Fairly new to reloading in general. Absolutely no experience with rifle brass.

Basically trying to reload .308 Win for use in my M1 (rebarreled to .308). Seems the semi-auto action coupled with being flung into a concrete ramp at the range is pretty harsh on the case necks.

I'm getting some flat spots on the end of the neck where presumably it struck the ground first. I'm curious if the brass can be saved at all. A few have dinged shoulders and I'm certain they're trash. Anyone have expereince in this or should I just start running WOLF now?

I'm thinking that running the cases through the sizing die before trimming might save most if not all of them.


p.s. new to the forums but feel free to slam me if my novicity is too glaring for you... I just ask you at least give a small bit of advice somewhere in the rant

that wont hurt the brass much.
take an old blanket next time and place it where the case hit.
when you run that brass through the die it will streighten it up.
dont over lube or you will get dents.

hivel is right. And the dents will blow out fine.

You should always run the cases through the sizing die before trimming because the process of sizing will cause the cases to lengthen somewhat -- at least sometimes, anyway. So by sizing the cases first, before trimming, you control the case length far better than if you try to trim first and then size the cases.

Unless there's some other problem, cases with bent necks can be salvaged by sizing and trimming. Dinged shoulders are not a serious problem because the pressure when the case is fired after reloading will fireform the case to the chamber of the rifle, forcing neck dents (and body dents for that matter) out of the case.

If they are Government cases, you will also need to remove the burr around the primer pocket after depriming them the first time you reload them.

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Your cases will be fine but don't be too critical until after you have sized a few. Most will be ok but keep lube out of the dents when you size them.

Trim only AFTER they have been sized and only if they need it. After loading a couple hundred the second or 3rd time you will learn what works.

With the great availability of once fired 308 brass you should never have to buy ammo again if you are so inclined.

Just remember ALL of the rest of us were born knowing it all. We did not have to go through that learning process did we?

Ah, thanks for the replies. Never considered that fireforming was a legitimate way to straighten out case necks and that's where expereince can make the difference. Also wise to keep the lube out of the dents. I knew the shoulder can dent from it but I didn't consider that it may make dent's worse or prevent them from popping out a little.

A few notes about the load I'm considering are:

Probably going to use WLR primers. Never direclty heard of anyone getting a slamfire as long as they used an en-bloc for loading and seat the primer just below flush.

As far as powder I'm thinking IMR 4895 maybe about 45.5 grains. (150 grain bullet)

That's pretty much the load I use in my M1 but am shooting 147grFMJ right now. I wouldn't go much hotter, the M1 op-rod doesn't like high pressure loads or heavy bullet loads. I stop at the 168grSMK for heavier bullets.

The flat spot on the brass neck can be caused by the brass hitting the receiver on ejection in some rifles. Some bolt actions can even do this if the ejector spring(plunger type like Remington) is heaver then needed.

Most dents will iron out with the expander ball passing through them dureing sizeing. Well before a bullet is even seated they should look pretty much OK.