308 Win. Brass

[quicksylver]

So as you probably all know by now ...I have been enjoying my new to me Remington 700 VS in .308 Win.

Being relatively new to this cartridge I have noticed a couple of characteristics that are distinctly different from the 30-06 brass that I am used to using...

The case I have used so far are Federal, Hornady Match and some PMC.....

All of these cases received the same initial treatment..full length sizing, trimming to length and primer pocket decrimping..

Upon initial firing.. I noticed that the PMC cases had not come close to sealing against gas blow back..as a mater of fact there was residue all the way back to the rim..the Hornaday and Fed cases sealed as expected for first firing with cast loads....

After about three loading doing neck sizing only things have pretty much settled down ..except I can't get the burn stain off the PMC cases..

I am now running into trouble with the Fed cases..it seems that the primer pockets are so shallow that they fill up with residue so fast that if I don't clean them after about every 3-4 rounds I end up with high primer that won't let me chamber the round....the Hornaday cases have an extremely tight primer pocket,period..
the PMC and LC cases have deep pockets..I presume to avoid slam fires..

So my conclusion is ..I like Fed. cases because they appear to be softer and therefore seal better when using cast loads....I however don't like the primer pocket issue..the others have their pluses and minuses'.. they seem to be a lot stiffer than 30-06 brass ..but I like their primer pockets...

Anyone run into these issues ..?

 

[Rick]

I've never run into the primer pocket issue because all of my brass has the primer pocket uniformed with the Sinclair primer pocket uniformer. They are all cut to max SAAMI specs. I then use the same tool after each firing to "clean" the pockets but a small amount of brass is still removed. Primer pockets get a slight bit shallower with each firing, more so of course with high pressure loads.

.

 

[Brad]

Federal brass does have a reputation for being soft. When I shot high power competition it was generally avoided as it wasn't good for but a couple reloads.
Like Rick I use a Sinclair uniformer on primer pockets. Power it with a cordless drill and it is a pretty fast job.
I find Starlne brass to be harder at the case mouth when new than some other brass. Very noticeable with 45-70.
Brass most certainly is not all the same.

 

[Ian]

Been trying to get a post fired off for an hour, turns out everything I was going to say has been covered in spades. +1000 on uniforming ALL .308 primer pockets as a standard case prep procedure and then cleaning them at each reloading.

 

[Brad]

Use a carbide reamer for uniforming and use the same for cleaning each go around.

How fast is the Sinclair carbide reamer? I used the large rifle to uniform 50 Starline 45 Colt cases years ago. Went pretty fast with a drill doing the work.

 

[Ian]

I use the redding and drill adapter it comes with. VERY fast. I uniform them once and let the stainless steel pins take care of cleaning chores from there on out.

 

[JWFilips]

Dan,
I would have annealed the cases before 1st FL sizing Maybe that would help. I use a lot of PMC brass (223, 243, 8mm) I love it It seems to last forever but I do anneal every 5 or 6 th fiiring.
You should be able to polish off the burn marks with a little bit of 0000 steel wool but it should come off easily with just a citric acid wash and a tumble in walnut hulls
Jim

 

[KHornet]

Have run into ALL of those issues. I am loading 308s in: Fed, Mil Match, RP, Win, PMC, and a foreign head stamp.
Best of the brands for me have been RP and Win. The short primer pocket on Feds, I found on some but not others.
I would be better off if I had just one brand, and of the same lot. However as I have over 350 of various brands,
will just have to grin and bare it I guess.

 

[quicksylver]

Agree with all...I definitely would prefer Mil or PMC style cases for High Power Matches ...

I am a little reluctant to anneal as that can bring a whole new set of issues for a while...

I have been checking out the primer pocket reamers and will get one that will adapt to a drill or drill press..
I just did not know how deep I could go on the Fed brass....

Thanks guys ...thought I might have screwed something up as I said the .308 brass acts so different than the 30-06..
thought they might have made it stiffer because of the pressures..

 

[quicksylver]

Dan,
I would have annealed the cases before 1st FL sizing Maybe that would help. I use a lot of PMC brass (223, 243, 8mm) I love it It seems to last forever but I do anneal every 5 or 6 th fiiring.
You should be able to polish off the burn marks with a little bit of 0000 steel wool but it should come off easily with just a citric acid wash and a tumble in walnut hulls
Jim

Jim ..I like PMC a lot in other cal.s

 

[KHornet]

PMC is ok in the larger ctgs, but t'aint so pretty good in hornet brass IMO.

 

[Winelover]

I switched over from commercial to military brass. Getting up to twenty reloadings and have never annealed a case. Ninety five percent are shot in a Armalite AR-10 and I'm not single loading. Any load that will not cycle the action 100%, is useless to me. I use the RCBS X-die and attribute the long case life to keeping case stretching in check. I'm trimming to 2.006" and never trimming, again. Just received 800 pieces of 308W LC-12 LR brass the other day. Guess what I'm busy doing?

Last batch is tumbling, now. Have about 130, ready to prime. In the midst of trimming the second batch of 130 pieces. Too hot, outside to do anything else. I also uniform the primer pockets and debur the flashholes. Subsequent firings, get the pocket cleaned with the uniformer.

 

[KHornet]

Hot here Winelover, 97 and not a cloud in the sky. I have annealed for many years, because I was taught to many many years ago. Could be that there has been a change in metalergy (sp) over the years?
I do know that when I anneal different batches of brass from different mfg, I get different variations of neck and shoulder, so in my opinion there is a difference in the brass of various manufactures.

I am not one to keep track of the number of times I anneal after shooting. However, I probably anneal after 5-6 loadings of most ctgs, but definitely when I see a neck split. Have some old 06 Mil match brass that has been loaded at least 15-20 times, probably more. Think it dates to the 50's. Regardless, I believe that what is the routine and works for one person, may not be the way something else works for a different person.

800 cases is a bunch, by the time you process them, you will have definitely earned the right to "do it your way" as old Blue Eye's said. Good luck!
Paul

 

[62chevy]

The Lake City brass I have had to be annealed to get the shoulder to set back where it should be but those cases looked like they came out of a well used machine gun.

 

[462]

Another plug for the Redding primer pocket uniformer. It came with a handle and drill adaptor, and its carbide cutter will last forever.

I've used it to clean primer pockets, but the Hornady primer pocket cleaner does a better job.

 

[Winelover]

The Lake City brass I have had to be annealed to get the shoulder to set back where it should be but those cases looked like they came out of a well used machine gun.

This particular brass (LC-12 LR) does not have crimped primer pockets, so unlikely that it was fired in machine guns. The LR supposedly denotes Long Range..... probably sniper brass. FWIW, the trimmer is barely removing any brass, set at or near minimum case trim length of 2.005 inches. My Wilson Cartridge Gauge is accepting the un-sized brass.

 

[RBHarter]

The LR is a 178gr bullet ,FMJBT or HP . They are packed in cartons or on 10 rd clip . I've never seen them linked . Cool job sometimes sometimes just depressing.

 

[62chevy]

This particular brass (LC-12 LR) does not have crimped primer pockets, so unlikely that it was fired in machine guns. The LR supposedly denotes Long Range..... probably sniper brass. FWIW, the trimmer is barely removing any brass, set at or near minimum case trim length of 2.005 inches. My Wilson Cartridge Gauge is accepting the un-sized brass.

Mine are LC-13 and some have those little dents you get from full auto. Don't think they were on a belt as not marks like that. Looks like you got lucky with your LC brass.

 

[JSH]

I am of the thoughts of annealing, especially with cast and soft loads. The brass just not do its job well if it doesn't seal the chamber.
The thoughts on it bringing on a whole new batch of problems. It is not witch craft or high tech when it comes down to it. If you can cast bullets, make lube,you can anneal brass. I am more concerned of soot and carbon build up along with funky pressure issues when cases soot much past the shoulder. Yes it should clean up but the gasses are supposed to go down the bore.
I have some 30-30 cases that I just finished annealing, they have been reloaded 29 times and annealed 6 times.
I have some of the Grafs 7.62x54 brass that has been shot a bunch in my Finn, lost track of info but it was from the intital run.
Your primer pocket issues. I agree with the rest uniform and you should be in better shape. However I didn't see you mention who's primer you were using. I have found the foreign, or Russian primers to be kind of tough to seat.

 

[quicksylver]

Good question about the primers....I use WLR and CCILR ..

The issues I have are with seating depth....

I have ordered the Sinclair primer pocket uniformer...it should take care of any future issues....

As I said the .308 cases are different than the 30'06 that I am use to using...outside of removing military crimps and annealing a batch after one splits the 30'06 cases just play along....some are head stamped 43 and i have been loading them since 1966

While we are on the subject my favorite ones are WRA 54...

Thanks for the input..Dan