Boy did I screw the pooch!

[thor447]

I went with two co-workers to Lexington yesterday (beautiful day - empty range), and came back with 70 pieces of once fired Hornady 6.5CM brass (fired from 3 rifles)

I gave them a clean, went through my standard process of de-priming, cleaning, etc. and then came the sizing die. My stupidity/ignorance was on full display, as I didn't re-adjust my die after I took it out to clean it the other day. I went through thinking that I had everything set correctly, and ran all my brass through that full length sizing die without even the notion to perhaps check it after the first round and confirm measurements, etc. Nope, I ran everything through. Only after beginning trimming, and using the Wilson Case Gauge, did I see that my head space was under the minimum because I had my FL sizing die set too deep (which is beyond stupid in retrospect - and I'm kicking myself for ignorance). Now I have 70 pieces of only once fired brass that I cannot size correctly because the head space is too far gone. Yeah, they're just barely under the min (.002-.004), but enough that I'm very displeased with myself. I've always been a stickler thus far, and really went slow and deliberately when measuring out primer, seating depths, etc. I just totally brain farted and now I have brass that's out of spec. I'm still new to reloading, and I just got put in my place.

 

[Dumpstick]

Just load up a minimum load and shoot it. It'll fireform to the chamber.

Don't worry, the pooch isn't screwed.

 

[Perplexed]

This sort of thing is why I don’t enjoy reloading - so many things that can go wrong. Hope you can do as Dump suggested and save your brass.

 

[GlockPride]

I know that 4:30 am is too dang early to be posting about screwing up brass. Best of luck to ya though.

 

[BobbyV]

This sort of thing is why I don’t enjoy reloading - so many things that can go wrong. Hope you can do as Dump suggested and save your brass.

I've got reloading equipment that I bought years ago new still in the box . . . just haven't unboxed it yet and taken the reloading plung.

 

[swampratt]

That will not hurt anything. I would Load them as regular loads and shoot them.

Have you measured your chamber?
I have sized .308 brass .008" below what my chamber size is and I hate to say it but it shot very accurate much more accurate than setting The case back .001" or .002" or .000" from chamber size.

Then look at people that make wild cat chambers like 30-30 AI they fire form the cases and there is a huge difference in size there.
Many that build an AI gun report that during fire forming they get their best accuracy.

With that said load a handful of it and shoot at paper and see what kind of groups you get.. it may surprise you.

Yea the brass tends to not last as long but if you get stupid accurate loads from it then it may be a sacrifice you may wish to make.

I could get 8 reloadings from my .308 Winchester cases that i set back .008" and I got 18 reloadings if i set them back .001" from fire formed size.

My R-P cases in .308 would go 52 firings setting back .001" and this is using a full length size die.
Federal and Lapua cases went in the upper 40 times fired.
Case head cracks were the fail of all cases.

41-42 gr of Varget and 165 game king HPBT bullets were used.
Just put that out there as some know I load 2.1 gr of Red Dot in .308 with 104gr lead.

That load does not change the size of my brass case. I bet I could fire them 5000+ times.

 

[swampratt]

I've got reloading equipment that I bought years ago new still in the box . . . just haven't unboxed it yet and taken the reloading plung.

It is addicting and you will shoot a lot more once you begin reloading.
Making and shooting mouse fart loads is very satisfying.

 

[Perplexed]

It is addicting and you will shoot a lot more once you begin reloading.
Making and shooting mouse fart loads is very satisfying.

Not for me I’ve reloaded perhaps 700 pistol rounds including mouse fart loads, and would much rather be working on something else like a shop project. The fiddly and tediously repetitive nature of reloading isn’t my cup of tea.

 

[adamsredlines]

This sort of thing is why I don’t enjoy reloading - so many things that can go wrong. Hope you can do as Dump suggested and save your brass.

I'm in a similar boat. I bought the stuff, loaded some and didnt really enjoy it at all and boxed it all up. I kept it and all the stuff so I COULD reload some in a pinch...but I'd rather just shoot factory ammo most of the time than spend all the time reloading.

I still think I'd like to try a progressive setup for plinking loads. Using a single stage for plinking range fodder pretty well sucked.

 

[swampratt]

Yea it is repetitive and sometimes I want nothing to do with reloading.
Race season is on us and everyong is wanting to go to thundervalley and race me ..That is pretty darn fun.
But i do not want to become a bracket racer.
That to me seems tedious and you must be there all the time racing the clock.

I just want to go with friends on test and tune (grudge night) and race heads up. First one to the end wins.

The reloading is fun for me sometimes because I have had friends with land to shoot on and we shoot action targets like tannerite and milk jugs and balloons filled with water hanging from tree limbs.
Making accurate loads to reach way out and kill water filled targets makes up for the tediousness. Sometimes.

Factory ammo was not accurate enough to hit targets for me.