Small-Base Dies - maybe it's me? RESOLVED!

[BHPSteel]

So, final comment and lessons learned.

Inevitably, a Small Base sizing die is going to need you to eat your Wheaties, because it crunches that case down smaller than a full-length die does, so you'll get more of a workout.

Most of the resizing goes on down nearer the casehead, and you need to make sure you've used plenty of case lube - yeah, more than the "minimum possible".

And lastly, I found that processing some cases is like eating an elephant - take small bites. So, I'll pull the press arm and everything gets difficult after about 1/4" inch of sizing the case. So, back off, relube the area that just got sized, and repeat. 4 or 5 partial cycles and you'll eventually be able to pull down the press arm for the whole length of the case.

There was definitely something wrong with the die, but I lacked the experience to be able to diagnose that I too was part of the problem.

 

[wallacem]

I only question is why did you want to use small base dies? Maybe I was taught wrong, but I always thought you only sue small base dies IF regular dies did not chamber well in your gun. Am I wrong here? Wallacem

 

[BHPSteel]

I only question is why did you want to use small base dies? Maybe I was taught wrong, but I always thought you only sue small base dies IF regular dies did not chamber well in your gun. Am I wrong here? Wallacem

I have a number of 308's and 300Blks, some of them semi-automatic. Current thinking is that by sizing the brass a bit smaller, you reduce the potential for misfeeds.

I'd expect that the accuracy and consistency of the rounds suffer though - there's always a trade-off.

 

[BHPSteel]

I have a number of 308's and 300Blks, some of them semi-automatic. Current thinking is that by sizing the brass a bit smaller, you reduce the potential for misfeeds.

I'd expect that the accuracy and consistency of the rounds suffer though - there's always a trade-off.

So, just a final-final follow-up.

I bought some more 308 brass from another vendor which was mostly easier going than the stuff I was working with. A few of the pieces needed some significant force to resize, but overall the Imperial wax did its job well.

I did take a deep breath and buy one of these.

Not cheap, but I could inspect the whole geometry of the brass and the resulting bullet - and I found that I hadn't got the depth adjustment on the die *quite* right.

I think this story demonstrates a couple of things.

• When it comes to reloading, having experienced people to bounce ideas off of and for general advice is invaluable.
• Buy equipment from manufacturers who really stand behind their product.
• Buy once, cry once. (particularly regarding that Sheridan Engineering case gauge). It'll probably help me diagnose all kinds of reloading screwups I make in future.
• We're always learning.

So I took 20 rounds down to the range last weekend and put them thru' a Ruger Gunsite Scout and an M1A and they shot great. Not quite consistent enough to be considered match ammo, but certainly grouped better than the LC I've been shooting. With practice, I'm sure I can build more consistent ammo, but that's gonna be a result of me reloading more rounds.

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

 

[RSB]

So, I've finally progressed onto rifle cases. I have some neck dies for a couple of calibers, because my reloads will go in specific guns, and it's my understanding that that's the way to go.

However, I have multiple guns, including auto-loaders, in 308 and 300BLK, so having done some reading - I understand that the best compatibility across all guns in a given caliber is if I use small-base dies for these.

So I picked up a set of RCBS for both.

I set up the 300BLK with very little problem, resized some range brass I'd picked up. Checked all the important dimensions before and after resizing, everything seems good. Even to the point of remembering to use case lube. I could plunk the brass before and after resizing in all my 300BLK guns.

So far, so good.

Try and do the same with 308. This was some of my pickup brass from an earlier range trip. All the brass looked fine. Decapped and cleaned, I thought I was ready to go.

• Read the setup instructions twice before cleaning and setting up the dies
• All of it plunked in all of my 308 rifles before resizing
• Lubed the cases (not just neck)
• Pushed 'em up into the resizing die. Lots of resistance (something like 50 lb on the press arm)
• Pulled 'em back out (maybe 70lb on the press arm - I was levering the press up off of the table)
• Plunked the brass in my 308 rifles and they all went in fine.

So, I'm confused. I have to believe that the amount of force I'm applying is excessive, and I would expect that kind of force to deform the brass in some way to take it out of spec. There is no sign of scoring or scratching on the cases. I had cleared the vent hole in the die.

What I planned to do next was put some cold blue on the cases and see if I could figure out where the interference points were. When I insert one of the pieces of brass into the die, it gets this far before there's any resistance (although that tells us nothing about where the actual contact point is)

View attachment 6225829

The die is marked "RCBS 308 WIN SB .. 22" so I think they sent me the right thing.

In frustration, I pulled the bullet from a round of my unused Lake City brass, and tried the same test for an interference fit - and it did the same thing. I'm thinking of depriming the round and seeing if unfired brass behaves the same.

Any of you guys have other thoughts?

I used to go by the neck size only camp theories. Then I watched a few video's of the top bench rest shooters, and every single one of them said they full length size. I now believe it's a situation of an individuals choice based on their individual results per gun. To date the only calibers i neck size only are those that go in my Contender and Encore barrels.

 

[BHPSteel]

I used to go by the neck size only camp theories. Then I watched a few video's of the top bench rest shooters, and every single one of them said they full length size. I now believe it's a situation of an individuals choice based on their individual results per gun. To date the only calibers i neck size only are those that go in my Contender and Encore barrels.

Yeah, I've seen (now) that it's a contentious point. The idea of neck sizing is tempting - don't stress parts of the brass when you don't have to. Hopefully avoid the time and effort to anneal the brass, etc.

I'm going to stick with neck sizing for these three calibers because I do only have one gun in each of those calibers, and none of them are by any means 'tack drivers', but if I see some deals on FL dies, I'll probably snap 'em up.

 

[Remmy]

I’ve used them all in my 40 something years of reloading and have went back to all FL sizing.
I buy the Forster Fl dies and I have them hone the neck out about 5 thousandths so I don’t over work my brass
Works great