldn't fit. Maybe they were even a little worse. so I set the offending brass aside for the scrap yard. Then I was going to prime the brass that had no primers and looked at the die that I had in the press and It was not the 308 sizer , it was the 8mm sizer. That splained a few things right there, Wouldn't it? So now they all will chamber. Thing Learned...... 8mm neck will not go intu a 308 chamber. Duh!

Who woulda thought dont worry ive pulled stunts like that to.

Years ago, I got 1,000, 7.62 once fired in a M-60, brass,
Yes, it's true what they say about their rather generous chambers,
and the brass from one being hard to resize that first time.

I was working full time, the kids running around, etc., etc...:
Over several days-I'd cleaned 'em, set up the single stage press,
and put in my new .308 FL sizer die, and chewed through them over a few evenings.

Over the next several evenings-
I cleaned primer pockets, polished, primed them all, charged a few hundred cases, seated a few dozen .
,,,,,Then!!,,, checked one in my M1A .... Ohhh, nooooo,,,,,,The bolt wouldn't close and lock.

Upon further inspection- I figured out, or more nearly they told me,
I hadn't run the sizer die down quite far enough.

//

Last Summer, I was loading a bunch of 5.56 for the old 1977 issue rat gun.
Got everything going, and double checked the readings on my new, fancy, electronic scale.

I charged & seated a few hundred, then looked up, and thought there was way
too much powder left in the measure for having charged that many cases.

Got to checking some more, and realized the fancy new electronic scale had lied to me,
or I had it set on the wrong increments it thought it was supposed to measure.

After 'unloading' 250 5.56s, I was still mad at it, and went back to my old beam scale.

I had a bunch of .223/5.56 reloads that I did several years ago. For some reason the sizing die hadn't gone all the way down on some and they bulged ever so slightly. It was enough that they wouldn't chamber in some of my ARs. I got a case check guide and pulled out about 200 that wouldn't drop in and out.
I then learned about the Redding body sizing die. I didn't even have to go down to the shoulder, just over the problem area. Worked like a charm.

Hey . . . . seems like some days just go that way. Could have been worse . . . you could have been trying to push a 8mm casing into a 308 FL die! Those 308 boolits would be a bit sloppy in a .323 bore if you had been sizing an 8mm in a 308 instead of the other way around.

Don't feel bad about it . happens to all of us. I sort of did a similar thing. I don't use the de-priming pin in the FL die to expand the neck - I use Lyman M dies. I had processed some 8mm brass and left my 8mm M die in the press. Got back to reloading a week later and sat down to expand the necks on some 308 brass - I had just added 308 to the line-up. I was so intent on getting the brass processed that I wasn't thinking and I hadn't changed the 8mm M die out for my 308 M die - fortunately it only took one 308 casing to show me the error of my ways! LOL I took the ruined 308 casing with the crushed neck and taped it on the wall above my bench as a sort of "visual reminder" to keep alert!

On setting a scale, electronic or beam the first thing weighed is a stack up of check weights to verify setting and scales zero/accuracy. I to have made mistakes setting the scale also.

Always verify what you have selected and then re-verify before setting up.

All of the experiences shared here help reduce someone else having to learn from those mistakes. I charge 5 cases of pistol ammo and inspect with a flashlight, not a mistake I have ever experienced but something I learned from others.

When charging rifle cases, I check every 5th case for weight of powder charge by zeroing the electronic scale, charging the case, and weighing it again. For precision rifle loads I weigh every charge. I had loaded some .308 that wouldn't chamber due to too much PC when I first started ESPC coating. I pulled the boolits, dumped the powder back in the hopper, and didn't notice a gas check came off. I did notice when charge weights were goofy. I guarantee you, a gas check will mess up the works. Had I not checked, I would have had a bunch of bogus rounds.

Did I have a mistake? Yes, sort of, but I did have a system in place to catch it before it was a problem. I learned from another reloader to follow such retentive systems of checks and balances. I learned a lot from members here, and from other mentors. We all learn from our mistakes, but it is better to learn from other's mistakes. I learned that from my older brother's mistakes . . . I did however make my own :)

I've pulled some boneheaded moves in my time, one that comes to mind is loading several hundred .40 S&W with an OAL that was just a skosh too short. They fed and chambered beautifully when hand cycled. Under power at the match not so much.

Lots of tap rack bang drills that day.

At least you caught yours before crunch time.

Robert

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frkelly74

I still learn things, Or maybe re-learn things, or maybe I should have learned them. Any way, I wanted to load up some 308 brass that I have been lugging around and some is sized and some is just deprimed and some is unfired with the bullets pulled, So [I] was trying brass in the rifle. It is an older Remington 700. Any way some would chamber and some wouldn't so I got out the sizer die and ran the ones that didn't fit into the die .... and they still wouldn't fit. Maybe they were even a little worse. so I set the offending brass aside for the scrap yard. Then I was going to prime the brass that had no primers and looked at the die that I had in the press and It was not the 308 sizer , it was the 8mm sizer. That splained a few things right there, Wouldn't it? So now they all will chamber. Thing Learned...... 8mm neck will not go intu a 308 chamber. Duh!

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I expect most of us have done something like this. You are not alone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

Years ago, I got 1,000, 7.62 once fired in a M-60, brass,
Yes, it's true what they say about their rather generous chambers,
and the brass from one being hard to resize that first time.

I was working full time, the kids running around, etc., etc...:
Over several days-I'd cleaned 'em, set up the single stage press,
and put in my new .308 FL sizer die, and chewed through them over a few evenings.

Over the next several evenings-
I cleaned primer pockets, polished, primed them all, charged a few hundred cases, seated a few dozen .
,,,,,Then!!,,, checked one in my M1A .... Ohhh, nooooo,,,,,,The bolt wouldn't close and lock.

Upon further inspection- I figured out, or more nearly they told me,
I hadn't run the sizer die down quite far enough.

//

Last Summer, I was loading a bunch of 5.56 for the old 1977 issue rat gun.
Got everything going, and double checked the readings on my new, fancy, electronic scale.

I charged & seated a few hundred, then looked up, and thought there was way
too much powder left in the measure for having charged that many cases.

Got to checking some more, and realized the fancy new electronic scale had lied to me,
or I had it set on the wrong increments it thought it was supposed to measure.

After 'unloading' 250 5.56s, I was still mad at it, and went back to my old beam scale.

---

I've had this problem with military brass a few times. 30-06, 7.62 and 5.56 all can be that way. I have had to use a small base die a few times on the first loading. Sometimes it makes you really appreciate commercial brass!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by country gent

On setting a scale, electronic or beam the first thing weighed is a stack up of check weights to verify setting and scales zero/accuracy. I to have made mistakes setting the scale also.

Always verify what you have selected and then re-verify before setting up.

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This is a good rule to live by. Both beam and digital scales can trick you.