.308 Small Base Resizing Dies

[Baughes]

Thanks so much for your help. I appreciate your assistance and will now be able to solve my problem with your help.

[Gowking]

If you decide to try the body die be sure to lube the body of the case with imperial sizing wax and don't look at the round as it is coming up through the die. Also there is a chance a round could go off so the risk is damage to what ever is overhead of the press.

-G

[ar15barrels]

don't look at the round as it is coming up through the die. Also there is a chance a round could go off

What creates this risk?
Primers go off by impact.
There's NOTHING under the primer to set it off while sizing.

[Gowking]

Personally I don't see a real risk but I wouldn't be staring at it or doing something like this under my child's crib upstairs.

-G

[ar15barrels]

Blanket warning to make sure that anyone trying it THINKS and UNDERSTANDS what they are doing before they attempt it.

Personally I don't see a real risk

So twice now, nobody can explain the real risk.

[J-cat]

I have a feeling these people do not understand the basics of reloading.

[Gowking]

Hmm, yeah I do. Been reloading for almost 15 years now and can truthfully state that I have never had a bad round so I must be doing something right.

-G

[Baughes]

Gowking, I had to laugh at your post about not looking at the round as it is coming up through the die. I thought it to be so obvious as to not require being said but then I realized why I post these questions on this group. You guys know or will forget more than I will ever know about reloading. I too have been reloading for 30 years but reload the 4 calibers I have be loading for 30 years. Through the tight breech of a POF .308 AR in the mix and I need to get some help.

I appreciate you advise and have ordered the body die. I will have it this weekend and will shoot the resized rounds on Monday next week at Pala. I will not put a hole in my roof and will be wearing safety glasses as I do when ever I reload. I have a really cool pair so I don't mind wearing them. Thanks for the help it is always appreciated.

[SixPointEight]

So twice now, nobody can explain the real risk.

This is a WAG but I would think there's a possibility that sizing it will stretch the brass slightly. The stretched brass could become over length and force the neck into the throat. Causing overpressure while firing. Not really a problem while sizing, but caused by the sizing.

Yes, no, maybe?

[ar15barrels]

This is a WAG but I would think there's a possibility that sizing it will stretch the brass slightly. The stretched brass could become over length and force the neck into the throat. Causing overpressure while firing. Not really a problem while sizing, but caused by the sizing.

Yes, no, maybe?

There's about a 1% chance of something like that happening, but it has NOTHING to do with a danger involved in actually sizing loaded rounds.

The cases would have to be FAR over length spec before being sized before they could grow enough that the case length would elevate pressures.

Factory chambers are so much longer than the maximum length spec for any given case that you can almost skip case trimming all together.
If you are sizing the minimum amount that you need to, you can certainly skip trimming as the cases will not grow more than a couple thousandths per sizing and firing.

It's only when you have an excessively long shoulder, or you are sizing more than you need to that you get case growth.

[SixPointEight]

There's about a 1% chance of something like that happening, but it has NOTHING to do with a danger involved in actually sizing loaded rounds.

The cases would have to be FAR over length spec before being sized before they could grow enough that the case length would elevate pressures.

Factory chambers are so much longer than the maximum length spec for any given case that you can almost skip case trimming all together.
If you are sizing the minimum amount that you need to, you can certainly skip trimming as the cases will not grow more than a couple thousandths per sizing and firing.

It's only when you have an excessively long shoulder, or you are sizing more than you need to that you get case growth.

Well in that case I'm out. I'll ponder it after my DifEq hw lol

[Gowking]

Ah yes I remember that class. Good times...

-G

[J-cat]

This is a WAG but I would think there's a possibility that sizing it will stretch the brass slightly. The stretched brass could become over length and force the neck into the throat. Causing overpressure while firing. Not really a problem while sizing, but caused by the sizing.

Yes, no, maybe?

No.

A body die does not affect case length of an already FL sized round. It just bumps the shoulder back. The body length decreases, but the case length remains.

[ar15barrels]

A body die does not affect case length of an already FL sized round. It just bumps the shoulder back. The body length decreases, but the case length remains.

Actually, it does.
As you push the shoulder back, the neck extrudes up through the die.
Since you have more brass there in the shoulder, it moves the neck upwards.
It extrudes so little that it's not a problem, but you could measure it and see the difference if you had accurate enough measuring tools such as an optical comparator.

If you are only bumping the shoulder 0.001", you won't be able to measure case length growth with calipers.
If you are bumping the shoulder 0.005", you might see 0.00025" of case length growth.
Again, regular 0.001" calipers are not going to show it.

If the body die has tighter body dimensions than the original FL die, you could see significant (0.002" or more) case length growth.

[J-cat]

It does not lengthen enough to make a measurable difference. While the neck extrudes up, the shoulder is pushed back resulting in a near zero sum gain. However, if you bump the shoulder back on a neck-sized round, the case will lengthen significantly because now the body die is sizing the base by .002" and the shoulder by .005" thereby displacing more metal.