safe to fire??

X

xcaribooer

Regular
Rating - 100%
405   0   0
Location
The fishing highway
I recently purchased another nice 303 sporter and included in the deal were about 150 hand loads. about half look fine but the rest have a distinct shoulder, he said it was from re sizing. will these be safe to fire? will they fireform? as far as the load goes I trust the recipe he used. here is a pic of the two kinds . the one on the right has the normal tappered shoulder but the one on the left has a almost square shoulder
032.jpg
 
I'm always a bit leary about someone else's handloads. Particularly when someting isn't right.
Is the round on the left the one that you are concerned about? I don't think that is from sizing - I think it is from using a standard seating die to crimp, with the die adjusted incorrectly. Pushed the shoulder back a bit.
Would probably be OK to shoot, if it chambered freely. But personally, I'd break them down, resize with the deapping pin removed, then recharge and seat the bullets.
 
yes the one on the left is the one I am concerned with, there are about 80 of them like this. I am not a reloader myself so if they are not safe I will pass them along the someone who can do something with them
 
tiriaq said:
I'm always a bit leary about someone else's handloads. Particularly when someting isn't right.
Is the round on the left the one that you are concerned about? I don't think that is from sizing - I think it is from using a standard seating die to crimp, with the die adjusted incorrectly. Pushed the shoulder back a bit.
Would probably be OK to shoot, if it chambered freely. But personally, I'd break them down, resize with the deapping pin removed, then recharge and seat the bullets.
Click to expand...

X2. That sure looks like an incorrect setting on the seater die.
It's iffy that those rounds will even chamber with the shoulder pushed back like that.
 
Hotwheels81 said:
I would pull em appart, most deffinatly squished em while resizing.
Click to expand...

I don't think I'd ever fire someone else's handloads, unless I knew them personally and had full confidence in their abilities, and I knew the loads were not near max.

Pull them apart to salvage the components. You only get issued one face, no need to lose it on someone else's screw-up.
 
Fire a factory cartridge and see what you get for shoulder angle. Perhaps that rifle has had an improved version custom chamber job. If the shoulder on your fired cartridge looks like the other then at least salvage the brass from the reloads. If your fired cartridge doesn't resemble the reloads then you know something was not set up right when the reloads were assembled.
 
I have seen some cases that after firing had a very different looking shoulder angle do to that rifles chamber.

I would be hesitant about reloads that someone I didn't know and trust made.

Put them in a box or bag and label them clearly "questionable reloads" etc. In the future you know what they are if you decided to start loading and pull them apart or give them to someone else who does.
 
When I look at that picture the brass on the left looks shorter by a fair bit, maybe it's the camera angle but that's why I am assuming the necks got pushed down, who knows maybe he tried annealing them and made them too soft? Either way I would be nervous shooting them and if you need to ask yourself twice if something is ok to do... Well... Its 100% your call... I would suggest a piece of string and an old tire.
 
xcaribooer said:
I recently purchased another nice 303 sporter and included in the deal were about 150 hand loads. about half look fine but the rest have a distinct shoulder, he said it was from re sizing. will these be safe to fire? will they fireform? as far as the load goes I trust the recipe he used. here is a pic of the two kinds . the one on the right has the normal tappered shoulder but the one on the left has a almost square shoulder

So have you pulled any of the 80 funny ones?
Are they all the same powder, load?
Do they chamber? Umm your call!
If it were me I would pull the bullets, pour the powder back in and stick an earplug in the case mouth and fire the bulletless cartridge. This would fireform the case to your chamber. And you wouldn't be tossing 80 pieces of brass.
I miss the boo too. Horsefly in particular.
Click to expand...
 
Hotwheels81 said:
I would pull em appart, most deffinatly squished em while resizing.
Click to expand...

how could you squish a shoulder back like that with a resizing die? wrong shell holder maybe? I would think this was caused by the crimp coming on too soon in the seating die. like the neck grabbed the projectile before oal was reached. I've crumpled 44 mag cases before due to improper seating die setup.
 
Canadian_Zuk said:
how could you squish a shoulder back like that with a resizing die? wrong shell holder maybe? I would think this was caused by the crimp coming on too soon in the seating die. like the neck grabbed the projectile before oal was reached. I've crumpled 44 mag cases before due to improper seating die setup.
Click to expand...

Ya I have done that too... Also have done it during a resize to milsurp .303 that had a visable annealing mark on the case neck and shoulder... Dirty die and not enough lube... Several factors all leading to the same type of crush.

Either way it is what it is.
 
Hotwheels81 said:
Ya I have done that too... Also have done it during a resize to milsurp .303 that had a visable annealing mark on the case neck and shoulder... Dirty die and not enough lube... Several factors all leading to the same type of crush.

Either way it is what it is.
Click to expand...

I didn't think about lube (or lack of). I could now see this happening during resizing if the inside of the necks were not lubed properly or the dies were dirty. I always use clean brass and it surprises me with the amount of crud that collects on top of the expander ball. Thanks for replying. (I'm new to reloading rifle cartridges too)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom