help: Reload .308 with Forster dies..case mouth not wide enough after fl sizing

[mtenenhaus]

Hi, pretty new to all of this.

I have a Forster Co-Ax press and I just purchased new Forster dies in .308 Winchester.

I set up the die so that it hits the shell plate plus 1/4 turn or so and adjusted the lower 1/3 part of the expander ball to fall at the level of the die vent.

I tried it on once fired (fire formed) deprimed and cleaned cases as well as brand new Lapua cases, both after lubing.

i ran them through the FL Sizing die.

When i take out the presumably sized case i find that the case mouth is still too tight to fit a bullet in for seating.

I could use some help.

I'm not sure what i'm missing or what i'm doing wrong.

I tried to seat the expanding ball a bit further down but it didn't seem to help either.

[Archon_g24]

Have you measured inside of the case mouth before and after sizing?

[mtenenhaus]

no...i didn't. Could you please clarify what i should be doing/looking for.

i did read a book on reloading but perhaps there were some subtleties or specifics i might have missed. I also looked at the setup instructions for Forster both the printed ones included with the dies and two youtube videos.

[OpenSightsOnly]

Hi, pretty new to all of this.

I have a Forster Co-Ax press and I just purchased new Forster dies in .308 Winchester.

I set up the die so that it hits the shell plate plus 1/4 turn or so and adjusted the lower 1/3 part of the expander ball to fall at the level of the die vent.

I tried it on once fired (fire formed) deprimed and cleaned cases as well as brand new Lapua cases, both after lubing.

i ran them through the FL Sizing die.

When i take out the presumably sized case i find that the case mouth is still too tight to fit a bullet in for seating.

I could use some help.

I'm not sure what i'm missing or what i'm doing wrong.

I tried to seat the expanding ball a bit further down but it didn't seem to help either.

Based on my experience with the Forsters FL dies, the decapper/spindle assembly is preset from the factory. Doesn't need to be fiddled with.

Also, since the spindle "floats" it may be better to decap your cases prior to FL sizing.

How do you clean the brass - media, ss pins, ultrasonic? If the last two, then the case neck got no lube so you need to coat the inside of the case neck with Imperial dry neck lube then seat the bullet.

[mtenenhaus]

thanks....i did manually decap first with a lee decapping die. I then ran the cases for several hours in a vibrating cleaner with walnut shells.

i think maybe the problem is i didn't chamfer enough. will try one or two cases and see how that works.

any guidelines as to how much chamfer is appropriate? thanks

[Witch Hunter]

No need to adjust down 1/4 turn, adjust your die so that a sized case will fit in your action with no bolt tension while closing the bolt. Adjust your decapper to fully decap the primer, then run it up into the neck, now tighten it. This will center it.Adjust your seater die one turn away from the top of the case,lock it down. Now set the stem to your desired starting seating depth.
Now you are ready to start.

[LynnJr]

The purpose of chamfering is to remove the burr you get after trimming to length. It prevents scratching of the bullet.
If your shooting boattail bullets the necks inside diameter is usually 0.002 - 0.007 smaller than bullet diameter. So if your shooting 308 bullets the neck should be 0.300 to around 0.306 but a little bit tighter won't matter.
You should be able to completely remove the decapping assembly then full length size your brass and seat a bullet.
The neck will expand as the bullet gets seated on its own.

[baih777]

Sounds like you did not deburr the inside of the case mouth. Are you using flat base bullets or boat tail.

[OpenSightsOnly]

thanks....i did manually decap first with a lee decapping die. I then ran the cases for several hours in a vibrating cleaner with walnut shells.

i think maybe the problem is i didn't chamfer enough. will try one or two cases and see how that works.

any guidelines as to how much chamfer is appropriate? thanks

Do you have that deburring tool that looks like a rocket?

Just give it one rotation and if you look closely, on the case mouth, you'll see a bevel. That's all that you need.

[mtenenhaus]

Thanks everyone...yes it was a flat based bullet, my boat tail bullets should arrive this weekend but was hoping to get everything all set up before they arrive so i would only have to fine tune.

The information really helped. Will try the above tomorrow. thank you to all. learning a lot.

[CSACANNONEER]

Expander balls suck. I really prefer adding an extra step to my precision rounds and FL size W/O and expander ball then, in a separate step, use a K&M expander iron. However, it sounds like you didn't properly process your brass so, this wouldn't have made a difference.

[J-cat]

The way metallic cartridges stay together is through elasticity which requires the case neck to be smaller than the bullet.

[NukleusX]

help: Reload .308 with Forster dies..case mouth not wide enough after fl sizing

OP, not that I know a crap ton nor do I want to sound condescending, but how many reloading books/manuals have you read? Most I have read/skimmed thru mention the case neck beveling...

I'm jut a meticulous anal jerk and I read probably 3 manuals cover to cover before I reloaded with my own equipment for the first time. Haha

[bsumoba]

Expander balls suck. I really prefer adding an extra step to my precision rounds and FL size W/O and expander ball then, in a separate step, use a K&M expander iron. However, it sounds like you didn't properly process your brass so, this wouldn't have made a difference.

I love my expander ball. But then again, I have a custom die with a set OD for the neck, such that when the expander goes though the neck, it ever so slightly kisses the neck and expands it maybe 0.001". This prevents over stretching of the neck. Factory dies seem to require 0.004-0.006" of expansion and to me, that's too much.

[mtenenhaus]

Thanks everyone....NukleusX, no ego here, I really appreciate your insight and continue to learn.

You're all correct and i appreciate the information.

I just didn't chamfer/deburr appropriately.