I was FL resizing .338-06 cases and noticed that some of them didn't have any resistance when I drew them down and out of the die. Other cases had the normal resistance I am used to feeling when resizing cases - resistance at the top, and resistance as the case neck is drawn down and onto the neck expander. The loose cases didn't have ANY resistance when they came back down and onto the neck expander.

All of the cases are Winchester and recently tumbled. I do not lube the inside of the case necks when I resize. These cases have all been fired out of the same rifle since new, and none of them have ever been trimmed. I normally do not keep track of how many times a case has been loaded and fired, so some cases in this batch have been fired more than others.

I started to separate the "loose" cases, and when I was done, I measured their case lengths. Here's how they came out:
Loose cases: 2.480 - 2.488"
"Normal" cases: 2.475 - 2.480"

I also measured some known once-fired cases and new brass (resized to .338-06, but not fired). Here's how they compare:
Once-fired cases: 2.470-2.472"
New cases: 2.472"


I would suspect that the "loose" cases have been reloaded and fired more times, since they are longer. Even the longest cases, however, are still below the maximum case length for the .338-06 (2.494"). Are the "loose" cases shot-out? If there is no resistance when the case is drawn over the neck expander, will there be enough neck tension to hold a bullet consistently? I am thinking of pitching the "loose" cases, since.30-06 brass is cheap to replace anyway. I have never seen this before, though, and I wanted to see if anyone else would care to comment.