Excessive case stretch in 300 WSM

02 November 2002, 11:47

<GAHUNTER>

I have a custom 300 WSM that literally will shoot the eyes out of a butterfly at 200 yards. Im shooting 68.5 grains of Re 19 behind 180-grain Speer Grand Slams and Swift A-Frames. Both bullets chrono just a shade under 3,000 fps with this load and I get no "classic" pressure signs.

The problem is that, even with neck sizing, I am getting only two reloads per case before having to trim back to the the trim-to length. This is about half the reloads I get between trims with other calibers in my arsenal. I know it's not from "hot" loads, because the case stretching is the same throughout a wide range of powder charges, low and heavy.

Anything going on here that I should be concerned about?

02 November 2002, 11:58

DB Bill

Sounds like soft brass.

02 November 2002, 12:29

Brad

GA, my opinion of the Olin WSM brass is that it's of pretty poor/spotty quality... I've had identical experience with the 300 WSM brass as your's.

Brad

02 November 2002, 12:44

Bob338

I've used that brass to make 338 WSM and haven't had any problem like that. I neck size with a Redding S die and no expander. I'd look closely at how much the neck is being sized by your die. It's possible it's being necked way down too far and then thinned and pulled out by the expander on the way out. You didn't mention an S die. You might check this by measuring your fired brass, removing the expander, sizing the neck and measuring that. You shouldn't be sizing more than about .011". If you are, that could be a problem. In that case you might want to return the die for polishing out the neck.

03 November 2002, 03:56

RiverRat

I have had problems with the Win. brass in 300 WSM as well. My rifle is a custom built rifle on a 700 Rem. action, with a Lilja barrel. Mine has a very tight chamber, and I have not had any problems with stretching but the primer pockets were on the loose side right out of bag. Not push in with your finger loose but they felt like a primer pocket that had been fired 3 or 4 times with some upper end loads. I know Norma is now making brass for the WSM and the word I am getting is the flash holes are drilled crooked. So I am just going to put up with the Winchester brass till Norma gets the flash hole issued cured or Lapua comes out with some WSM brass. I have always used Winchester brass for my 308's and my 223 with good sucess. I have 100 pieces that I have loaded 12 times with the Palma bullet running 2890 fps and the primer pockets are still tight as when new, not one cracked neck. So they can make good brass.

Shoot Safe, Straight........RiverRat

03 November 2002, 11:52

Brad

quote:
the primer pockets were on the loose side right out of bag

EXACTLY my experience as well.

04 November 2002, 09:12

Stefan

I have put a Sako match barrel on a sako 591 action to test the new Norma WSM case. I didnï¿½t notice anything wrong with the flach holes.....

I have shot 155 Lapua Scenars several times at 3100 f/s with exellent results. No sticky cases and no loose primers. The rifle shoots really good the group below was shot at 300 m prone with a harris bipod and a protector rear bag. The barrel is really heavy and the rifle weigs about 12 lbs.

The group mesured 32 mm.

Stefan.

03 November 2002, 22:46

<JOHAN>

Stefan

tell us more about your rifle. I have heard this BS about norma brass, but never seen it in real life. The win brass I have seen has been very poor in quality. Post some pic's of the rifle, Don't be shy [Big Grin]

Cheers
/ JOHAN

04 November 2002, 03:36

Stefan

Iï¿½m just back from a trip to the range with the WSM.

I have to admit that on a closer look the flash holes on the Norma cases was actually of center.....

They shoot quite well though [Smile]

I tried two 5 shot groups at 300 m again with the Harris bipod and rear bag. The first one was with Nosler 150 gr. Bal Tips and the other one with the Lapua 10 gram Scenar. Both loads do well over 3100 f/s. First group was 44 mm. and second was 47 mm.

The weather here now isnï¿½t really suited for testing [Frown]

Today i had -7 C on the termometer and temperatures will drop quite a bit from now on..... I had no wind thoug witch explaiedn a lot of the good groups (in my opinion) without windflags placed.

The sako rifle is built around a modified/trued 591 action. The barrel on the picture is a 6 BR and itï¿½s a bit slimmer than the WSM barrel. The stock is made from grafted Claro and French walnut.

Stefan.

04 November 2002, 04:52

RiverRat

Great rifle Stefan, is built as a tactical rifle that weighs 12lbs 13 oz. I am shooting the 155 Lapua Scenar as well. The load is mild avg. 3103 fps using believe it or not IMR 4064 @ 57.1 gr and the Fed. 210M primer. I had better luck with that primer than any of the magnums. I don't know why it shouldn't be OK 270's and 30-06's use as much or more powder with a standard large rifle primer. Sure works in my rifle. I guess I should have said drilled off center. Not so much crooked just way off center. Stefan, if you are using Norma brass, well it doesn't seem to affect the accuaracy of your rifle.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight......RiverRat

04 November 2002, 09:45

Stefan

RiverRat.

I use Fed 210 standard in my WSM and it seems to be ok!

The Norma 204 powder work fine with the bullets in the 150 gr. range. The groups at 300 m I mentioned was shot with 67,5 gr of 204.

At this side of the pond the US powders are about twise the price of Norma or Vihtavuori, if we can get the at all!

My experiences with US powders are quite limited [Big Grin]

The 155 gr. Lapua Scenars shoots like a house on fire in my Sako barrel.

A few years back when the 155 gr Scenar hit the market I was wery dissapointed when I tried it in my .308 Win rifle. It was VERY hard to get a group under a inch..... My .308 Win is useally quite accurate with most match bullets. It have a Sako match barrel with 1-12" twist installed.

The barrel on my WSM is a 1-11" twist and it seemes like that was the trick!! [Smile]

Stefan.