This is a military ammo question..

[skeet]

Maybe a reloading question too. Anyway..this is the scenario.

A friend called me last evening with a question about reloading 308. Military 7.62 x 51 to be precise.. He had gotten a couple thousand rounds from a friend..They proceeded to process the brass and ultimately loaded 650 rounds. One fellow has an M1A Springfield Armory to be exact. Well they tried the function by cycling in an old Ishapore 308 Rifle....every thing worked just fine so they finally got to try some through the M1A..and it just won't fit in the chamber.. Measured the case and at the base above the web the darn things measure .488..way more than they are supposed to. These were sized in a normal 308 Win sizing die..and still measured that..I suspect these were shot in one of the new iterations of the M-60..machine gun if ya will. Is there any way to re-size the brass to fit a standard chamber..or do y'all think the brass is stretched beyond hope? We tried to resize the brass in a 30-06 small base die and a 243 die..nothing changed..still came out .487-.488. I think they are gonna be pullin a lot of bullets. Any answers that may help?? Unfortunately..I even have a hundred or so of this brass. Should we just crush it and sell it for scrap??

[buckhunter]

I have some that went thru a 60. I always used a 308 small base die and seemed to function well in a Remington 742. Be sure to trim them as they streach.

[skeet]

These are all once fired(from Aberdeen Proving Ground and I don't have to worry about 'em stretching..they won't chamber in any rifle but the old Ishapore SMLE. And can't get 'em to size down enough.

[Dan Morris]

I inherited a quantity of M60 brass, had to use small base dies to get it into a M70.
OAL was fine.
Dan

[Adam Helmer]

skeet,

When I get in a bunch of new once-fired brass, I check the resized case in a few rifles of that caliber for fit and function. I load up 20 rounds and step into the backyard here at the farm and fire them. Breaking down 650 rounds seems like an all-day job that could have been avoided!

Adam

[Gil Martin]

I always check brass as he described. Let us know what you do. All the best...
Gil

[skeet]

Well gutys I just found out that this was not M-60 Brass. It was GE Mini gun ammo.. I try to check my brass as y'all do..but I didn't get this brass originally. A friend just sent me a hundred or so after he and the other guy acquired it..After loading is when they had the problems. I have tried sizing the brass myself and in small base dies and everything goes well but..almost none measures less than .487...a couple measured average size after sizing..but 2 out of 50 so far is not right. As far as loading..I've never had any problems with any brass before..but all mine came from MOSTLY bolt guns and a few semi autos..except for the 223. I have seen some of the brass fired in the newer SAW guns like the 242..most was for me unusable. All of my 50 cal brass was however fired in an M-2..and i have no problem with that either...and the chamber on my Barrett is kinda tight..but it was set up for sniping. Speaking of the 50...I had a local fellow who just gave me 21 rounds of 50 Ammo. All Loaded by Winchester. As far as pulling all those bullets..Not my job..But I do have a hundred or so 45 autos that I have to pull. They are 2 tenths over max..I really don't know how I did it either.. it was a new can of powder too...HP-38. It took me all of 10 minutes to load 'em..probably an hour to break 'em down. LOL

[Jack]

I think, as others have said, trying a small base 308 die would be the standard procedure.
But, .488 is waaay too big.
A few observations: I'd expect an Ishapore 308 to have a mighty generous chamber, as it seems you found.
Never had a minigun myself- couldn't afford to feed it if I did. But, I know what it is, and I'll make a guess. In something electrically powered like a minigun, rather than gas powered like an M1A, I suspect the firing/ejection cycle is happening a whole lot faster than in any gun we civilians have experience with. I'd bet the case is being yanked from a minigun chamber about the time the bullet is exiting the muzzle, and the brass is still expanding when the case clears the chamber.
Since you tried a small base 30-06 die, and that didn't help, I'd say that brass was expanded past the point where it can be sized down again. Gonna be lots of work to pull the bullets and salvage the powder on that much ammo, but, IMO, that's the only safe thing to do.

[skeet]

Jack that was my assessment. Emailed the fellow this AM and that is what i told him. Talked to him tonight and he told me ..400 done and he figures he may have that many more.. I thunk it was "only" 650..but he now figures close to 800 total. I also figured the brass was ruined when it wouldn't even size down more than .001 in a standard die..It must not have any elasticity left. Not many know it but Dillon has been "fixing the problems" that occur with the M-60(it worked but not well)....and the mini gun too. When they came out I think the cyclic rate on a mini was 3600 rounds per minute..when they worked.There were a lot of jams. From what i can find out Dillon's company has really made 'em sing at over 5000 RPM....and they are very reliable. You don't think that company stays in business selling reloaders do ya?? They have design genius's working there..they also have fun from what I have been told. Oh...my friend who did most of the reloading?? They brought him 5 5 gallon buckets of "once fired" 308 brass..all scrap. How much is scrap brass bringing right now anyway?? Oh..he is even salvaging most of the primers too..With air. I personally wouldn't bother...but he has an awful lot of work in the brass. He swaged all the primer pockets. Told me has more time than money. As far as Dillon they have a WWII Quad 50 AA gun. I'd love to sit in that seat and direct fire

[Jack]

I've seen TV shows of some of the full auto stuff Dillon has - that quad 50 would be fun!