45/70 Brass Cracking

[Zeke Menuar]

This is once fired Remington brass from their wimpy trapdoor level stuff.  Loading for a BC.  I am lucky the rules for loading for a single shot are a little different.

Found the cracks after the initial resizing.  It is at the top where the factory crimp is.  Little itty-bitty cracks but cracks nonetheless.
   
My solution.  Dump the brass flaring die.  In order to get at least one more loading, I used the chamfer tool from Lee to put a chamfer on the inside of the case.  I loaded a couple of rounds and it works great.  In addition I don't need to use the seating/crimp die to bend the flare back in.

I'll also be resizing just enough to hold the bullet in place.  No FL sizing if it isn't needed.

 This should extend the life of future brass quite a bit.  This current batch gets one more firing and then dumped.  I hate surprises at the range.

ZM

[victorcharlie]

Sound like further investigation is in order....What rifle did you fire the rounds out of?  Have you tried other ammunition in the gun other than Remington?  How many rounds have been fired from the gun?

Just a guess,  you may need to have your chamber checked by a good gunsmith.

[EsoxLucius]

Get a Lyman 45 caliber Neck Die and a Lyman 'M' Die, use a slower powder that will create a slightly compressed charge and then use a lighter crimp, preferably with a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

[victorcharlie]

Found the cracks after the initial resizing.  It is at the top where the factory crimp is.  Little itty-bitty cracks but cracks nonetheless.  

ZM

Sorry, Guess I didn't read or understand the question

[Zeke Menuar]

I think Remington uses untrained chimps armed with cheap pliers to apply the crimp on their 45/70 green box ammo.  I am sure that is the problem.
 I don't think I'll use the green box ammo anymore.  Bought the stuff before I had components and dies for 45/70.

Sound like further investigation is in order...How many rounds have been fired from the gun?

The gun is a BC with only 50 rounds through it.  I doubt that is the problem.

Further investigation is forthcoming.  I found five empty Federal cases that look to never have been crimped.  I loaded those rounds up.  I'll compare the Federal cases with the Remington cases and see what happens.  Going up to the hills next week to run some over the chronograph.

ZM

[stuffit]

Depending on whether or not you want to fool with it, you might try just softening the brass in the "neck" area of those cases that are not already un-salvageable.  A simple method of doing this would be to stand the brass up in a tray with maybe  1/4" or so of water to keep the case heads cool and just heat the "neck" area with a propane torch til it changes color a little.  Just heating the brass to this degree and then letting it cool should soften it enough to prevent future manifestations of brittleness in that area.  Just a thought.  If I had a bunch of it, I'd try it just out of curiosity.
 :wink:
stuffit