Things I should have invested in 8 years ago.

[Tommy Gun]

So my expierence in reloading has really just been an adventure into a little self reliance and building what I thought was good gear and practices, well after 8 years of BSing around and realizing I've been stupid with those processes I have invested in quite a few things to dial it in the right way, at least what I think is the right way.

AR10 308 has given me issues for awhile now. Finally bought some slotted Sheridans in 223 and 308 to start and my prepped and completed cases do not slide in effortlessly and stick out. I can push them down with little resistance and some just won't and no not want to force it. The gauges show seating depth but with my 2.8 168 SMKs I could tell it was in the lands some. But they were showing rub marks by the base of the body which would possible explain the FTEs and sheared off rims. I know an AR Barrel will have some forgiveness but it's a Criterion Barrel so it may be tight.

Before I invest in small base dies and having to pull the rounds I'm going to use my Lyman 8 or my OG Lee Single Stage for sizing. The Lee Classic Turret is junk, at least IMO as the slop and play in the plates is laughable. Good for my pistol cases when resizing but def not rifle. Like I said, before I buy small base dies going to see if a more stable platform will fix the issue.

I also finally bought a Bore Scope. And going to take cleaning of my barrels way more serious than just a few passes with a brush and a few patches Also bought some JB Bore Paste and Kroil as well as a stiff handled short cleaning rod to take care of the chamber and get to the carbon rings that have aided in my loss of accuracy.

Bought some Primer Pocket Go/No Go gauges as my cases are on their 4th and 5th reloadings and have destroyed pockets due to wear and loading hotter than I should have. Annealing will be my next investment, even for plinking ammo.

Long post but just disappointed in my procedure and laziness with something I really enjoy doing, shooting.

[Cowboy T]

Hmm...that's interesting, because I use the Lee Classic Turret Press for a lot of my rifle rounds, with very good results.

Are you full-length sizing your cases, given that the AR-10/LR-308 family of rifles is semi-automatic? Or are you neck-sizing?

[pacrat]

Tommy said;

AR10 308 has given me issues for awhile now. Finally bought some slotted Sheridans in 223 and 308 to start and my prepped and completed cases do not slide in effortlessly and stick out. I can push them down with little resistance and some just won't and no not want to force it. The gauges show seating depth but with my 2.8 168 SMKs I could tell it was in the lands some. But they were showing rub marks by the base of the body which would possible explain the FTEs and sheared off rims. I know an AR Barrel will have some forgiveness but it's a Criterion Barrel so it may be tight.

Clarification of the bolded please. What is a "2.8 168 SMK"? Is the 2.8 your OAL

And are the "Rub Marks" from your rifles chambers, or the gage? If the answer is "gage". But cycles fine in rifle. Write off the loss as a learning experience, drop the gage in a drawer, then forget where you left it.

Even a tricky gage with a hole in the side doesn't mean your ammo will fit your chamber.

[rsrocket1]

AR10 308 has given me issues for awhile now. Finally bought some slotted Sheridans in 223 and 308 to start and my prepped and completed cases do not slide in effortlessly and stick out. I can push them down with little resistance and some just won't and no not want to force it. The gauges show seating depth but with my 2.8 168 SMKs I could tell it was in the lands some. But they were showing rub marks by the base of the body which would possible explain the FTEs and sheared off rims. I know an AR Barrel will have some forgiveness but it's a Criterion Barrel so it may be tight.

Before I invest in small base dies and having to pull the rounds I'm going to use my Lyman 8 or my OG Lee Single Stage for sizing. The Lee Classic Turret is junk, at least IMO as the slop and play in the plates is laughable. Good for my pistol cases when resizing but def not rifle. Like I said, before I buy small base dies going to see if a more stable platform will fix the issue.

Bought some Primer Pocket Go/No Go gauges as my cases are on their 4th and 5th reloadings and have destroyed pockets due to wear and loading hotter than I should have. Annealing will be my next investment, even for plinking ammo.

Looks like you are opting for plastic surgery because your hair is turning gray and you don't want to look old. Unrelated cause/effect. You should first determine the cause before you try to perform the fix. The Lee Turret press is highly unlikely to be the culprit. You can go out and buy a Forster Coax press or Dillon 1050 and still have the same problems unless you fix them first.

Your FTE's and torn rims may be due to waaay over pressure in your rounds. If the bullets are jamming into the lands (which your gauge apparently doesn't show, not that they are expected to), then you are probably starting your shots with the bullets already engraving into the lands which will send the pressures way up. That could explain premature primer pocket wear. Do you have extractor marks on the brass? What do your fired primers look like? Flattened and cratered primers are not the best indicators of overpressure but lack thereof is probably assurance of not being over pressure.

If the extraction process is taking place too soon before the pressure inside the case has gone down sufficiently, you will also get scrapes on the case, FTE's and torn rims. Timing of the extraction could also be your problem.

Have you had these problems with mid range 150g garden variety 308 rounds?

A new press, small base dies, gauges galore may not help you if they don't fix the problem you need to identify unless it's by blind luck.

[Tommy Gun]

Just trying to eliminate variables. I do full length size, everytime for the semi's.

Rocket - that very well may be the case. Was turned on to the Sheridan Gauges from another site I'm on and was not thrilled with the fact my rounds would not seat in them. 2.8 OAL is not an issue in my chamber, and I'm loading in the upper range of the scale but not crazy, 42gr H4895 for the 168s and 42.6 A2460 for the 150s. But using the OAL comparator the chamber shoukd have no issues at that length. I imagine the gauges are more geared towards Bolt actions and not AR but that's not what I'm reading. More than likely the reamers used for the gauge are slightly tighter than what Criterion uses.

[seabee1]

what about the case length? if you're on your 4th or 5th reload and haven't trimmed then that's gonna be an issue. maybe I'm reading your post wrong

[Tripplet918]

Looks like you are opting for plastic surgery because your hair is turning gray and you don't want to look old. Unrelated cause/effect. You should first determine the cause before you try to perform the fix. The Lee Turret press is highly unlikely to be the culprit. You can go out and buy a Forster Coax press or Dillon 1050 and still have the same problems unless you fix them first.

Your FTE's and torn rims may be due to waaay over pressure in your rounds. If the bullets are jamming into the lands (which your gauge apparently doesn't show, not that they are expected to), then you are probably starting your shots with the bullets already engraving into the lands which will send the pressures way up. That could explain premature primer pocket wear. Do you have extractor marks on the brass? What do your fired primers look like? Flattened and cratered primers are not the best indicators of overpressure but lack thereof is probably assurance of not being over pressure.

If the extraction process is taking place too soon before the pressure inside the case has gone down sufficiently, you will also get scrapes on the case, FTE's and torn rims. Timing of the extraction could also be your problem.

Have you had these problems with mid range 150g garden variety 308 rounds?

A new press, small base dies, gauges galore may not help you if they don't fix the problem you need to identify unless it's by blind luck.

I agree with RS above. The symptoms will lead you to the cause of your problem. Once the cause is identified, only then can you attempt a proper fix.

http://www.floridareloading.com/index.php/2015/09/14/reading-pressure-signs/

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/ar15-failures/

[divingin]

Bought some Primer Pocket Go/No Go gauges as my cases are on their 4th and 5th reloadings and have destroyed pockets due to wear and loading hotter than I should have. Annealing will be my next investment, even for plinking ammo.

My opinion: If your cases are only lasting 4 or 5 firings, you can skip annealing.

On my benchrest rifle, I find that it sometimes takes a cycle (sometimes 2) before cases "normalize" after annealing. They then shoot well for the next 2 or 3 or 4 load cycles. This has occurred with 3 - 200 pc sets of brass over 3 barrels. Shooting mid-range loads, some of the brass is on its 27th firing.

If your brass only lasts 5 cycles, I doubt you'll see much gain. Then again, a lot of guys do stuff that doesn't produce improvement, but makes them feel good (I have several steps I do that fall into this category.) So bottom line, it's up to you.