- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Trash the cases, check the head space on the 06,
neck split, head seperation (pic heavy)
- Thread starter Goose25
- Start date
As I recall from the last Calgary M14 clinic, neck sizing was recommended as a work-around if your headspace is more than .010" over .308 minimum in order to keep from over working the brass. Otherwise, it is generally prudent to FL resize for semiautos to insure reliable chambering and minimise the slamfire risk.
A great example of when the Case Master gauge tool comes in real handy - it can measure the web thickness and detect brass thinning that will lead to head separations. Say you trim after every firing? That's a bit unusual. If you trim everything to 2.484" as the books say (the '06) and you need to trim again after one firing you're getting a lot of linear stretch - small wonder they're separating. I partial size almost everything (except for my 7mm RM where I use a Lee collet type neck resizer) or for the bigger straight walled stuff like the .444 and I size just enough to fit with at most a very slight bit of resistance. Your '06 load at 56.5 grs is no doubt a compressed load which is fine, but case length should be consistent and then filled with a long drop tube. Might be as simple as an over generous chamber but again, partial or neck sizing should minimize stretching. Annealing necks after a couple of firings would probably take care of the neck splitting issue issues but it's still more sensible to only size enough to fit your chamber. Measuring the OAL to the tip of a soft point bullet can cause pressure issues as well, especially if you're crowding the lands. We've found consistently seated Nosler Bal S'Tips in the .243 to have as much as 11 thou variation OAL when measuring to the tip and then checked with a comparator which means if they were seated to be off the lands by 10 thou, some could actually be jamming into the rifling. You might also sort your brass by headstamp and then by weight which should give you brass of fairly consistent case capacity. It can become important when you're compressing powder charges. Most of the response so far seems to be along the lines that you're overworking the cases - they're probably right. If the first group you fired were no problem and very good accuracy I might have focused on that load. Sounds like it was potentially a very good load for your gun.
+ another 1
As for the .243 brass... how old is it? In years, not firings. I have heard of brass age-hardening after being stored for many years.
First of all let me take a minute to thank all of you who pointed me in the right direction. That being said...
That is what I will try. I guess I wasn't setting my FL sizing die properly and setting the shoulder back excessivly on each resizing. I read and followed the instructions that came with my Lee dies and these were the results. Once I find the proper setting on my die can I size a case and use that case in the future to adjust my die. I guess what Im trying to say is, with a properly sized case for my chamber I could put that case in the shellholder and screw in my die until it touches the shoulder of the case, then resize all my case's to that setting?
My Tikka probably has an over generous chamber/excessive headspace and I was wondering if I could have my fired brass mic'd like Hungry did with my m14? Would this be an accurate way of measuring headspace without having to bring it to a smith or an alternate to buying a headspace gauge?
I've always been under the impression that if head seperation should occur that it would split along the bright halo around the brass, if you look at the pics you'll see that it's just above that line, whats up with that. I'm also a little dissapointed because I did check for signs of incipient head separation, blame it on inexperience. I was told the ring around the bottom were markings from my die's and not to worry about them... Can you guys clearly see signs of incipient HS on the pics 4&5 ?
Do you guys recommend I also partial size my hunting ammo? (test chambering before going hunting)
Do those primers appear to be backed out?
Why is my .243 brass so dirty?
Could I have caused damage to the rifles? If so should it be visible to the naked eye with a flashlight?
I was playing with the OAL of the cartridge. not "trim-to" lenght of the brass.
Couldn't tell you, I bought them from Hiogginsons a year or two ago, couldn't tell you when they were manufactured.
That is what I will try. I guess I wasn't setting my FL sizing die properly and setting the shoulder back excessivly on each resizing. I read and followed the instructions that came with my Lee dies and these were the results. Once I find the proper setting on my die can I size a case and use that case in the future to adjust my die. I guess what Im trying to say is, with a properly sized case for my chamber I could put that case in the shellholder and screw in my die until it touches the shoulder of the case, then resize all my case's to that setting?
My Tikka probably has an over generous chamber/excessive headspace and I was wondering if I could have my fired brass mic'd like Hungry did with my m14? Would this be an accurate way of measuring headspace without having to bring it to a smith or an alternate to buying a headspace gauge?
I've always been under the impression that if head seperation should occur that it would split along the bright halo around the brass, if you look at the pics you'll see that it's just above that line, whats up with that. I'm also a little dissapointed because I did check for signs of incipient head separation, blame it on inexperience. I was told the ring around the bottom were markings from my die's and not to worry about them... Can you guys clearly see signs of incipient HS on the pics 4&5 ?
Do you guys recommend I also partial size my hunting ammo? (test chambering before going hunting)
Do those primers appear to be backed out?
Why is my .243 brass so dirty?
Could I have caused damage to the rifles? If so should it be visible to the naked eye with a flashlight?
I was playing with the OAL of the cartridge. not "trim-to" lenght of the brass.
Couldn't tell you, I bought them from Hiogginsons a year or two ago, couldn't tell you when they were manufactured.
Last edited:
barnes x bullets
hey goose I read somewhere that you can;t drive the barnes solid copper bullets as fast as the others because they will foul your barrel and cause excess pressure . I have some loaded in PMC brass I picked up at a gunshow and looked at the ballistics on the back of the box and thought to myself this load sucks for 270 win . I was going to reload them then I read an article in guns and ammo that said you can;t drive them as fast ???? contact barnes and ask them their opinion . that;s all I can remember as it was a while ago I read the article .
hey goose I read somewhere that you can;t drive the barnes solid copper bullets as fast as the others because they will foul your barrel and cause excess pressure . I have some loaded in PMC brass I picked up at a gunshow and looked at the ballistics on the back of the box and thought to myself this load sucks for 270 win . I was going to reload them then I read an article in guns and ammo that said you can;t drive them as fast ???? contact barnes and ask them their opinion . that;s all I can remember as it was a while ago I read the article .
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Barnes bullets have quite a bit more surface contact, just don't butt up to the lands, bullet needs a bit of a jump to get going.
- Location
- Lumby Town!!
I've been realoding for only about 2ys, so take what I say with a grain of salt. There is 1 or 2 cases there that might look like is has case separation, the 243 in the middle...Try the paper clip trick, bend a paper clip into a hook and use it to scratch the inside of the case, you should be able to "feel" the crack if it's there. I'l also grab a Dremal and cut a couple of those cases apart and have a look inside. I neck size only, for practise loads, only trim when I need to, probably ever 4-5 loads, depends on the gun. My hunting ammo is FL sized, once fired cases. I doubt you hurt your gun, but better safe then sorry. If you didn't know that the cases was separated until you ejected it, then my guess is the gun didn't get damaged. If you fired the round and knew something wasn't right becasue it sounded different or felt different, then get it checked out. Seeing as your separated cases were still in 1 piece my guess is that you are fine. When I had my first case separations in an old mauser, the once fired cases came out of the gun in 2 pieces, completely separated! That's big headspace...that was after being neck sized only, once. This has been my expierence, take it for what it is...
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Pics look like you are bumping the shoulder back too far. You can see the separation line forming in the pics with each group of shots.
Better yet, don't bump the shoulder at all. I adjust my f/l dies just enough so i can chamber the case reliably and no more.
I think the problem here is a combination of max chamber dimensions, over-resizing, and hottish loads. Buy a neck sizing die or learn to adjust the full length dies to neck size only. FlL sizing just isn't required in a bolt action with a concentric chamber.
