Gents:

question is this: have some dented shoulders on some reloaded 375 H&H ammo and am not sure of why. followup is this: I will pull the bullets and the powder and will be left with primed brass. is there a way to reform the brass and what to do with the primers which are in the brass?

thanks,

jeff

Dents are often too much lube or maybe a dirty plugged die. Simply shoot as normal the dents will go away and the dents will have no impact on accuracy, velocity etc.

This thread should help

What casues this?

If you search there is also a thread on resizing with live primers

problem is some of them were causing difficulty closing the bolt so I thought I ought not in case I may damage the chamber so I put them aside.

Seriously doubt you will do anything to yur chamber. Usually a dent from lube will not cause a chambering issue. Make sure your seater is not crushing the case and forming an enlarged shoulder.

If you don't want to shoot them pull the bullet dump the powder. Leave the primer in place back up the expander or remove the pin and resize the brass. Don't worry about the dents they will blow out when you fire the reload.

The dents in the shoulders aren't what's causing your hard to close bolt. Blacken a case and see where it is binding. Then you can figure out if they're safe to shoot.
Having to pull the bullets, dump the powder, and resize the cases is a pain in the butt.

jsl3170

check out Larry Willis's site, he may answer to your problem wiht closing the bolt

Belted Magnums

AAARRRGHH! Belted case function no differently than rimless cases. In fact, belted cases ARE rimless cases in that the rim and the belt are the same size (just like a rimless case), but the body is rebated slightly. If you are able to expand the head of a belted case to the point that it needs reduced in size, then you have grossly exceeded acceptable pressures.

Assuming that your cases have NOT been subjected to unreasonably high pressures, then the size of the head is not causing your chambering problem (and wouldn't likely be the cause, anyway). Due to some cause, you are deforming the brass in the reloading process and you need to figure out just what you're doing wrong (a common problem is caused by inadvertantly bulging the brass with the crimping shoulder of the seating die, which would be my very first guess in your case.)

If a loaded round will chamber, even if that requires extra force on the bolt, then (assuming that its chambering difficulty is not caused by an overly long case being pinched at the mouth) it will be as safe to fire as any other round with the same load that chambers freely. If you will assure that your cases are not exceeding maximum overall length, then the best route to restoring them to usefullness is to simply fire them.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
Make sure your seater is not crushing the case and forming an enlarged shoulder.

Aha!

the first time I've heard of this.

I did a batch of 308 reloads for a friend using his own (Magtech) once-fried brass.

the reloads refused to chamber and looking at the brass seemed to have expanded at the shoulder region.

I had assumed the neck sizing die, a Lee, had done something to them because I had one neck stick t the mandrel and break off in about every ten cases. I thought the cases were junk but it may have been me with the bullet seater now that I've read that.

Dents are caused from too much lube...

Hard bolt closing means the shoulder has not been set back properly so you die is poorly adjusted to your "specific chamber". Screw your die down a quarter turn at a time until the problem no longer exists...

In some cases even when the die is down all the way you will still have the problem. That is a problem with your rifles chamber or the resizing die and it happens...

The cure is to file the "shell holder" down a bit at a time until the problem is solved...

Some will tell you to grind the die body down but if you mess up then you have to buy new dies..If you mess up the shell holder you can buy another one for less than $10.00 US

I cut the shell holder down by placing wet or dry 180 grt. on a glass pane and push it back and fourth, then polish it out the same way with 220 grt. Cut or polish a little then run the case in the gun if its still tight do a little more and so on. You will end up with a set of custom dies! viola!!

Ghubert, Bearing in mind my limited experience in reloading, check out the Lee Collet is not sticking closed occasionally and breaking the brass on the upward stroke.

I was having the same problem and on close inspection, noticed the angle faces on my second hand, Lee Collet was showing signs of wear. I machined both faces, I think the angle was 20 degrees(ok if you have a Lathe)and solved the problem . Imo the material the collet is made from is easily machined and therefore easily worn under stress, if adjusted beyond Lee guidance instead of reducing the de-capper stem by .002" in order to tighten the bullet in the case neck. Which has been much discussed on AR. Just a thought and hope it helps

quote:

Originally posted by John Chalmers:
Ghubert, Bearing in mind my limited experience in reloading, check out the Lee Collet is not sticking closed occasionally and breaking the brass on the upward stroke.

I was having the same problem and on close inspection, noticed the angle faces on my second hand, Lee Collet was showing signs of wear. I machined both faces, I think the angle was 20 degrees(ok if you have a Lathe)and solved the problem . Imo the material the collet is made from is easily machined and therefore easily worn under stress, if adjusted beyond Lee guidance instead of reducing the de-capper stem by .002" in order to tighten the bullet in the case neck. Which has been much discussed on AR. Just a thought and hope it helps

Thanks for the tip John, I'll take the die apart and give it a good clean.

It doesn't seem to do it with any of the other brands of brass I've used, I suspect the magtech stuff isn't annealed like quality brass.

A

quote:

Originally posted by John Chalmers:
Ghubert, Bearing in mind my limited experience in reloading, check out the Lee Collet is not sticking closed occasionally and breaking the brass on the upward stroke.

It has been my experience that a Lee Collet die adjusted too far downwards (e.g. in an attempt to increase neck tension) can cause the shoulders of the sized case to flare and hard chambering.

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by mho:

quote:

Originally posted by John Chalmers:
Ghubert, Bearing in mind my limited experience in reloading, check out the Lee Collet is not sticking closed occasionally and breaking the brass on the upward stroke.

It has been my experience that a Lee Collet die adjusted too far downwards (e.g. in an attempt to increase neck tension) can cause the shoulders of the sized case to flare and hard chambering.

- mike

+1