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Maybe dies do wear out
I just got a Mannlicher stocked Interarms Mark X 308. Looks near new.
First thing done was to track down some Weaver bases and mount my Leupold 2-7.
Got that done and tried some A-Zoom dummies through the action.
Dang things popped up without a clean catch in the claw extractor.
After a day or two of fuming, I thought maybe real rounds might be different.
I full length sized brass I had with an old RCBS die, and seated a dummu bullet.
This round caught the extractor ok. But the bolt would not close.
The bolt handle went halfway down to a solid stop. Extra force would make it go further.
The FL die is an RCBS dated 68. Been in the family a loooong time.
I made another dummy with a new factory round. Pulled bullet, dumped powder, and deprimed.
Seated another dummy bullet, and it chambered ok.

Went to Cabelas and bought a new die set (Hornady Custom)
Ran the RCBS resized case through the new Hornady.
Now it chambers.

Problem solved.


Anybody want an old FL die body?
 
Do you use a headspace gauge to TEST your resized brass?

L.E. Wilson Case Length Headspace Ga 22-250 Remington

Story time:
I use a F/L re-sizer die and got into the habit of using the gauge to test my resized brass.

I usually made my reloaded .308 Win ammo to fit my M1a easily. But one day, when I tried the same ammo in my son's bolt action Rem 700 (.308 Win)....well, it didn't chamber.

Humm.....ok, so I screwed down the sizing die down a tiny bit more.

And now the new ammo is just passing, in the gauge test. Remember, there is a high and a low cut, to test the re-sized brass to still be acceptable. Now, the ammo would work just fine in both rifles.

Lesson Learned:
Just a tiny bit can mean the difference. And the lock ring "might have" moved.

There are various ways to TEST. Another popular one is to use the Hornady kit.

Hornady Lock-N-Load Headspace Ga 5 Bushing Set Comparator

Aloha, Mark
 
Last Edited:
Yes. Tight die to shell plate

I think that may be your issue. After seating the die flush with the shell holder you need to lower the shell holder and turn the die another 1/8 to 1/4 turn lower so it cams over. Then set the lock ring.


RCBS.jpg
 
Yes done that. With both the old RCBS and new Hornady sizers.
I been reloading since 1950s

Well heck, what are you asking us for then? You have been reloading for longer than all of us combined. I honestly doubt that the guys editing the RCBS reloading manual have been reloading as long as you have.
 
It really wasn't a question.
More a statement of something I never saw before.
The Mark X chamber apparently is a bit tighter than the "chamber" of the old RCBS FL die.
But it is still bigger than the new FL Hornady sizer.
I should get some go no-go field 308 HS gages for the Mark X
 
Just a thought: Are you lubricating the inside of the neck every couple cases? If not, the expander ball can stretch the case on the way out of the neck area.
Foreverlost,

Mystery solved.
Foreverlost, you are part correct.
Despite proper lube on the expander ball, it happens to be an oversize ball for cast boolits. It mikes .309-.310. Normal .308 balls mike .307. The die body is a regular 308 FL that reduces the neck for a .307 ball. Trying to expand to oversize .310 probably does stretch the case back out that tiny bit for the tight chamber of the Mark X.

Dad was shooting cast with old Russ at EEGC about the last thing before he passed years ago. That explains the .310 expander.
It took me a while to put 2 and 2 together.
 

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