Tight resizing

[tooldummy]

This morning I am reloading some .308 Winchester once fired brass I bought from Midway USA. I am using new Hornady dies that I thoroughly cleaned before using. I am using Sinclair lube, and am lubricating the inside of the case. I have loaded .223 and .270 before, and although the .270 was a little harder to resize, this .308 is really something else! I am a big guy, and have to stand up and with both hands really force the handle of my press down. The first time I thought it was just too tight and took the die apart and checked everything. I took a q-tip and lubed the inside of the die just to make sure it had enough lube. I was sure I was going to stick a piece of brass in the die. I've did about 20 pieces so far, and it is maybe a little easier now, but is so much pressure to resize .308 common? When I go on the upward stroke it seems fine. Any help or comments appreciated.

[Ol` Joe]

No, you shouldn`t have to "stand" on the press.

I suspect the brass is military and was fired in a machine gun of some type. The military chambers are a bit large to insure reliablity in the field, but allow the brass to over expand when fired. They are a real pain to size at times and are the reason I don`t use goverment cases for my loading.

Once you`ve sized and fired them in your chamber they should be easier to work with in the future. Be sure to keep them well lubed and check the lenght after the initial sizeing that you`re doing now. The excessive sizeing can cause them to lenghten quite abit and they might need trimming.

[tooldummy]

I suspect you are right about the machine gun. I am trimming about .020 off them, which I think is a lot. I figured some sort of assault rifle, but never gave a machine gun a thought. Good call on your part Joe.
I think you are right on the next time I reload them it being easier also. But I wonder if since I am trimming so much off them how many times I should reload them? I bought them for $6.99/100 so I guess if I load them once or maybe twice I'll be OK.

[Catfish]

What, you said you were lubeing the inside of the case???? Unless it`s something like mica or graphit you could be screwing up. You wnat to be carefull not to get any lube in the case that could contaminate the powder.
Your next problem will be seating the primers. Mil brass has the primers crimped in and the crimp must be removed or you will find it imposible to seat new primers. This can be done with a hand reamer or on your press with a primer pocket swedge. If you don`t have a good heave press like the Rock Chucker you will find this hard to do also. That`s the main reson I quit buying mil brass.

[tooldummy]

Catfish, I take a very small amount of Imperial wax and apply it with a Q-tip. A friend of mine came by one day while I was reloading some .270's and his reaction was the exact opposite of yours. "What, your not lubing the inside of the case for the ball resizer. No wonder it's so hard!" So today I put some in for them. I then run a wire brush in and clean the neck. If this isn't standard practice I can always quit. I had worried about powder contamination too, but he acted like I was an idiot for NOT doing it. And truthfully, I obviously don't know.

[Jack]

You do want to lube the inside of the case neck, so the expander ball goes smoothly in and out.
Most of the spray lubes tell you to spray some lube inside the sizing die before you start resizing- and it helps a lot.
Machine gun fired brass will be expanded more than you're used to, and military brass is thicker (usually) than commercial brass, too. Both factors will make the xase harder to size.

[tooldummy]

OK, thanks Jack. Like I said, I just didn't know. Should I worry about cleaning it out somehow, or will the wire brush do a good enough job?

[Rocky Raab]

TD, if it's just a wisp of Imperial on a Q-tip, I don't think it'd be a problem. It takes more than that to affect the powder.

I have noted the same thing with some 308 brass - almost always military stuff. I rub a bit of Imperial on a cleaning patch and use that to lube the cases. For some reason it seems to work better than just having some Imperial on my fingers. I use a dry dip of mica and graphite dust in small lead shot to lube the necks - just dip the case in, spin it and pull it out with a shake.

For those not familiar with that technique, put some #9 shot in a 35mm film canister (about half full) and then put in a small amount (a pea-sized lump each) of mica and graphite powders. The shot keeps the powdered lubes from caking, and also helps "rub" it onto the case neck.

[tooldummy]

Thanks Rocky. You know I remember reading that you did the graphite and lead shot thing somewhere else. I don't remember if it was a post or your reloading room. The wax and cleaning patch is a great idea. I had wax all over me, my press, and about everything else yesterday before I was done. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for the help.

[Catfish]

#9 shot works pretty good, but for .17 and .22 cal. I prefer #12 shot, I know it`s hard to find, I`ve had mine for 30 yrs. now. For neck sizeing this is the only lubeing my cases get.

[Cal Sibley]

One of the reasons I do not use military bras is it's hopelessly thick, often causing similar problems. I have no problems with lubing the inside of the necks. A Q-tip does a good job applying a little lube to the inside of the necks. I also remove it with a Q-tip after resizing so as not to run a risk of contaminating the powder.
Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal