Trouble necking down .308 to .264"

[Oliveralan]

I am necking down 30cal cases to .264" and having trouble keeping the necks smooth. They seem to sort of shrivel up. I go from .308 to .284 with a lee collet neck sizer and it works fine, just the step from .284 to .264 seems to mess up the necks and sometimes streach one side visably longer than another.

I am using a 6.5mm hornady universal neck sizer for the .284-.264 step and a 7mm lee collet neck sizer for the .308-.284. I am slightly (maybe a little too much) lubing the case necks with imperial sizing wax. Did some with hornady one shot spray on lube that seemed to perform significantly better.

The case feels like it's being smoothly sizes but when l
raising the handle on the press again the case neks are dragging
over the expander in the 6.5mm die which is straightening the necks out a little more but they still don't look too nice.

I am aware I haven't told what caliber because I don't think it is caliber specific problem, and I would like to wait for my rifle to be complete with some load tests and chrono numbers before I reveal it

thanks,
Oliver

 

[J E Custom]

I am necking down 30cal cases to .264" and having trouble keeping the necks smooth. They seem to sort of shrivel up. I go from .308 to .284 with a lee collet neck sizer and it works fine, just the step from .284 to .264 seems to mess up the necks and sometimes streach one side visably longer than another.

I am using a 6.5mm hornady universal neck sizer for the .284-.264 step and a 7mm lee collet neck sizer for the .308-.284. I am slightly (maybe a little too much) lubing the case necks with imperial sizing wax. Did some with hornady one shot spray on lube that seemed to perform significantly better.

The case feels like it's being smoothly sizes but when l
raising the handle on the press again the case neks are dragging
over the expander in the 6.5mm die which is straightening the necks out a little more but they still don't look too nice.

I am aware I haven't told what caliber because I don't think it is caliber specific problem, and I would like to wait for my rifle to be complete with some load tests and chrono numbers before I reveal it

thanks,
Oliver

Sometimes when downsizing that far the necks need to be annealed between steps.

Also they need to be lubed again after the first sizing (Inside and out).

One other thing the necks may be getting to thick and need turning so they don't jam
between the die and the expander plug. Most dies will handel .014 or .015 wall thicknesses
but not more.

Just some ideas to think about.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Oliveralan]

J E,

thanks for the tips. While the brass allowed to be necked down with ease (so not sure about annealing) maybe it was the lube.. I'll anneal a few and see if that helps. The necks seem to come out wavey, am having a hard time explaining this, they seem scrunched up... I miced them and turned them to .013" before starting so they shouldn't be too thick.

 

[Gene]

Measure thickness of brass at the neck and compare with the 264 chamber diagram you are producing. Turn necks about .001" smaller than it shows on each side.