Case cap = something odd

[stimpylu32]

Was at the bench today loading up some PMC 223s that i had , the load was 25.5 grains of IMR4895 which filled the case just to the top of the sholder in all but 1 case , that one over flowed the case . all the cases were from the same box of factory ammo that i got years ago .

I checked the case to see if there was something inside taking up space and found nothing . has anyone found that much var. in a case ? by weight , that was just under 2 grains of powder .

Just seemed odd that 1 case would be that far off from all the others .  I am going to put the case on the scale and compare it to some others just to see what it weights .

stimpy

[Castaway]

Could it be that the case that didn't overflow had been loaded and trimmed a few times?  The case would be thinner at the web, but that's still an awfully lot of difference.

[Lloyd Smale]

did you recheck to see if your measure didnt for some reason dump a larger charge or your scale got bumped when you weighted it.

[Graybeard]

Once had that happen with a .44 Mag case (S&W Headstamp). Like a fool after verifiing the load I used it. I exploded a TC Contender Barrel. Just toss the damn case and move on.

[stimpylu32]

Checked it with 5 diffrent charges as i loaded the other rounds with the same results also this is the first loading of this brass other than the factory , i don't plan to use it but was just wondering if anyone else had seen this before .

stimpy

[LaOtto222]

You would be a wise man to discard that case. I have read that on rare occasions, extra brass has formed in the web area. I think this was due to the brass blank no being the correct size to start with (too much brass). When the case walls were formed they were correct, but left all of the extra brass in the head area. Since you are going to throw it away, you might section the case to verify where the problem is.

[stimpylu32]

Went down and did some checking , pulled apart 2 of the PMCs that i loaded and also weighted some Win & RP cases , all were in the 95 to 96 grain area but the problem case weighted in at 109.7 grains .

Had to take the hacsaw to the web area as it was so thick that my small hobby saw would not do the job . 

Just wonder how that one got past QC at the factory . 

stimpy

[LaOtto222]

Stimpy - I am sure glad you were paying attention and thinking while you were reloading. It could have been a disaster.

I do not like to think about loosing someone or serious injury on this forum due to some mistake they made at a reloading bench.

[quickdtoo]

My thoughts exactly, thanks for the lesson Stimpy, all the more reason to be ever vigilant in this hobby of ours. It would be nice if we could depend on component Mfrs having QC that would prevent this sort of thing from happening, but alas, that's not always the case.

Thanks and glad you were on top of it!!

Tim

[KN]

I ran into a similar problem loading 45/70s. Had a great load using one brand of cases and H-322 that was filled near capacity. Switched to a different brand of cases and it caused a compressed load that I could not seat. Ended up a full 1-1/2 grs less in the new cases.   KN

[LaOtto222]

I ran into a similar problem loading 45/70s. Had a great load using one brand of cases and H-322 that was filled near capacity. Switched to a different brand of cases and it caused a compressed load that I could not seat. Ended up a full 1-1/2 grs less in the new cases.   KN

I am glad you saw a problem and reacted accordingly. When you switch case brands, you should always start over at low load levels and work your way up, you just never know Stimpy was loading the same brand of case and ran into his problem - just one case. It could have been a lot of trouble, but Stimpy is an intelligent reloader and recognized he had a problem right away He was asking what would cause one case to be so much different than the rest.

[Lloyd Smale]

wow thats a new one. Thanks for sharing!!