Was given 500 LC 7.62 brass,cleaned,trimmed,etc..loaded 3-165gr at 2.790....went down incrementally to 2.50..will not chamber....Possible shoulder stretch?? Thx

Make sure that the seating die didn't hit the mouth of the case when you were seating bullets. This will cause the case to compress and bulge them right at the shoulder.

You don't know the size of the chamber(s) in which these cases were fired, you don't know the die setting and the dimensions it produces in comparison to your own chamber. This is not abnormal.

Colour a case, chamber it and figure out where the tight spot(s) is (are). Set your die accordingly.

If you are worried about shoulder push-back, get a gauge and measure head-shoulder dimensions for cases fired in your chamber vs. the cases you have bought.

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by 7.62Rebel:
Was given 500 LC 7.62 brass,cleaned,trimmed,etc..loaded 3-165gr at 2.790....went down incrementally to 2.50..will not chamber....Possible shoulder stretch?? Thx

Have you tried chambering a resized case with no bullet?

Did you only neck size them? LC 7.62 brass was almost certainly fired in a m240 or m60, both will stretch the brass badly.

Not to appear too skeptical, but what was the reason for the person to give them to you?

quote:

Originally posted by michael.tx:
Did you only neck size them? LC 7.62 brass was almost certainly fired in a m240 or m60, both will stretch the brass badly.

My thoughts exactly.

He owed me money ...Have used same dies(Dillon carbide)for 18yrs on bolt and f/a firearms...never had a problem..have used 5.56LC with no problems..I full sized them,trimmed,etc...I think you're correct,probably shot through a crappy M-60 and shoulder stretched out...

quote:

Originally posted by 7.62Rebel:
He owed me money ...Have used same dies(Dillon carbide)for 18yrs on bolt and f/a firearms...never had a problem..have used 5.56LC with no problems..I full sized them,trimmed,etc...I think you're correct,probably shot through a crappy M-60 and shoulder stretched out...

With a good press you can mash them enough to chamber. I have a huge pile of SL54 .30-06 cases that I have been using nearly 40 years.
They were not shot through an M-1 either.
The old Brownings really beat them up.

quote:

Originally posted by 7.62Rebel:
Was given 500 LC 7.62 brass,cleaned,trimmed,etc..loaded 3-165gr at 2.790....went down incrementally to 2.50..will not chamber....Possible shoulder stretch?? Thx

You need to try chambering some of the cases before doing anything to them first. This will tell you if bullet seating caused the problem.

Put black permanent marker on neck/shoulder-would not chamber(no bullet).So it appears shoulder is too far forward....If I set size die down,will shoulder set back?? Thx everyone for the help...

You should set your F/L size die with no case in it. Pull the press lever down and then screw the die in until it is snug against the shell holder. That will set the die to size to SAAMI minimum specs and the cases should then chamber in your rifle.

Also check your neck thickness. I know 2 guys that received once fired LC brass that the necks were so thick they would not chamber after a bullet was seated. They had to turn all their neck to commercial thickness (military spec is thicker)

BTW, I'll buy them from you, I need them for my .338 Federal. Necking them up to .338 thins the necks, so LC brass works better than commercial .308

quote:

Originally posted by 7.62Rebel:
Put black permanent marker on neck/shoulder-would not chamber(no bullet).So it appears shoulder is too far forward....If I set size die down,will shoulder set back??

So what did the black marker tell you, any marks from where the tight spot is?? IMHO, you have to mark not only the neck/shoulder but also the body of the case. It is qute possible your tight spot is at the rear end of the case - it should show up with the marking. Let's just assume for a moment this would be the case, if you then set your shoulder further back, you might be on your way to case separation.

Yes, all things being equal, when you set your die deeper in the press, it will set the shoulder back further. However, this is all relative - it depends on a whole number of factors. I personally believe in quantifying how much the shoulder is set back (.001-,002" from a case fired IN YOUR CHAMBER is about right). To measure this, you need a headspace gauge - e.g. like the one Stoney Point - now Hornady - makes.

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by 7.62Rebel:
Put black permanent marker on neck/shoulder-would not chamber(no bullet).So it appears shoulder is too far forward....If I set size die down,will shoulder set back?? Thx everyone for the help...

Yes. If you have a Wilson gauge or a Hornady (formerly Stoney Point) you will be able to see the lack of sizing. Setting the die down is how you make the shoulders go where they need to go.
With the Hornady guage you can compare to a round that has been fired in your rifle. You only want about .001 to .002 short shoulder to insure all rounds chamber.

Probably 90% of failures to fully chamber are due to a failure to fully resize the cases.

Put a case in the shell holder, sholve the case fully into your size die and leave it there for a moment. Look under the die and see if you don't have a gap of several thosanths between the shell holder and die bottom. If so, relieve the ram pressure and turn the die down another eight of a turn and try again. Keep it up until the gap is closed. Cases of any source will usually fit after that.

Normal die "instructions" say to set a size die to touch a shell holder and then turn it down another XX turns but that's pretty silly. No one knows how much another man's press will spring under sizing pressure! Dies need to be set by the facts, not by a magic fraction of a turn.

I ran into the same problem with a bulk brass buy some years ago. Brass was sold as "ready to load".
Out of 2000 pieces had may be 400 or 500 that I couldn't seem to get sized. Would not chamber in my M1-A.
A friend clued me into a small based die. It solved this problem. Still lost a few but most worked out ok. You only need to use the die on inital resizing. Once they are in "spec" standard dies work well.
Just my thoughts

muck