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shot 15 rounds, Federal 139gr 7x57, 10 rounds from one box, five from another, had 5 cases with split necks from the ten round batch, one from the five round batch. Shooting a Ruger M77 tang safety. The rifle hasn't done this before, the splits occurred randomly on the necks, not indexed from a particular point in the chamber. The ammo is old, like 30-35+ years, could that be the problem? thanx. | ||
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Tin can I have found that old cases tend to become brittle and the necks or shoulders often split when fired. I would suggest you anneal the cases before loading or find some new brass.To anneal the cases I use a flat pan with approx 3/4 inch of water in it. Stand the cases in the water and heat the necks with a small tip propane torch. When the neck just starts to turn red tip the case over in the water with a small screwdriver. Thoroughly dry the cases and load as you normally would. There have been several proceedures debated on this forum as to which is the best way to anneal cases. I've used this proceedure for the last 45 years with no problems. Hope that helps. | |||
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Yes. Jason "You're not hard-core, unless you live hard-core." _______________________ Hunting in Africa is an adventure. The number of variables involved preclude the possibility of a perfect hunt. Some problems will arise. How you decide to handle them will determine how much you enjoy your hunt. Just tell yourself, "it's all part of the adventure." Remember, if Robert Ruark had gotten upset every time problems with Harry Selby's flat bed truck delayed the safari, Horn of the Hunter would have read like an indictment of Selby. But Ruark rolled with the punches, poured some gin, and enjoyed the adventure. -Jason Brown | |||
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Annealing your case neck to red and quenching is too much, it makes the necks too soft. In result of that you lose the neck tension on the bullet which can and does affect accuracy. They you have work harden the necks again to get the tension back and that's by firing and reloading them again. It's better to anneal them not so hot. | |||
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| One of Us |
The ammo is old - that is one problem. The military rounds tend to have more clearance designed into the chamber than many commercial rounds - think machine guns. My experience with Rugers makes me think they ream the chambers toward the maximum to give the reamers the longest regrind life. All these possibilities tend to complement each other. I like to anneal my cases at the wet appearing silver-blue seen way before they turn red. Tin can for what it is worth. I have the same tang safety Ruger. I have shot a bit of Remington, Federal, Norma and Hornady/Frontier ammo of indeterminate age (all 2nd hand bargain stuff). I have also shot a lot of unknown handloads that I bought at component prices (WW brass someone loaded with an extruded powder and Nosler Solid base bullets. I known this is not good practice but most large grain extruded powders cannot not develop high pressures with the combination of components used and in this case they didn't.) I have also shot a lot of handloads of my own in this rifle, a 98 Mauser with a new 1908 Brazilian Mauser barrel and a mint condition 1895 Chilean Mauser. Most of these rounds used Remington, Federal and Norma brass. None have ever split in my rifles. Nearly all of the brass came to me once fired so I do not know its age. | |||
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SR Not too many years ago SAAMI changed the chamber specs for the 7x57. Most notable is a shorter throat. Not certain yet if they tightened anything else up. A good start would be making the neck portion of the chamber smaller. The posters Ruger does have the old the old chamber and throat. | |||
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Snowman ,you describe the procedure that Norma explains and they should know what it's all about .Trick is to not hold at red , tip it right away. Those old cases may already be cracked .Main cause is insufficient anneal at manufacture .Not uncommon with many old military cases. It's stress corrosion cracking ,the old 'season cracking ' the Brits called it in the early days of brass cases in India .It occured usually in the wet season. | |||
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Simple solution is to buy Privi brass as it is wonderfully annealed and cheap. Their ammo is also great. Both the 175 and 139 gr softpoints shoot sub moa FIVE shot groups in my Ruger No.1A with a fat reticle 6X FXII. | |||
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All answers are appreciated; I don't handload, the ammo I describe is factory FEDERAL; I described it as Hornady in my first post- wrong. | |||
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http://www.grafs.com/retail/ca...duct/productId/12587 or any recent manufacture US or European commercial ammo. | |||
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