Unable to chamber once fired brass

[MS50]

Range report: Fired Ultramax 168gr LC brass remanufactured, and HSM 168gr Federal brass ammunition in my 10FP. Neither would rechamber after I fired them. I marked the case with magic marker to rechamber the fire formed case in the same position. No go. Looks like I'll have to FL resize my fire formed 308 cases. My 12FCV is tight as well. I've started FL sizing the LC, Rem, and Win brass for the .223 last year. I have successfully neck sized fireformed 223 cases for my Mod11. The cases will rechamber in the Mod11 with no problem. I would like to be able to neck size the 308 brass to extend case life. If I can't, I can't. Thanks for the feedback from all posters. This has been a great learning experience.

[SparkyLB]

. . . Are you saying the Lee die and Lyman head space gauge are incompatible? I thought head space gauges were designed to prepare casings to fit in all factory chambers. I don't have a custom chamber. Thanks again. I've got some work to do. Hope to get this resolved so that I can reload and get on with the shooting.

No. A Herters FL resizing die is a special animal. So far as I know it's the only die that requires a shellholder that is made for it. Otherwise, cross utilization of shell holders and dies shouldn't be a problem.

[390fe]

I tried neck sizing only and found no accuracy benefit for it. As a matter of fact it just created more work for me, keeping track of what was fl sized and what was neck sized.

Now I full length size everything, everytime.

[MS50]

I FL sized a bunch of fire formed 308 this evening. 100% fit in the headspace gauge, and everything I tried chambered after sizing. It's still a mystery to me why cases that will fit a headspace gauge won't chamber. It's a good thing I tried to chamber an empty before loading a couple of hundred cases. It would've been a long miserable bullet removal session. Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

[eddiesindian]

Chamber issues. I've had issues with chambers before that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, took a bore Scope to spot it. Little bit of lapping compound and polishing to rid myself of debris that I spotted in the chamber. Micing the spent case would help as well. c king head space won't hurt either.

[sharpshooter]

No. A Herters FL resizing die is a special animal. So far as I know it's the only die that requires a shellholder that is made for it. Otherwise, cross utilization of shell holders and dies shouldn't be a problem.
Herter's dies are the same as any other dies. The only thing that requires a Herter's shell holder is a Herter's press.

[SparkyLB]

Herter's dies are the same as any other dies. The only thing that requires a Herter's shell holder is a Herter's press.
Thanks Fred. I suppose I don't know what my issue was then. Whatever it was, FL resizing with a different die did the trick.

[earl39]

It's still a mystery to me why cases that will fit a headspace gauge won't chamber.

Don't know why that is a mystery. The gauge is just another chamber and the two chambers are cut with different reamers. What you are calling a headspace gauge is a "case gauge". A headspace gauge is what is used to set the headspace of a barrel to the action and bolt. Just wanted to clarify that little bit of information.

[MS50]

Thanks earl39. You're not the first nor the last who will tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. The Lyman packaging labels it a Case Length Headspace Gauge. Looks like they covered all their bases. I will chalk up my problems to factory chambers. I'm happy they shoot as well as they do. When I do a custom build in the future I will hopefully have worked out the kinks in my knowledge base. I should be able to proceed with confidence. Thanks again.

[earl39]

MS50 maybe you should read the instructions for the Redding gauge as it may be a little more detailed than the Lyman. Both do the same thing the same way just different directions. Might give you a new angle to look at for what is going on. Also i did not notice if you have tried factory ammo and had the same problem. If you have and there is no problem it would point to the reloads and if the same problem was there it would tend to point to the weapon.

Went back thru and saw where you tried cheap factory ammo. Can you get your hands on a couple of rounds of Remington or Winchester factory hunting ammo? Ultramax from what few i have tried tend to run a bit toward the warm side.

[MS50]

Yes, I tried factory ammo. Post #21. Looks like it's the chamber. The same for my 12FCV. It will be FL sizing for these two rifles.

[Handloader]

Did your cartridge length increase after firing? It could be you need to re-trim your brass after fire forming, and bumping back the shoulder.

[MS50]

Yes I did re-trim. I measured quite a few and some had increased in length. Others I dropped into a Lyman case length gauge and if it tapped the table, I trimmed. In the end I trimmed them all with the Lee quick trim die and a rechargeable screwdriver. Too much work to measure them all. I reloaded the 308 and 223 cases, checked them in the Lyman gauge, and checked quite a few in the rifle chambers. All is fine now. I will stick with FL sizing. I will revisit the neck sizing issue when I learn more about it. As I said, I'm not that concerned about accuracy. They're very accurate for my purposes. I would like to extend case life, so it will be a future project. Thanks.

[sharpshooter]

Neck sizing will NOT increase case life.

[MS50]

I've wondered whether there's a real difference in case life with neck sizing. I would think that annealing is part of the life extension picture. If I don't anneal, am I really gaining anything? I intend to learn more about proper FL sizing as well. I may be oversizing, but I'm not sure. I gradually worked up (or down ) to a size that would fit both a case gauge and chamber. I still wonder if I'm not overdoing it. It feels like I may have too much cam-over. Not enough cam-over has gotten me into trouble as well. Thanks.

[sharpshooter]

You need a case comparator to find out how much you are bumping the shoulder back. When you figure that out, find a shellholder that mates to the die that will bump the shoulder about .002".

[MS50]

I think you're talking about a headspace gauge comparator. I have the Hornady Lock&Load bullet comparator, which has made my life a lot easier when loading Game Kings. I can measure to the ogive. Any thoughts on Hornady vs Redding headspace comparators? I have the digital calipers. It looks like the difference is the Redding includes a dial gauge with their kits. Are you saying it's trial and error to find a shellholder to match the die I am using to resize? I currently use the sizing die from a RCBS die set. I will also YouTube this issue to see if I can fill in a few blanks, and stop kicking a dead mule.

[Sawfish]

With the exception of glass bedding the rifle is factory. I looked at the Win brass. On a lot of the cases there is a scratch extending down the body about 5mm. It starts where the shoulder meets the body. I can't say that I see it on the LC brass. I suppose that the scratch could've been caused by my screwing around chambering and unchambering empty cases. I don't have any brand new Win cases as I've FL sized and trimmed everything I have. I don't know what a pristine case looks like.

Once upon a time, I had the "scratch" issue with an Interarms Whitworth in 375 H & H. Turned out to be a check in the chamber from a bad reamer during the manufacturing process. That would be unusual with Savage, but could be worth a phone call to customer service. Another unusual occurrence (but worth checking) might be the depth of the scope base mounting screws.

[jonbearman]

Neck sizing will NOT increase case life.

Fred I dare you to post that on accurate shooter,LOL I get slaughtered for some of my ideas because some do not understand physics etc. All neck sizing does is make a case hard to chamber if you do it all the time. Hunting rifles require full length sizing for smooth operation along with safety. Most guys shooting PPC's with a tight neck chamber full length resize everytime. Guess what, The bolt closes nice and smooth and shoulder bump is the same all the time. We also anneal quite often as well to get long life from our lapua brass.

[CharlieNC]

Buy a Headspace Comparator for your Hornady, measure cases that fit your chamber, write it down as a spec to meet when you load.