Why do reloaders have a hard time with belted magnums?

hunter-4-life

hunter-4-life

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Im still new to this whole reloading thing, and been reading up on a 300 RUM and 338 win mag and the differences with them. Noticing a lot of guys argument for the RUM is the 338 is belted and the RUM isn't and the belt makes it harder to reload for. Why is this? Something to do with pressure i'm assuming?
 
I don't. I resize everything to the minimum necessary to rechamber it, so my belted cases actually headspace on the shoulder. I have no issues with belts.
 
Never had an issue with belted brass. The only issue is to keep watch for a ring above the belt indicating the brass is thinning. Theoretically a belted casing has a shorter life span than a non belted one. Just be aware and inspect your brass and there should not be any issues. Usual things like neck sizing only can extend the life of a case.
 
hunter-4-life said:
Im still new to this whole reloading thing, and been reading up on a 300 RUM and 338 win mag and the differences with them. Noticing a lot of guys argument for the RUM is the 338 is belted and the RUM isn't and the belt makes it harder to reload for. Why is this? Something to do with pressure i'm assuming?
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Some folk actually buy into the marketing hype and repeat it as true.

I neck size belted cases and have no more problems than with a std case w/o a belt.
 
Never had a problem with belted cases. I also do as Supercub and almost exclusively neck sized after the initial firing.
 
I full size my 300 win mag and 7mm rm brass all the time, have no issues with them at all, get about 5-6 firings out of them. I've also started to anneal my brass and I do not make my loads hot.

Kevin
 
I have loaded a truckload of .338 and .300 win mag over the years with no issues. I now load .338 RUM with no issues. I find the RUM brass to be pricey though.
 
Good to know. Just cause if there was a problem with belted brass, I would go the RUM route, which I still might cause I like big guns :D im just torn between the need of a .30 or a .338
 
I've been loading belted cases for years and have very seldom had any trouble. Seldom isn't exactly the same as never though. When there are problems, they can usually be traced back to generously over sized chambers. The belt allows a cartridge to be sloppy loose in the chamber and still headspace properly on the belt. A rimmed case would do the same, but the rim can cause interference in the magazine.

Back in day when the H&H case was new corrosive primers were fact of life. The cartridges were conceived for hunting in harsh conditions, with inevitably corroded chambers in tropical climes. Powders of the day got a little wonky with pressures in hot temperatures. Cartridges were designed with a pronounced taper to aid extraction and the belt took care of the headspace issue. Being pure hunting cartridges pure function was the primary concern. Scopes were rare, handloading wasn't the norm, and todays obsession with accuracy hadn't settled in yet. About the only thing that the well heeled owner of an H&H rifle cared about is that the rifle functioned flawlessly and that the bullet killed the hell out of whatever it hit.
 
powdergun said:
Never had an issue with belted brass. The only issue is to keep watch for a ring above the belt indicating the brass is thinning. Theoretically a belted casing has a shorter life span than a non belted one. Just be aware and inspect your brass and there should not be any issues. Usual things like neck sizing only can extend the life of a case.
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Many reloaders feel they must full length size their cases. If you are loading for a pump ,a lever or an autoloader this is likely a good idea. If you are reloading cases that were fired in another rifle it is a good idea. If you are reloading cases that were fired in your rifle I would recommend not FL resizing. It would be nice to think that all rifles of a particular calibre are all headspaced the same. This just isn't so. There is a wide variety of chambers from one rifle to the next. If you have a rifle with near maximum headspace and you full length size your cases you are actually pushing the case shoulder back enough to create a little headspace. When you fire that case the firing pin pushes the cartridge as far forward as it can go in the chamber. This leaves the case head unsupported. This space may only be a few thousands of an inch but the case stretchs this much on each firing. The more headspace the quicker the case separates. This can be as few as 3 to 5 loadings. Rather than full length sizing (ie/ having the shell holder make full contact with the bottom of the die) back the size die out approx. 1/4 turn. This will not push the shoulder back. Try the case in your rifle to ensure it chambers and extracts freely. By not pushing the shoulder back you will have zero headspace and the case will not stretch and will last a lot more than 4 or 5 loadings. A small metal spacer can be used to lift the die up so you are not constantly adjusting your die. 3/4 to 1/2 inch conduit reducing washers found in the electrical dept of a hardware store work perfect with 7/8x14 dies. If you size belted cases in this manner (on the shoulder) they will last as long as non-belted cases . Hope this helps.
 
I full-length re-size my .300win mag brass all the time. I have ZERO problems doing so. I use a basic LEE PRESS. I do keep a watchful eye on the area about a full centimeter above the belt. I take a paper clip, straighten it out, then scrape it on the inside of the brass near the belted area. If it begins to thin in that area, a small ridge will be able to be felt with the paperclip. (the edge of the end of the paperclip is quite sharp, and easily feels any discrepancy in the brass, and you will feel it catching on the ridge)
I'd be more worried about the high pressures associated with RUM rounds, and think that brass would undergo ++ stress. Neck sizing would be very beneficial to RUM brass I think.
 
My friend doesn't like his 325wsm. He isn't a reloader, so I guess there isn't a factory loaded plethora to choose from. I have read and heard several times that the 8mm was the biggest round they could stuff into the wsm platform before there was too much encroachment into powder space with the longer bullets (aka 338)
 
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