And this is why you inspect your cases. WARNING picture intensive

blacksmithden

blacksmithden

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So, after 13 firings, my 300 win mag brass is giving up the ghost.

Out of 150 cases, these were the rejects.

I've placed them in order, from left to right, best to worst.

The ones on the extreme left might not show the "magic line" very well in the pics but I assure you, it's there. As you move right, the failures become clearer. If you can't figure out whats wrong with the one on the extreme right, stop reloading and give up now. :D

I'm posting these to show the new guys what to look for. If you see "that line" starting to appear, toss the case.

Inspect your cases closely after EVERY firing. The one on the right showed the ever so slightest separation line, but I loaded it anyway and kept track of it to show everyone what will hapen. It looked just like the one on the far left before I fired it. I have the tools to extract a separated case from a chamber. I do not recommend that anyone who has cases that show signs of failure try this. I put the gun in a vise and fired it "remotely" No damage to the chamber or bolt, but I don't know how much gas escaped. Note the second one from the right. It has a very small fracture as well. None of the others were cracked, but "that line" is there.

A hard tug with a pair of pliers pulled the head off the one on the right.

I'll fire the remainder one last time with very light loads and cast bullets, and then chuck the lot and start over.

Anyway, hope this helps someone.

Cheers.....Den....

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Good post BlackSmithDen. We all need a reminder to look close at our reloaded brass, whether it's been reloaded once or 10 or more times.
 
Denny, I hate to say so, but you have been resizing the cases a bit too much. Cases seperate like that from having too much head space. The fact you fired them so many times is proof it was just a bit too much headspace.
When a case has too much headspace, here is what happens. The firing pin drives it foward against whatever it is that holds headspace, in your case the belt. When it fires the case expands and grips the chamber walls. The base is then pushed back to the bolt face, stretching the brass. The weakest part of the brass is just above the web, where they are seperating.
I have seen factory ammunition completely seperate on which, of course, was the first firing.
 
Actually Bruce, I bought these (factory loads) when I bought the rifle. I did full length resize them once around the 6 times fired mark, and again at 12 when I annealed them. I'm using a Lee collet neck sizing die when I neck size. Is it possibly causing this somehow???

EDIT: I should note. The reason I resized them was because the bolt was starting to get a little harder to close when I'd put in the cartridges. I resized, and the problem disappeared until the 12th time I fired them. I resized them again, and things were fine again through the last go around, other than that one on the end showed a ring. I fired them all, and these guys came out of the tumbler as you see them.

I should also note that I've got some range pickups that I threw into the mix at some point. I'm going to guess it was after these were fired 3 or 4 times. None of them is in the batch of separated ones.
 
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blacksmithden said:
I'm curious. Are you tossing them after 5 firings for safety/recommendation reasons, or are you having failures?
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I'm pitching them because after 5 firings and five full length sizings the cases are done. The ring is plainly visible, for me it's a hunting rifle and the loads are max so I don't want a failure.

My general rule of thumb with full length sizing is when I have to trim again I toss the cases. I figure brass is cheap, with a 308 that probably means 10-15 loadings, but with full jam 300 loads it's about 5 loadings.
 
blacksmithden said:
Actually Bruce, I bought these (factory loads) when I bought the rifle. I did full length resize them once around the 6 times fired mark, and again at 12 when I annealed them. I'm using a Lee collet neck sizing die when I neck size. Is it possibly causing this somehow???

EDIT: I should note. The reason I resized them was because the bolt was starting to get a little harder to close when I'd put in the cartridges. I resized, and the problem disappeared until the 12th time I fired them. I resized them again, and things were fine again through the last go around, other than that one on the end showed a ring. I fired them all, and these guys came out of the tumbler as you see them.

I should also note that I've got some range pickups that I threw into the mix at some point. I'm going to guess it was after these were fired 3 or 4 times. None of them is in the batch of separated ones.
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So based on this, you have been neck sizing the cases each time, and have full length sized them twice. Twice would be enough if you are doing what H4831 describes. The area just in front of the belt is the usual area to break.
The "web" is the part inside where the thick part of the head curves up into the thin sidewalls.
Back off the die adjustment a bit. Give it enough to allow the round to chamber easily, but not enough to create excess space between the case shoulder and the chamber shoulder area.
 
blacksmithden said:
Actually Bruce, I bought these (factory loads) when I bought the rifle. I did full length resize them once around the 6 times fired mark, and again at 12 when I annealed them. I'm using a Lee collet neck sizing die when I neck size. Is it possibly causing this somehow???

EDIT: I should note. The reason I resized them was because the bolt was starting to get a little harder to close when I'd put in the cartridges. I resized, and the problem disappeared until the 12th time I fired them. I resized them again, and things were fine again through the last go around, other than that one on the end showed a ring. I fired them all, and these guys came out of the tumbler as you see them.

I should also note that I've got some range pickups that I threw into the mix at some point. I'm going to guess it was after these were fired 3 or 4 times. None of them is in the batch of separated ones.
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blacksmithden, neck sizing is a great way to prolong brass life. Unfortunatly like you have already discovered, eventually you will have to resize or the bolt will be stiff. A little trick I use is to set my sizing die just enough to kiss the case shoulders and that should push them back just far enough for the case to chamber smoothly. You can keep trying to chamber the empty case while each time making a small adjustment on your die until the bolt closes smoothly. By the way this also a good way to size your brass if you don't own a neck sizing die as well.;)
 
Thanks for the info guys. When things start to tighten up again, I'll try backing off on the die a bit. I've been doing the time honoured "screw in the die until it touches the shell holder and lock it" setup, and I always thought things felt a bit tighter than they should near the bottom of the stroke.
Thanks again.
 
Very good "article" and, yes, even experienced handloaders need to be reminded that "checking" brass is a "good thing".

As an aside, my father shoots a 22-250 tight neck. The loaded round is 0.001" smaller than the chamber (a very tight neck, 1/2 tou per side). The cases DO NOT NEED TO BE RESIZED. About every 5 reloads, or when the cases are hard to chamber, the neck needs to be "bumped" as described earlier in the post. Cases seem to last "forever" (bench rest shooters can wear out a barrel, 1000-1500 rounds, with as little as 15 brass cases).
 
Good reminder, good photos showing the progression of head separation, and a welcome reminder to many of us. A couple years ago I finished off some 7mm Rem mag brass after just a 2 or 3 reloadings because I was bumping the shoulder back too far.
 
This happened to me today...

Well. I was going to start a thread about this, but figured I'd jump in here...
This is my first broken case, 6.5x55 Swede
Remington brass, loaded 5 times in my Tikka, necked 4 times, then FL sized to try in my new Krag-Jorgensen. I figured that they would be fine in the Krag as they would be light loads and I'd had no trouble with any of the others in the Tikka.
I fired 5 rounds of 37g IMR 4064 with a 120g Corelok, for 2550 fps, then started on the next batch of 38g, third one separated, they're going 2620fps.
My take on this is that I'm being cheap and should be chucking the brass about now and that the Krag probably has some headspace issues and over stretched this brass and broke. I had checked all the cases before I loaded them by dragging a bent paperclip down the inside of the case, feeling for any cracks. I felt nothing. Any comments would be appreciated.
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Hi-Standard said:
blacksmithden, neck sizing is a great way to prolong brass life. Unfortunatly like you have already discovered, eventually you will have to resize or the bolt will be stiff. A little trick I use is to set my sizing die just enough to kiss the case shoulders and that should push them back just far enough for the case to chamber smoothly. You can keep trying to chamber the empty case while each time making a small adjustment on your die until the bolt closes smoothly. By the way this also a good way to size your brass if you don't own a neck sizing die as well.;)
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Get a Hornady Headspace Toolset (same idea as the bullet comparator, but for the case shoulder) and set your shoulder back 0.002" from that of a (measured) fired case. I resize with a Redding (bushing-type) FL match sizing die this way. No problems with accuracy, no feeding problems and more consistent velocity from loading-to-loading than with neck sizing. Probably get longer case life than with the usual neck sizing routine too, since the shoulder never gets shoved waaaaay back.
 
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