I've read that given a case fired at a standard load pressure, a like jacketed bullet should drop or slide easily through the unresized neck.
My once-fired LC 68 MATCH cases in 30-06 fired in a Rem 700 will not allow my 165 gr Hornady Interbonds to pass through the neck without considerable force.
Turn case necks? First statement not true? Comments? Thanks.

It's the yardstick I have used for a number of years for numerous cartridges. Try brushing out the neck with a bore brush before decidig to neck turn. Also, measure the neck of a loaded cartridge and then measure the neck of a fired case. There should be a difference of at least .002.

Measure your cases neck wall thickness and that of other 06 cases prior to taking any action. Did you fire these cases in your rifle or is this once fired range brass? Welcome to AR. roger

The old brass, from a vendor, was unfired, primed, and then to sell, chemically washed which deactivated the GI primers.
I full length resized, deprimed and loaded.
Fired in my Rem '06.
Outside dia. of loaded case is 0.336".
Outside dia. of fired case is 0.343".
Best I can measure, inside dia. fired case is 0.3066" and case wall is 0.0168".
By calculation, case wall is 0.0182".
All measurements taken midway on the neck. The thickness on the neck tapers quite a bit from thin at the mouth to thick at the shoulder.
Do you have a nominal number for neck thickness?
Thanks.

If there is a bullet in the neck when it measures .336 then the ID has to be .308. Subtract that from the OD and you have a difference of .028 or a neck thickness of .014.
I still think that it's old GI brass and the necks could be grunged up. Chuck a bore brush i a drill motor, tease a bit of #0000 steel wool into the brush and burnish the insides of the neck. If that doesn't clear up the problem, junk the brass and buy new. You have a movement of .007 OD between the loaded brass and the fired brass. How can the ID get tighter since there is plenty of room for the case to expand?

If you decide to "junk" this brass per wasbeeman. I will pay postage to my house. I love to tinker with brass.
Let me know.

muck

quote:

If there is a bullet in the neck when it measures .336 then the ID has to be .308. Subtract that from the OD and you have a difference of .028 or a neck thickness of .014.

Absolutely, you're right.
And my fired case inside dia. of .3066 and case wall thickness numbers are wrong. Sorry.
I did your burnish bit on eight cases until the inside neck brass looked normal color and clean and am now able to, although it is difficult, push a bullet into the case neck with my fingers. So, I guess I'm getting almost 100% springback after firing?
Thanks much gents, and I think I'll keep the brass.

You brass is more than 40 years old. You might consider giving it a very light anneal. The lack of expansion means your pressures may be low but for sure the brass is too hard.

quote:

Originally posted by Ought-Six:
I've read that given a case fired at a standard load pressure, a like jacketed bullet should drop or slide easily through the unresized neck.
My once-fired LC 68 MATCH cases in 30-06 fired in a Rem 700 will not allow my 165 gr Hornady Interbonds to pass through the neck without considerable force.
Turn case necks? First statement not true? Comments? Thanks.

I think that SR4759 has hit on the probable cause of the issue you are experiencing. Hard brass will springback more than softer brass. The brass is unfired, which would normally mean reasonably soft necks. However, it is old (which tends to harden brass) and the chemical processing could conceivably have also hardened the necks.

Annealing is difficult to do in an accurate and repeatable manner, so I don't often recommend it to reloaders who are not experienced at it. But if you'll take a handful of cases and run them through the annealing process you might see a marked difference in springback. If so, you can make a decision on annealing the entire lot.

Light to mid-range loads, with slow burn rates of powder, may not expand the necks.

SR has a good suggestion and notice he said "light annealing". Don't use the method where you put the cases in a pan of water that the water level is little over half the case and heat the necks and shoulders red and tip over. This OVER ANNEALS them and you lose your neck tension to hold the bullet correctly. I'd hold them with index finger and thumb and spin the anneal area in a propane torch flame until you feel the heat on your fingers. That's a light annealing and you don't have to water quench them. They are annealed with either letting them air cool or water quench.

Brass cases get worked hardened from shooting and resizing and if still in good shape should be light annealed from time to time.

Ahhh yes, annealing has become the poster child of the answer to all problems. There is a difference of .007 between the sized case and the fired case. That should be plenty. And too, we don't know if the .346 of the fired case is because of chamber restrictions or, as suggested, light loads. But, what the hell, get your little propane torches out and blaze away. It'll fix everthing.

"I've read that given a case fired at a standard load pressure ..."

The load was about 55,400 PSI and my chrony read 2850 fps. I hesitate to print the exact load because I substituted a component from the reloading manual data. It was worked up from 3 gr less powder.

I've learned some things and will live with what I've got. Thanks.

Is the whole lenght of the neck tight when you try to insert a bullet or does it goes up the shoulder area and then get stuck? Are you sure it is not "donuts" inside the neck at the shoulder area? This could easily be cut out with a Foster Reamer.