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Posted: 3/14/2012 5:00:29 PM EDT
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hey all,
i just began reloading 556. i have reloaded about 1000 rounds. so far so good. i try and be conservative so i do not get hurt and my gun survives....:) that being said, i had 5 split case necks today in 60 rounds. i was using my culled rounds....that is the ones that had dents in th ebrass. i was told i coudl fire them sdafely. is that true? can i fire the dented cases safely? if not will sort them out next time. here are what the dents look like: 
it seems that this could be the issue. i checked my bucket of twice fired cases (i was reloading once fired and have picked up my brass). out of 800+ cases i only found 4 that were split at the neck. here: 
the 5 i shot today out of 60 are here: 
here are the head stamps. seems to be that the majority are PMC (out of all the split neck cases.) 
so what is your opinion about what happened. i think all the cases were once fired. i loaded them with 69gr Privi heads. CFE 223 at 25 grains....the starting load. shot in a 16 inch barrel. 1:7 twist. was it the dents in the cases? bad brass? any other ideas? thanks again. eddie |
| Case neck splitting will be common after several reloads. I am finally getting an occasional split neck with my 22-250 cases now. I have lost track of how many times I have reloaded the ones I am using now but I am not complaining at all because I know I am up to 7 or 8 times with some of them. I neck size only and do check trim length every time also. |
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Go to the WalMart Notions Area (sewing accesories) and pick up a pack of (R) Velcro brand sticky back 20 coin sets (black). Stick one and one-half of the fuzzy sided ones onto the face of the brass deflector on your rifle. This will cushion the flying brass when it hits the deflector and prevent most of any further damage of your brass during the ejection cycle.
Also, refrain from putting any liquid die lube on the outside of the neck and shoulder. For some reason, this makes dimples in the case shoulder and neck when sized. Lube the body and inside the neck only. Multiple sizing and firing will harden the brass material of the neck and shoulder. Eventually it will crack. Assure yourself that it is 1x or 2x mil brass only that you are using. It is not easy to tell on some brass that it is 1x unless you did the 1x yourself. After decapping, look at the bottom of the primer pocket to see that it shows a definite tri-foil or clover leaf pattern of spent primer material against a clean brass surface, no brush marks. Also, if you cannot insert a new primer without removing a primer pocket crimp ring or stake it is good sign of 1x. |
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That brass is a mess. Most of it has really bad hydraulic dents. I have to wonder if the brass with the deep dents down on the body were clean, those dents look exactly like a combination of lube plus surface crud, such as a piece of unburned gunpowder. Some cases have deep dents in the tangency of the shoulder and case body.
Are you sure the cases with split necks have been fired only once or twice? Is there a chance that these cases were sized several times on the last cycle? All of that brass has to be reworked. Set it aside and shoot it to fireform the cases. Don't be surprised if several of them split. |
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thanks everyone.
i just wanted to be sure there was no real correlation between the dents and the splits. as i said 5 out of 60 fired cases had split necks, before that i found 4 in my pile of over 800. maybe it was just chance that they all came out in that 60. no, i am not sure these were only 1x fired. i had bought some brass as i did not have any. they could very well have been reloaded several times. thanks again. i have a two gun match coming up so i am trying to be sure that my gun functions as it should. i do not want it to FTF cause i have a busted neck in the chamber. i thought i better ask . cheers eddie |
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