So I've been reloading .308 winchester brass for awhile for my Rem 700 SPS Tactical just fine.

Bought a bag of once shot 7.62x51 brass at the local show, and having done everything the same as I would a .308 Winchester stamped case the bolt won't fully close on a empty case without force.

I even tried trimming of the 7.62 cases just under 2" and it still wouldn't close the bolt right. What gives?

Randomly would do more .308 Win stamped brass in the process and they worked fine.

Sounds like a resizing issue. Have you tried turning your sizing die down a touch? Also, are you full length sizing the cases?

jonblack

Sounds like they need to be full length resized. Adjust your die so it's touching the shell holder with a case in it at full stroke.

Same issue I had , they even fit in a case guage fine. ended up having to get a small base die , and never had a problem with any brass again , even range pickup stuff.

I tried resetting the die and it's a hair better but still really tight. I'll try a secod die.

It's possible that your reloading press/die/shell holder isn't allowing you to get enough shoulder bump, before bottoming out.

You can try another die, or you can remove some metal from the bottom of the die that you're using, if you have the tool, or you can try and remove some metal from the top portion of your shell holder, if you're using a single stage type press.  Shell plates, ah-la the Dillons, are a bit harder to work on, so I ended up taking some metal (~.004") off the bottom of a Redding Small Base 223 body die.

It works fine now.

Chris

This!
I have a Savage Tactical .223 that had minimum headspace.  I had to set the die so the press ram cammed over HARD to get the die to size my brass enough to chamber in it.

As stated above it is not a good Idea to remove metal from a sizing die unless it is proven to be too long.

I had some range brass that was shot out of M14s at Perry. I got to follow one of the service teams down as a brass rat. That brass needed a small base die to work in my M70 varmint. I tried FL resizing with the die all the way down and then a little more so it was snug up against the shell holder and I could not close the bolt. I needed a small base body die to make them fit in the bolt gun.

B

True M14's (the full auto kind issued to the troops) have huge chambers and long headspace. Lake City brass is really tough, especially if it's been resized a couple times and fired through the real M14's. Civilian match M1A's have tighter chamber specs. They are all larger than bolt actions.

I have never needed small base dies to resize bLake City fired from M14's. I definitley fely a lot more resistance when resizing them. If you adjust the resizing die to "cam over" you'll probably get the headspace where it needs to be without modifying anything. AeroE's suggestion regarding shell holders will work too. Modify the shell holder as a last resort.

You can simply run the ram all the way to the top, screw the die all the way until it touches. Then lower the ram and add another 1/4" +/- turn of the die lower. When you resize after doing this, all the play in every rotating pin in the press will have been removed. You will gain another .003" to .004" more sizing from your die. Good Luck.

I once bought 'once fired' MG brass.  It all had to be resized with a hard cam over only after checking it with a precision case mic.  

I will no longer EVER resize without checking the shoulder with a case mic.