Armory Sponsor
Posted: 1/9/2017 12:10:24 PM EDT
Today I was resizing some .308 brass to reload. The case neck came off of one of the cases.
In nearly 50 years of reloading many hundreds of thousands of rounds, that is a first for me. It was a lot of trouble to fix as I has to completely disassemble the die to remove the stuck case from the neck expander. Anyone ever see this happen before? 
|
|
I had over a hundred .223 loaded rounds that were stored in moisture trapping container in a non climate controlled basement room become brittle because of corrosion.
While trying to pull the bullets most just simply cracked like the one in your photo leaving the case neck on the bullet. Motor |
|
Quoted:
So its once fired brass. Thats crazy. Headstamp info pleas. FC 308 WIN It was very hard to pull the expander through the necks of this brass. I was using mica powder to lube the necks and then switched to powdered graphite which seemed to do a better job. Maybe this was just a freak bad case. I've never seen this before. |
|
Quoted:
FC 308 WIN It was very hard to pull the expander through the necks of this brass. I was using mica powder to lube the necks and then switched to powdered graphite which seemed to do a better job. Maybe this was just a freak bad case. I've never seen this before. It is weird, that's for sure. Any chance it might've had some kind of odd primer, like one of those new lead free primers? I'm not aware that the new lead free primers cause brass to be brittle or anything, but I know almost nothing about these primers other than that they exist. Maybe the chemistry of the new primers damages the cases? |
|
I doubt it would have broken off in the chamber. That's completely a different set of conditions. Plus in the chamber it would be "worked" in one direction only not squeezed down then forced open again.
You have to take into consideration too that the brass is worked more in each direction than what the end result is. This of course is because it springs back in both directions. Motor |
|
I've not seen a neck pop like that. I did have a 223 case separate about 1/4" above the base once.
After a little head scratching trying to figure out the best way to get the remaining case out without damaging the die I remembered I had a 223 broken shell extractor. I pulled the expander ball and stem. took the broken shell extractor apart, top half into the top of the die and bottom half thru the bottom of the die then screwing it together until it gripped the neck. I then raised the ram and slipped the shell holder over the broken shell extractor base and into the ram at the same time. tossed a pinch of powder over my shoulder and gave the ram a push, case popped right out
|
|
Quoted:
I've not seen a neck pop like that. I did have a 223 case separate about 1/4" above the base once. Quoted:
I've not seen a neck pop like that. I did have a 223 case separate about 1/4" above the base once. Seen that many times with .303 British. Very common. I have a broken czase extractor in my range bag for the .303. 
After a little head scratching trying to figure out the best way to get the remaining case out without damaging the die I remembered I had a 223 broken shell extractor.
I pulled the expander ball and stem. took the broken shell extractor apart, top half into the top of the die and bottom half thru the bottom of the die then screwing it together until it gripped the neck. I then raised the ram and slipped the shell holder over the broken shell extractor base and into the ram at the same time. tossed a pinch of powder over my shoulder and gave the ram a push, case popped right out I backed the expander ball assembly all the way down and out of the die. Put it in a vice and used a screw driver and hammer to gently knock the stuck neck off of the expander. Lubed it up really well, reassembled, and finished the lot of cases with plenty of graphite on the necks, inside and out. Reloading is an adventure. 
|
Armory Sponsor