The other day at the range a 6,5x55 case (winchester) broke at the neck. I don't know the correct word in english but it was a "crack" along the neck...

The load is not hot, it´s 47 gr RL22 with 140 gr bullet (Sierra).

Two days later the same thing happened to a friend of mine, same load same rifle (not the same rifle but the same model and caliber).

He thinks that maybe was because the bullet was seated too much into the case ???

Is this a preassure sign ?? I have a bunch of this ammo loaded, should I pull the bullet out or I can continue firing them ??

In both cases it was only one on several ones shot..

Can you give me ideas or recommendations please ? I don`t know much about reloading.

Thanks

Lorenzo

Is it old brass that you are using or brass that has been fired several times? I had some old 7mmTCU cases that I loaded and several split the necks. I scrapped that old batch and started with new brass.

Usually it is a sign of brass that is old or stored badly and has become brittle with time.

Now if it is not old it is a sign that the brass neck has been worked and reworked so often as to make it brittle.

This could be because you are sizing it too tight or more likely that the chamber neck of your rifle is very wide so that the case expands a lot and is then sized down a lot when reloaded.

I would measure the case necks on a reloaded round, a fired case straight out of the rifle, a fired case that has been resized but not yet had a bullet seated.

This often happens in pistol cartridges where the expander ball is expanding the case neck like a trumpet each time.

Sorry if I was not clear enough.

It was a brand new case, never fired before...

I bought one of those 50 pieces bags.

L

quote:

Originally posted by Lorenzo:
Sorry if I was not clear enough.

It was a brand new case, never fired before...

I bought one of those 50 pieces bags.

L

Contract your dealer and Winchester.
They owe you replacement brass.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:

quote:

Originally posted by Lorenzo:
Sorry if I was not clear enough.

It was a brand new case, never fired before...

I bought one of those 50 pieces bags.

L

They owe you replacement brass.

I agree
The factory didn`t anneal the brass properly and it is too hard.

Try annealing (just the neck). Hold the case
with a thumb and finger part way up. Heat the
end of the neck hith a propane torch. When it
changes color (not red hot) dip the neck into
water. Believe it or not when brass is necked down it is in tension (thats why cracks open).
Good luck!

Was it nickle plated?Im working my way through winchester 222rem cases year unknowen split every 5-7 throw away!@!!

I ment to say I shoot them and then throw them away when they split!Which is regularly

Give Winchester a call; they should do right by you.

If an old military surplus rife, i would guess the chamber is overly large, not supporting the brass on firing. If a bolt action, neck size the brass next loading.

Thanks gentlemen for all your answers. I will try annealing them..

Maybe I am wrong but I don't think Winchester will walk the extra mile replacing some cases for a guy in Uruguay....

Even if they want to help me it will be a problem for them sending cases to a third world country like mine..

BTW, the rifle is a new Sako Finnlight, not an old militar rifle..

Thanks again
L

I had a string of bad brass from Winchester a couple years ago (most of it was 264Win mag), some of them cracked upon the first firing. If I remember correctly there was 11 out of a bag of 50 that cracked, and then a couple more cracked after the second firing. I shied away from Win brass for a while but have recently bought more win brass without issue. I really like Winchester brass when it works like it should.

Sometimes you get a bad batch of brass.I got some R-P 7STW brass that is failing after one firing.This batch has a lot of voids,like the molten brass had some trash or maybe the bottom of the batch.These cases seem awful thin too.I've got some W-W brass that was just about as bad.So yes,sometimes the quality of the brass does vary from lot to lot.

Lube the inside of the necks. Get a tapered expander button.http://www.midwayusa.com/viewp...productnumber=148244 Check to see if your FL die is sizing the brass a lot smaller than needed.

Redding Taper expander button http://www.redding-reloading.c...tapered-size-buttons

Crack lengthwise, anneal problem or "bad spot" in the brass
Crack radial, anneal problem or clearance issue.

On your new brass, cracking on the first firing, it's a brass problem, not a rifle or loading issue.