Shoulder set too far back HELP!

[Ol BW]

I am still rather new to reloading, so here it goes. . .
 
I have some Winchester 7.62x39 brass that I was overzealous while resizing.  (This was the first brass I ever resized!)  Most will not fire.  Since then I have went to Remington brass with no problems. 
 
Is there any way to salvage this brass?  I have most of it either primed or loaded.
 
Do I need to pull the bullets or is there a way I can shoot them that I am not familiar with?
 
The primers have light strikes, do I need to deprime the cases?  If so, how? (Do you think I could blow them out with compressed air and a fitting that fits tight in the case mouth under a heavy cloth to "catch" the primer?)
 
It is possible that there is another explanation as to why I am having a problem loading this brass.  Anyone have any other suggestions?
 
Any suggestions, comments or snide remarks are welcome.
 
BW

[tacklebury]

If you are using CCI primers, they are slightly tougher than some others.  Might try some large pistol primers also with light unique loads and some .311 round balls thumbed into the ends to flare the cases back into chamber shape.  Pistol primers are softer also, just don't push really hard on your primer seater and they should be flush with the case head.  You can also load cases up with cream of wheat and a small charge of unique and then just shove some wadding into the end.  Usually that will reform your shoulder also.  Why not plink though and have some fun at least with round balls.    Single 0 buckshot is also around the right size to do this with for the 7.62x39. 
 
***edit***
oh and probably start at 6 gr. unique

[Larry L]

How did you determine that you were"over zealous" in resizing the brass? Did you use a 7.62x39 die or did you use another die to make it work? From the sound of it, there's an issue with the rifle, not the ammo. The ammo is just the symptom of the issue with the rifle. Before shooting any more of any ammo, the rifle needs to be headspaced. Sounds like a generous chamber. You can save the brass that's "too short" by setting the bullets out until they touch the lands and grooves of the barrel. This holds the brass back against the bolt face- typical of fireforming any wildcat brass. BUT, and pay attention here, if the ammo is loaded At MAX, pressures are going to go up because the bullet does not have the room to jump to the lands and grooves so it pretty much is going to be driven forward by 100% pressure rather than forward inertia. If the ammo is loaded at or near max, pull the bullets and start over with fireforming rounds. Or pull the bullets,  save the powder, and trash the brass with the primers.

[YRUpunting?]

I've only been reloading for about a year, don't worry you'll screw something else up too.   Buy one of the press mounted collet bullet pullers, I like the RCBS one.  It will pay for itself.  Good luck!

[Ol BW]

I have not been able to afford a Wilson Case gauge to check these cases.
 
One reason I came to that conclusion is that I resized the brass more than once (in succession, like I said, I was learning!!) and I believe I had the die set wrong at one point or another.  Second reason is I have tried the same brass in two different rifles (CZ with upgraded firing pin spring and H&R) and had the same problem.  Third reason, one of the rifles I have is a Handi-Rifle, and I inserted the cartridge in the chamber and let it slip past the extractor, (oh, by the way, I have found that the case heads are all either out of round or different sizes which makes this very easy to do) and the case head is recessed compared to the chamber face.
 
All that being said, I am still open to suggestions or thoughts.  Could it be that I crimped the bullets too tight on these?  If I remember correctly, I would chamber empty brass with a primer seated and I could fire the primer but then I would load that same brass and it would fail to fire.
 
Seems like I tried both CCI and Winchester primers, but I cannot swear to it.  Another thing I tried was trimming all of the cases to the same length.  The case mouths were very "jagged", one side would be higher than the other or generally had a rough edge.  I thought this might be messing up something in the process.
 
The funny thing is they fired fine as factory loaded ammo, not one failure. . .I figure it had to be something I did.
 
BW

[Larry L]

Using the correct die for the cartridge, you can run the brass in the die 20 times if you like, it shouldn't effect it anymore than it did the first time. So resizing it a second or third time is not the issue. I assume the sizing die is screwed all the way down to where the ram cams over a little and the die and shellholder are touching each other at the bottom of the stroke. Next issue that could be a problem is the rough necks. If you are going to crimp, trim length is critical and it MUST be square and even and every case MUST be an exact duplicate of all of the others or it won't work right. If you over crimp though, generally the shoulder collapses which would shorten the datum line but normally it expands the shoulder area and the round won't chamber at all. Might consider miking the rounds and compare the measurements to the dimensions in the manual.


If possible, take a close up pic of the problem rounds and post them. Maybe it's something obvious to a seasoned reloader.

[OldSchoolRanger]

If you want to just salvage the components go buy your self an inertia bullet puller or one of the collet type bullet pullers.  After pulling the heads, you can salvage the powder, and the primers by carefully decapping them (I know there are people who are going to say its dangerous), but it can be done, if you go slow and gently. 

If you want to try to salvage everything.  After doing the above, I would check the OAL of the cases, if they are good, I would chamfer the inside and outside of the case mouths to remove the burrs.  If they are too short, you can load them up like tacklebury & Larry L said to reform the shoulder. 

BTW, If you want more sensitive primers, I would recommend Federal primers.  I found them to be the most sensitive, and will go off even with light hits.  I use to use Federal primers when I was shooting PPC competition with a revolver that had a very light spring. 

[SHOOTALL]

Great advice , I have punched out a lot of primers with a die not one has been a problem. I would look at a few things before trashing the brass. first take one case color the  neck and shoulder with a marking pen then raise the die and start resizing the case , adjust down to just touching the shoulder as evidenced by the marks where the case was marked. Then compare to one of the cases you have trouble with. It might not be a sizing issue . Also make sure the primers in the cases in question are seated , sometimes when a primer is not seated well the firing pin will seat it instead of setting it off. Take a few of the primed cases and fire them if they fail try the same case several times. If they then fire just seat the rest correctly and load. Also I find Federal primers will fire with a light hit .

[geezerbiker]

You can safely load cast bullets protruding into the rifling.  I would pull the bullets and load a long cast bullet with a light load.   This would form the case back to spec and probably be fun to shoot too.

Tony

[Iowa Fox]

If in fact your primers will not ignite because of headspace you have some serious issues. Chances are they will seriously stretch at the web ruining the cases if fired as is. geezerbiker is right, pull the bullets and powder recharging with a cast bullet seated long to take up any headspace. That will at least save your brass cases.

[Ol BW]

Thanks for the input guys.  I will carefully read each suggestion and take some measurements.  I am not sure I will be able to find lead 30 cal bullets locally.  I did find some 180 gr. RN jacketed, could I use that with maybe different precautions?

If I can take any pictures that you can tell anything from I will post them.

BW

[SHOOTALL]

Graf and son might have them.

[tacklebury]

These would work about like cast.  Quite soft jackets.
 
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/23322

[SHOOTALL]

or just use 32cal.   lead bullets for handguns if any are long enough

[Lloyd Smale]

you could do the same with your jacketed bullets. Just pull them and reseat them so that they jam into the rifling. Unless your alleady loading a load that is near max it should be a problem and if you are dump the powder and load midrange pressure loads.