Remington brass cracked on 3rd sizing

Grizzlypeg

Grizzlypeg

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I bought some Remington 300 WSM brass back when I purchased my rifle. I have just finished shooting each piece of brass 2x. I bump the shoulder .002. On the 3rd resizing, and I didn't anneal, the necks of roughly 10% of the brass cracked. No signs of case head separation. I would imagine this is a clear sign to dispose of the brass and start again. Thoughts?
 
I would continue to use the rest of the brass. I would suggest getting into annealing. When ammunition is manufactured the brass is annealed a minimum of 3 times.

Prior to annealing I would lose 5% of my brass. Since I started annealing I probably lose 5 per thousand.
 
WSM brass is very thick and I found that it really benefited from annealing, even more so than other brass.
You may be stressing the neck more than you need to as well while sizing . A bushing style die will help with that .
Cat
 
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Grizzlypeg said:
I bought some Remington 300 WSM brass back when I purchased my rifle. I have just finished shooting each piece of brass 2x. I bump the shoulder .002. On the 3rd resizing, and I didn't anneal, the necks of roughly 10% of the brass cracked. No signs of case head separation. I would imagine this is a clear sign to dispose of the brass and start again. Thoughts?
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Every cracked neck I have ever investigated cracked by mechanism known as stress-corrosion cracking. It does require stress to build up in the brass, and I have a theory that the thicker the brass, the greater the residual stresses from the firing and re-sizing operations. The cases crack in storage but the crack usually doesn't become visible until firing.

As others have said, the simplest and most reliable mitigation is a stress-relief anneal. The cases that didn't crack are probably still fine, just anneal them before stressing them again.
 
Without Annealing after first firing, you are rolling the dice with the quality of the annealing during the manufacturing process for a given lot of brass. I went through this before I started annealing. I haven't had issues since.
 
I never realized that the older 350 Remington Factory ammunition would have cracked necks when being fired. Apparently the 50-60 year old ammunition ends up with the brass becoming brittle and cracking when fired....:(

I now laugh when I see factory 350 Remington ammo at gun shows for $165.00 per box of 20 rounds...........:ROFLMAO:

I used to buy this ammo specifically for the brass, once it was fired. I no longer do that. One can buy new brass, either HSM or Remington brass, handload them and anneal them after 2-3 firings. Been reloading over 47 years, and never used an annealer prior to this 350 Rem Mag issue. Now I absolutely anneal all my brass that has been loaded 2-3 times......:)

Even an ole' dog like me can learn new tricks!......:LOL:;):ROFLMAO:
 
I don't know who makes Rem brass now, but historically it was prone to splitting in several different cartridges i used. It was the worst candidate for necking up or down or conversions.

Converting 32-20 to 8mm French Revolver, new winchester brass had no splits in 100 brass, new Rem brass had 4 splits in the first 10 and I stopped there.
 
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jethunter said:
I don't know who makes Rem brass now, but historically it was prone to splitting in several different cartridges i used. It was the worst candidate for necking up or down or conversions.

Converting 32-20 to 8mm French Revolver, new winchester brass had no splits in 100 brass, new Rem brass had 4 splits in the first 10 and I stopped there.
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I formed a lot of 7mmstw from 8mmremmag cases and never lost any to cracking. I also necked it up to .338" again no issues.
 
Back in the day, it was relatively easy to find R-P 7x57 brass, so that is what I used - some I would reload a second time, but most were fired once - stored in baggies to reload "one day" - when next desire came along, I would open a new bag of new brass. For some reason, all my hunting was done with loads in "new" brass. So, 10 or 12 years went by - I got a few more 7x57 rifles and decided to reload that brass. I think of the first 80 cases, I got 26 cracked necks. I bought a "salt bath" annealing kit and did up another batch - maybe 4 cracked necks in next 100 cases. So, in my mind, that salt bath annealing helped. I will be annealing every reload now - at least for my centre fire rifle cases - I never had a cracked neck on resizing, before that episode with the R-P 7x57 brass, and have not had any since - although I did find four cracked necks in a batch of W-W 22-250 brass (factory rounds with factory primers still in the case) that a neighbour wanted me to load for him.

Several acquaintances mentioned to me how they use an open flame and rotate the case - drop it in water to stop the heating of the case walls. One guy uses a deep socket in a battery drill, and other guy just holds the case with his fingers. I think they are in a darkened room and heat until the brass neck just starts to glow faint orange. The guy with the deep socket says he anneals for every re-load - I do not recall how often the guy holding in fingers does it - however, WAY more often than I had been - as in, I had NEVER done it before!!
 
I use alot of Remington brass in my 300RUM. I use mainly 7mmRUM brass as thats what was available through the years. I have 40 rounds of 300RUM headstamp, and one old box of 300RUM nosler, back when they came in a box of 50.

I anneal each time and have yet to loose a lose a piece of brass of any time other than in the snow when shooting elk.

The brass in the larger cartridges has been phenomenal, noslers have a tighter primer pocket, but I get the same velocity and accuracy out of both brands. Helps with such massive case volume, as a small amount of internal dimensions doesn't effect it much.
 
Denver Steve said:
If your looking for brass longevity, the torch method is great. Takes a bit to get consistent with it though.
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A basic propane torch, a Lee lock stud and matching shell holder, a glass of water to quench and a variable speed drill. There is your inexpensive and accurate annealing system, works as good as anything.
 
I hardly ever anneal - maybe every 5th load or so, depending. Mostly I found annealing to not be worth the time: by the time it became a problem, the primer pockets were getting a bit loose anyway. I almost never get neck splits, even in my WSM. Maybe brass has dropped in quality in the past 10 or 15 years; all mine is at least that old? Otherwise, I reload a lot like you - very minimal body sizing; I neck-only size until I can start to feel more resistance in chambering, maybe 3 or so reloads, then I set my dies to bump the shoulder a few thou, tighten the grub screw, and use that setting for all future sizing operations.


The only cases I've ever had significant splitting with are federal 'FC' cases in 7.62x39. I suspect that's more due to the quality/tolerances of the firearms that the brass is fired in, than the brass itself. I annealed 500 or so of these a few weeks back, then sized them with zero splits. Have not loaded any yet though.
 
bibatoad said:
A basic propane torch, a Lee lock stud and matching shell holder, a glass of water to quench and a variable speed drill. There is your inexpensive and accurate annealing system, works as good as anything.
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Really ? Works as good as anything ? As good a a AMP machine ? Please share your vast knowledge of annealing . Thxs 😊
 
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remington jim said:
I have Seen a ton of whizzum brass with cracks in the necks ! Far more than any other cartridge. And especially the 300 warm .Some with only one firing others with 2-3 ! No idea why there neck crackers 🤷‍♂️
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I have a theory that there is a strong correlation between thickness of case necks and tendency to cracking. I have never seen a cracked neck in a reloaded .30-30. It seems reasonable, the biggest driver of neck cracks is residual stresses from deformation, and thicker parts probably accumulate greater residual stresses. I may test the theory one day.

remington jim said:
Really ? Works as good as anything ? As good a a AMP machine ? Please share your vast knowledge of annealing . Thxs 😊
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Not as consistent, but a way better value for the dollar. The importance of cost is self-evident; the importance of consistency in this application is still up in the air.
 
BattleRife said:
I have a theory that there is a strong correlation between thickness of case necks and tendency to cracking. I have never seen a cracked neck in a reloaded .30-30. It seems reasonable, the biggest driver of neck cracks is residual stresses from deformation, and thicker parts probably accumulate greater residual stresses. I may test the theory one day.


Not as consistent, but a way better value for the dollar. The importance of cost is self-evident; the importance of consistency in this application is still up in the air.
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I don't think the importance of consistency in the application, is up in the air at all. It has been proven by many, time and time again. That consistent neck tension, if everything else is consistent, shrinks group sizes at longer ranges. It might not have an effect at 100 yards. But at say a thousand, it sure does. There are so many variables, and this is just one of many. For the average guy wanting to extend brass life for hunting. A handheld torch is a perfect application. You sure can be consistent with it, but not as consistent as an AMP annealer.
 
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