I have spoke of this before but we have new reloaders all the time and
sometimes a good picture or 2 make a difference on how things are perceived .
Now I was only getting 8-10 reloads from my Winchester .308 cases before I would get case head separation.
I set my full length die up just like the instructions stated and what I found was I was pushing the shoulder back .008"-.010"
This was really working the case and allowing the case to flow or grow much more for each firing.
Now you can order a case length gauge or other items to measure shoulder set back.
But I have a very simple approach that is cheap item I incorporated into my reloading room.
It is an Inverted Flare Tube Nut.
You can get these cheap.. less than 3 bucks usually. They have a tapered flare that rests right on the tapered section of the shoulder.
You can get different sizes, your local hardware or auto parts store will have them.
Now that I can measure the fired case I can set my FLS die up to set the shoulder back .001 or set it back none at all.
You can also not twist the die in far enough and pull the shoulder out a couple thousandths.
This is a cheap and easy tool to use and this one Nut will work for my 30-06,.308, .243 and others on the same parent case.
Now that I am not setting the shoulder back .008"-.010" I have not lost a case from case head separation until I fire it 46 times.
Here is a picture to help the above text. Yellow lines point to the taper.
sometimes a good picture or 2 make a difference on how things are perceived .
Now I was only getting 8-10 reloads from my Winchester .308 cases before I would get case head separation.
I set my full length die up just like the instructions stated and what I found was I was pushing the shoulder back .008"-.010"
This was really working the case and allowing the case to flow or grow much more for each firing.
Now you can order a case length gauge or other items to measure shoulder set back.
But I have a very simple approach that is cheap item I incorporated into my reloading room.
It is an Inverted Flare Tube Nut.
You can get these cheap.. less than 3 bucks usually. They have a tapered flare that rests right on the tapered section of the shoulder.
You can get different sizes, your local hardware or auto parts store will have them.
Now that I can measure the fired case I can set my FLS die up to set the shoulder back .001 or set it back none at all.
You can also not twist the die in far enough and pull the shoulder out a couple thousandths.
This is a cheap and easy tool to use and this one Nut will work for my 30-06,.308, .243 and others on the same parent case.
Now that I am not setting the shoulder back .008"-.010" I have not lost a case from case head separation until I fire it 46 times.
Here is a picture to help the above text. Yellow lines point to the taper.