Reloading question |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Posted: January 12 2018 at 7:21am |
I suspect case life for the 303 is all a out head spacing. For fellow reloaders, how many times do you reload a she!!? Thanks!
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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I'm currently reloading a batch for the 6th time.
I am using full length dies but individually set up to match the cut of the individual chambers in my 3 rifles. I did a write up on the process in the reloading section a while back. Unfortunately the embedded images were lost during the "Great PhotoBucket Disaster of '17" http://www.enfield-rifles.com/custom-setup-for-reloading-dies-case-smudging_topic2800.html Headspace is probably the most controversial topic in the L-E world. "Generous Chambers" being the second most controversial, & "fixing the Problem" with grease, oil, rubber bands, unicorn sploodge & gawd knows what else the third. |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Pukka Bundook
Senior Member Joined: February 02 2015 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 1369 |
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I reload mine until you see the light band up from the base, which says they'll come apart next time.
If they do separate, no worries apart from getting the case out of the chamber, Gas system very good, and nothing nasty gets back to your eyes. (Good screwdriver in the base of the case will turn them, and allow easy removal most times, or another round chambered into the bust case and then extracted will draw a lot of them out.)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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When I first started reloading, I got a bunch of brass from a really old guy at the range. I gave them a quick eye ball to see any tell tale signs of excess wear, as I had know idea of the gun he had shot them out. Loaded a box. Two separated! I knew from the sound. Casing came out easy, but I pulled the bolt and checked the bore to ensure the bullet had made it's way downrange before firing another round!!!
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SW28fan
Special Member Donating Member Joined: July 02 2007 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 2951 |
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This varies by Brass Brand and if you full length or neck size
Brands Full length Neck Sized PPU or Norma 5-6 10-12 Remington or HXP 3-4 6-8 Winchester 3 6 S&B 0 0
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maxwell smart
Senior Member Joined: January 23 2009 Status: Offline Points: 236 |
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SW28fan's numbers look about right
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Zed
Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 01 2012 Location: France Status: Online Points: 5585 |
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I would agree with thiose figures for PPU and Remington; however my last batch of Remington brass is not so good.
I have seen splitting along the neck area in the longitudinal plane of the case; not around the diameter. Has anyone else seen this issue? I think this batch of cases are thinner at the top end. So keeping a very selective eye on the cases after cleaning. |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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I have. It was brand new Remington right out of the bag. A little split on the neck of about 4 out of 100. Kinda made me wonder about the rest.
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Zed
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I have another bag of 100 Remington cases; but haven't had the need to open them yet.
Here is a photo of what I found. Three cases split vertically;turned away from the camera to highlight them. The second photo shows a neck split case and another showing the normal signs of weakening at the base. Which is normally the time to retire them from active service! |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Yup. Same spot I found the defect in my new Remington brass. For reloading, I've had good luck with resizing, set the die so it stops about a dimes width from the she!! holder. Anybody find the same?
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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"Correct"closeness to the she!!-holder will vary with the die, the she!!-holder & the chamber. Did you read the link above about "smudging", its really worth the effort as it actually matches the 2 for an almost perfect fit. You only need to do it once the dies lock ring will stop at the same place every future time.
I actually have a Dillon RL550 set up with a separate head for each rifle! On one it almost touches the she!!-holder, one it does & the third its about 1/4 turn backed off. Lengthwise splits in the neck aren't headspace related, its caused by too brittle brass. Circular splitting & case separations towards the rear are headspace related. Annealing the brass should help cure the problem of splitting necks. |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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I have RCBS dies and an ancient Dillion press. I will research smudging further. Thanks!
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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You can't kill a Dillon!
I've been using an original RL450 (with the later "b" upgrade) until just a year or 2 ago when I inherited an RL 550b! Linky to the .PDF with pictures. Sorry about the page breaks, that happened when I converted the .DOC file to a .PDF. uploads/3/smoking_cases.pdf |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Zed
Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 01 2012 Location: France Status: Online Points: 5585 |
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Shamu, the split necks on the cases above were after the first or second load. I bought the cases empty for loading; they were not factory loaded. Prior to these failures from a recent batch of cases, I would anneal the Remington cases for the third load.
When I started getting these issues, I started buying PPU ammo and reloading the brass. Still have a new pack of 100 Remington cases; I'll be inspecting them carefully before loading. |
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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Yep. I had a similar problem with Winchester cases a few years back. I'd anneal 'em anyway before loading just because!
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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I don’t know if it’s the brass quality, chamber dimensions of my No. 4 or relatively light loads, maybe all three, but I’ve not yet experienced a cracked or split neck. I have had a few case head separations and now can easily spot the tell tale line around the case that it’s about to go. For me, it has been after more than 30 reloads. Cases are DI ‘43/‘44 and DAC ‘56. I neck size with a Lee Collet die. I still have a fair bit of this MK VIIz ammo and it’s been 100% reliable and still right on spec velocities. |
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