300 win mag case inspection

13 February 2010, 07:53

icemanls2

I have started to reload 300 WM. I have a bunch of ammo that was reloaded by someone else. I pulled the bullets and dumped the powder because i won't shoot them. Inspecting the cases there is about a 16th of an inch ring just above the band that looks like a casehead sepparation line on about 60% of the cases. I pulled out a few new factory rounds and there is a slight ring on them as well, so how do you tell if the case is good or bad? They are mostly R-P and winchester cases.

13 February 2010, 09:15

416RigbyHunter

icemanls2,
All brass gets an expansion ring just above the web/belt after it's been fired, this is what you're seeing.
To tell if there is a likely separation, bend a paper clip out straight and make a 90 degree bend on one end that's about 1/16" long and sharpen it slightly, by moving it up and down inside the case you can 'feel' if there is a 'stretch ring' present.
A case that is about to separate has a wide yellow band that is quite a distance from the web, say 1/4" or more above the expansion line.

Now, with careful FL sizing techniques, you can practically eliminate any tendency for case separations to occur on belted brass.
You need to adjust your FL die so that a very slight resistance is felt when you close the bolt on a sized case, this will give you a close fit to the chamber and brass will not show any tendency to separate. This essentially gives you positive headspace off the shoulder, not the belt.
Cheers.

13 February 2010, 20:16

gwindrider1

+1 to what 416RH has said.

15 February 2010, 21:00

icemanls2

quote:
Originally posted by 416RigbyHunter:
icemanls2,
All brass gets an expansion ring just above the web/belt after it's been fired, this is what you're seeing.
To tell if there is a likely separation, bend a paper clip out straight and make a 90 degree bend on one end that's about 1/16" long and sharpen it slightly, by moving it up and down inside the case you can 'feel' if there is a 'stretch ring' present.
A case that is about to separate has a wide yellow band that is quite a distance from the web, say 1/4" or more above the expansion line.

Now, with careful FL sizing techniques, you can practically eliminate any tendency for case separations to occur on belted brass.
You need to adjust your FL die so that a very slight resistance is felt when you close the bolt on a sized case, this will give you a close fit to the chamber and brass will not show any tendency to separate. This essentially gives you positive headspace off the shoulder, not the belt.
Cheers.

I know brass does get a ring but mine never look like these. It's almost as if the chamber was too large cause where the ring is there is a bulge on the outside and you can feel it inside the case with a sharpened paperclip. http://i771.photobucket.com/al...greloadedcase005.jpg