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Paul B. · April 10, 2007, 12:50 AM

X5Shooter. Everything looks OK to me. As you have just been neck sizing, therein lies the problem. I don't know how many times you neck sized that brass prior ro trying a full length resize, but what I do is after the first firing, I trim the brass and neck size for a total of four reloadings. Then, I anneal the necks and do the full length size for the fifth reload. The only .308 I have that has anywhere near a match chamber is my Savage 110S silhouette rifle. I have to do the full length resize and anneal on the third reloading for that rifle. You'll have to experiment a bit for your rifle to determine when you have to anneal abd F/L size the brass.
What has happened is when you fire that round, the case expanded to fill the chamber. When it shrinks back down after the pressure has dropped, it does not go back to it's original dimensions. it's a tad fatter than when it started out. You neck size, load and fire and the same thing occurs, only this time it's even fatter. This continues until the case is literally too large to chamber properly. Now in all this neck sizing, the neck has become quite work hardened. If you do not anneal the necks, they will shortly split. It's kind of like bending a wire coat hanger back and forth until it breaks. By annealing the necks, you can at least double the life of that brass and possibly even more.
I have one box of old .375 H&H brass that I use strictly for a cast bullet load. it's fairly stiff with recoil a bit stiffer than a hot loaded 30-06. The bullets get a very tight crimp. By using the method described above, I have gotten 20 reloads from those cases. I usually check case length at each reload and trim as necessary.
Paul B.

April 10, 2007, 12:50 AM	#3
Paul B. Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 1999 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 3,800	X5Shooter. Everything looks OK to me. As you have just been neck sizing, therein lies the problem. I don't know how many times you neck sized that brass prior ro trying a full length resize, but what I do is after the first firing, I trim the brass and neck size for a total of four reloadings. Then, I anneal the necks and do the full length size for the fifth reload. The only .308 I have that has anywhere near a match chamber is my Savage 110S silhouette rifle. I have to do the full length resize and anneal on the third reloading for that rifle. You'll have to experiment a bit for your rifle to determine when you have to anneal abd F/L size the brass. What has happened is when you fire that round, the case expanded to fill the chamber. When it shrinks back down after the pressure has dropped, it does not go back to it's original dimensions. it's a tad fatter than when it started out. You neck size, load and fire and the same thing occurs, only this time it's even fatter. This continues until the case is literally too large to chamber properly. Now in all this neck sizing, the neck has become quite work hardened. If you do not anneal the necks, they will shortly split. It's kind of like bending a wire coat hanger back and forth until it breaks. By annealing the necks, you can at least double the life of that brass and possibly even more. I have one box of old .375 H&H brass that I use strictly for a cast bullet load. it's fairly stiff with recoil a bit stiffer than a hot loaded 30-06. The bullets get a very tight crimp. By using the method described above, I have gotten 20 reloads from those cases. I usually check case length at each reload and trim as necessary. Paul B. __________________ COMPROMISE IS NOT AN OPTION!