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I've been reloading .308 Lapua cases for years and recently acquired some once fired Lapua 7.62x51 to play with.

I find that when I resize them it requires an enormous effort to lift the expander ball out of the neck.

Is there a difference in case thickness or is it caused by the annealing? Something else?

The brass is probably thicker just use a Lee decapper die to remove the primers and chuck the expander ball away.

OK I'll measure them up and see! Thanks.

Military brass is normally thicker walled than commercial which means less volume.

Bear this in mind when loading, as less volume in military cases can lead to increased pressure with the same powder charge compared to thinner walled commercial brass.

ukrifleman

ukrifleman wrote:Military brass is normally thicker walled than commercial which means less volume.

Bear this in mind when loading, as less volume in military cases can lead to increased pressure with the same powder charge compared to thinner walled commercial brass.

ukrifleman

Thank you I will be careful.

Lapua necks with 308 cases are considerably thicker, I find, than other makes, such as RWS....another problem is that the expander balls on Lee dies are usually oversize...you can turn down the expander ball to stop it jamming and use a Lyman M die to expand the neck..or as previous post, use a Lee decapper and remove the ball expander/decapper from the die.

Mike95

Expander balls are an abomination and the work of the devil and should be destroyed immediately.

Anyone using them has no respect for their brass, gun or their loads.