Thread: Problem with brass

Hi Lars

Get your self a case gauge.... great little bit of kit to check your brass after sizing.

Neck sizing? search you tube... "Eric Cortina... how the best shooters in the world resize their brass".... 11m 36 long.... sorry I cannot put the link here YT is blocked at work.

Greetings Larskramer and any others struggling with a handloading problem.
Handloading is not overly difficult in basic concept but the devil is in the almost infinite range of options and adjustments inherent in actually doing it. No one should feel bad when things don't go to plan but accept it as a chance to learn (or sometimes in my case relearn) something new. Even those of us with many decades spent at our handloading bench get caught out from time to time. My most recent learning experience involved a new batch of Hornady projectiles. I had set up my dies to place the ogive 1 mm short of the rifling with the previous batch and neglected to check the new batch. The cartridges chambered hard. A search for the culprit and a lot of faffing around finally determined that the shape of the projectile had changed being much sharper in the ogive needing the projectile to be seated deeper. The difference was enough to be seen and an inspection of other Hornady projectile old and new showed similar changes. Another snippet to be added to the body of knowledge.
Regards Grandpamac.

Absolutely true Grandpamac. One never stops learning.

yep ive had two boxes hornady 300wsm brass and 75% were tigthish and 5 % were no go chambering in my tikka..............i noticed before loading- as i always run new brass thru chamber to check.

I can anneal them for you. Anneal each reload before FL s8zing of course!

Bought a 308 Bonanza Bench Rest Seating die, basically early Redding, I think, box had a name on it from the USA Shooting Team. Had neck sized my brass my brass, they fitted perfectly in my gauge. Started seating a projectile, couldn't seat it, case jammed WTF.
Answer was simply put them all thought a redding body die, no need to de power or prime, so quick & easy to do. Problem was the case base needed reducing. Must be the first to jam a case in a Seating Die. If you don't succeed try/try/try again.

Wow that is a first I have heard of a case jam in a seating die! I also use a 280AI body die after the FL die and it is like magic for cases fitting in the Kimber's match chamber.

That's not how I read the thread.

Loaded round would not fit the chamber.

Caused by by incorrect adjustment of the seating die. Die was adjusted too low in the press and was forming/pushing out, a ring at the base of the shoulder (must have required unusual seating pressure).

Jaco Goosen, correct me if I've got this wrong but at the time of resolution there wasn't a lot of explanation posted.

Good morning Zimmer.

Your absolutely right.

The cases must be very soft as it did'nt take much effort to full length size them again.