Case head separation

sako6br

sako6br

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Mount Brydges ON.
I was shooting my 6mmbr yesterday loaded with some 70 gr BK bullets.
The group was looking pretty good until the 4th shot went 1.5" high.
Upon retracting the case, the bolt was a hard lift and would not extract
the case until I tapped the bolt handle. The bolt came back with only the
base of the case! The remainder of the case was stuck in the chamber.
This ended my shooting for the day.
To make a long story short, after investigating it was discovered that as these brass were just shoulder bumped and that the head space was 0.007"-0.008"!
Not sure how it has come to this but yes, I should be checking this every time. :redface:
Now, I guess my question is, can I load some longer bullets engaging the lands to ensure the bolt face is contacting in order to safely blow back the shoulder?
 
Well, your accuracy is not going to be optimal and those bullets are going to cost $.

I might be tempted just to pull the bullets, reclaim the powder for your next run and go back to the oft-recommended fireforming load of, say, 8 gr Bullseye, then fill the case almost to the top with dry cornmeal and then a thin layer of white carpenter's glue to hold everything in place. Let dry, point in a safe direction and carry on.

I might also consider annealing them again, but that's your call.
 
If you have a 6.5 mm or a 270 diameter die you can expand the neck and then resize the case giving a small false shoulder to head space on. I'd recommend annealing the necks before this. I've done something like this to make 280 brass out of 30-06.
 
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