gander99
11-07-2012, 02:54 PM
I asked this on another forum that tends to follow this round closer, but haven't had any response. I was hoping one of you guys might have seen this before.
I recently converted a Savage 12 LRP rifle from 243 to 6.5x47 Lapua (did the go/no-go gauge and everything went according to plan). Since there is no brass in the country right now (or at least a couple weeks ago), I bought 40 rounds of Lapua 123 gr ammo. I took it to the range and it shot great. New barrell, bad shooter, factory ammo and I was grouping (5 shot groups) < 0.4 inches (not bad for me).
I took the brass home and went to start reloading. I had read that a 0.308 shellholder would work. My brass wouldn't fit. hmm. I didn't think much about and figured I just had the wrong size. I did research and confirmed it should be the same as a 308. Here is where it gets interesting.
I took a factory round and it would fit in my 308 shellholder but just barely. It was tight and would not go all the way in without excessive force. My fired brass would not go in at all. I checked the dimensions of brass just above the head and they were the same. However, the indention of the brass just above the head (sorry, I am not sure what it is called) had swelled in the fired brass by about 0.015". Therefore, no way to fit in my shellholder. I happen to be using Lee shellholders, but I am pretty sure I will run into the same issue with other brands. I am going to pick up an RCBS shellholder probably tomorrow or the weekend.
Have you guys run into this before. While I don't have tons of experience, I have been reloading for about 10 years with about 8 calibers and never ran across this. I figure if all else fails, I can carefully dremel a shellholder out or possibly apply lapping compound to a piece of brass and try to increase the shellholder size. I have never seen brass flow in this area.
I recently converted a Savage 12 LRP rifle from 243 to 6.5x47 Lapua (did the go/no-go gauge and everything went according to plan). Since there is no brass in the country right now (or at least a couple weeks ago), I bought 40 rounds of Lapua 123 gr ammo. I took it to the range and it shot great. New barrell, bad shooter, factory ammo and I was grouping (5 shot groups) < 0.4 inches (not bad for me).
I took the brass home and went to start reloading. I had read that a 0.308 shellholder would work. My brass wouldn't fit. hmm. I didn't think much about and figured I just had the wrong size. I did research and confirmed it should be the same as a 308. Here is where it gets interesting.
I took a factory round and it would fit in my 308 shellholder but just barely. It was tight and would not go all the way in without excessive force. My fired brass would not go in at all. I checked the dimensions of brass just above the head and they were the same. However, the indention of the brass just above the head (sorry, I am not sure what it is called) had swelled in the fired brass by about 0.015". Therefore, no way to fit in my shellholder. I happen to be using Lee shellholders, but I am pretty sure I will run into the same issue with other brands. I am going to pick up an RCBS shellholder probably tomorrow or the weekend.
Have you guys run into this before. While I don't have tons of experience, I have been reloading for about 10 years with about 8 calibers and never ran across this. I figure if all else fails, I can carefully dremel a shellholder out or possibly apply lapping compound to a piece of brass and try to increase the shellholder size. I have never seen brass flow in this area.