.300 Win Mag brass simply REFUSING to size down

27 February 2012, 05:52

carnold724

Hello all, I have a simple question that is perplexing my limtied modicum of intellect. I ran a few pieces of Remington Peters .300 Win Mag through the die yesterday and had 4 pieces that refused to kneck down. I found this out after I charged the cases and tried to seat the bullet, having the neck refuse to take a grab on the projectile. They were previous reloads that were a gift that I dissected for components so no idea on how many firings they had on them. They were within trimmed spec also. They looked to be in good shape and I ran them through several times trying to get them to neck down to no avail. I tossed them in the trash bin but it has been keeping me curious for a day now...

Any ideas?

27 February 2012, 06:03

Doubless

Look very very closely for cracks in the neck. Sometimes the crack is almost imperceptible, but that is about the only thing I can think of if they won't size down far enough to grip a projectile...

27 February 2012, 06:06

craigster

Full length size the brass with the expander ball removed from the die and see what happens.

27 February 2012, 06:34

Rae59

Need more info;
What type and brand of die?

27 February 2012, 09:26

carnold724

quote:
Originally posted by Rae59:
Need more info;
What type and brand of die?

RCBS

A friend suggested checking the cleanliness of the die and to try removing the ball and sizing also. Although my other cases are sizing fine so I don't think it's the die...

27 February 2012, 09:37

wasbeeman

Strictly shooting in the dark but you might try buffing your resizer ball a bit with some #0000 steel wool.
just torque the spindle in a drill motor and give it a spin.

27 February 2012, 15:10

Gerry

quote:
Although my other cases are sizing fine so I don't think it's the die...

As others have mentioned I'd take the F/L Die apart, inspect & clean it.

I was thinking perhaps there could be a mix-up of parts somewhere in the Die such as a F/L Die body for a larger caliber with a .308" Expander Ball.

If it's only this particular batch of brass then I would suggest that in this case (pun intended) the brass is culprit; "overworked" and now brittle causing the necks to split and therefore not affording the proper bullet pull (purchase).

Or, the brass in question is either too thin in the neck area (manufacturing defect) or has been Neck Turned leaving the necks so thin that the F/L Die cannot reduce them enough during the re-sizing phase and the Expander Ball is simply slipping through the necks? Obviously there's not enough tension to afford a reasonable purchase on the bullet.

Not attempting to be rude here rather get to the root of the issue ..... but if the bullets are not receiving enough "bullet pull" (purchase) during the sizing & seating process surely you must feel some difference in pressure & effort operating the Ram between this batch & other batches of brass?

If I'm being too direct - call me a bad name ....

27 February 2012, 16:09

Ghubert

Ok.

Lightweight!

27 February 2012, 17:02

Gerry

You're in BIG trouble now - I'm telling my Mother!

27 February 2012, 18:09

243winxb

neck turned brass?

27 February 2012, 22:20

ramrod340

If other brass works in your die and you don't know how many reloads this brass has been through then it might simply be work hardened.

27 February 2012, 22:45

7MMNut

quote:
Originally posted by ramrod340:
If other brass works in your die and you don't know how many reloads this brass has been through then it might simply be work hardened.

My guess too. I ran into a somewhat similar problem when working loads for a new M70 in .300WM. I used brass that was fired numerous times in my Tikka. The rounds loaded fine and fed with no problem. But after firing the bolt was sticky at the top of the throw. I was able to "persuade" the bolt fully open and eject the rounds, but obviously this is not good.

Bought some new brass, no problems since.

01 March 2012, 05:56

carnold724

quote:
Originally posted by Gerry:
quote:
Although my other cases are sizing fine so I don't think it's the die...

As others have mentioned I'd take the F/L Die apart, inspect & clean it.

I was thinking perhaps there could be a mix-up of parts somewhere in the Die such as a F/L Die body for a larger caliber with a .308" Expander Ball.

If it's only this particular batch of brass then I would suggest that in this case (pun intended) the brass is culprit; "overworked" and now brittle causing the necks to split and therefore not affording the proper bullet pull (purchase).

Or, the brass in question is either too thin in the neck area (manufacturing defect) or has been Neck Turned leaving the necks so thin that the F/L Die cannot reduce them enough during the re-sizing phase and the Expander Ball is simply slipping through the necks? Obviously there's not enough tension to afford a reasonable purchase on the bullet.

Not attempting to be rude here rather get to the root of the issue ..... but if the bullets are not receiving enough "bullet pull" (purchase) during the sizing & seating process surely you must feel some difference in pressure & effort operating the Ram between this batch & other batches of brass?

If I'm being too direct - call me a bad name ....

I did not notice any discernable difference in the effort required on the ram. I inspected the cases and their are no cracks either. I'm going to assume it's work hardening or turning. Either way it was 4 cases out of 40 so Im not too worried...

Thank all!