Author Topic: splitting .243 necks???  (Read 449 times)

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Offline Selmer

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splitting .243 necks???
« on: October 29, 2005, 07:23:34 AM »
I resized a batch of 75 .243 cases the other day and had about 15 of them split necks on the way OUT of the resizing die. They have been reloaded at least 6 times, just wondering if the brass got work hardened or what, the others drew out of the die very smoothly.  I think it's the work hardening, but any other suggestions?  They are Hornady Custom dies, never have had a problem before.
Selmer
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Offline Lloyd Smale

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splitting .243 necks???
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2005, 09:11:15 AM »
ive seen necks split on brass after 3 firings with heavy loads. direrent brands of brass crap out sooner then others too. Back when i loaded alot for rifles i used to aneal all my case necks when the brass was new. It seemed to help with longevity.
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Offline Steve P

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splitting .243 necks???
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2005, 09:37:41 AM »
Sounds like it is time to do a little annealing.   I also have sized the buttons on the decapping rods down a little bit.   All of my 243 loads use a boat tail bullet so a little tighter neck is not a problem when reloading and there is less stress in the neck when coming out of the sizing die.

Steve   :D
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Offline Catfish

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splitting .243 necks???
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2005, 02:25:16 PM »
Through away the cases with split necks and load the rest. I just bought 500 new Win. cases in .204 Ruger. I took out 15 of them for load developement and 2 of them had necks split on the 2 nd loading and another on the 3 rd. I always start at recomand starting load and work up, so these were mild loads. I`m going to send these back to Win., but there is reall no way to tell when necks are going to split. If you over work them they will al have a short life though. I used to annel cases but have come to the concluesion it`s a waist of time, unless you are loading some very hard to find brass that is very expencive.

Offline Reloader

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While we're on the subject
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2005, 05:22:37 PM »
I was wondering something on this subject and could use some input.
Since the neck is going to be expanded to the diameter of the bullet, why would it matter if the expander ball is doing it or the bullet is doing it?
It would seem to me the neck of the case is worked the same amount in either case. The neck will eventually be expanded to the size of the chamber upon firing.  I'm not saying I'm right but just posing the question so I can learn something here. :oops:
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Offline ricciardelli

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splitting .243 necks???
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2005, 07:28:07 PM »
I don't use the expander ball on any of my bottle-necked cases...

One of the reasons I love boat tailed bullets.

Offline Iowegan

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splitting .243 necks???
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2005, 05:49:26 AM »
Most rifle dies undersize the case neck considerably when sizing. The expander ball pulls on the case when you move the press handle up and opens the neck to a compatible diameter for the bullet so neck tension will be optimum.

Several issues here... if you don't use an expander ball like ricciardelli suggested or your expander ball is undersized, you can collapse the case when seating a bullet. You can also damage the bullet because it is now being used as an expander ball and the bullet is much softer than the expander ball in the die. Neck tension will be more uniform and bullet damage is minimized if you use the standard expander ball supplied with the die. These issues can have a considerable impact on accuracy.

Brass cases have some typical properties. They are seldom precise in thickness and seldom are uniform hardness. This undesirable characteristic can affect accuracy because the bullet may not get started into the bore the same with each round. A compounding issue is when the cases get hot from being fired then are later sized. This will "work harden" the brass making it even harder to size and seat a bullet and easier to create weak spots. When you fire the round again, the weak spot may create a crack in the case neck.

The best solution is to anneal your cases from the shoulder to the mouth. This will soften the brass and allow the case to be sized and a bullet seated without causing weak spots. Your ammo will be more accurate, less soot and blow-back because of a better seal, and the cases will last considerably longer. It take about 4 times fired and resized to reach max brass hardness. Annealing every other time fired will keep the brass soft enough to minimize damage. Don't wait until the case is on it's last leg to anneal, do it after the first reload. When sizing, a little lube in the case mouth will help a lot to keep from creating weak areas plus it keeps the neck from stretching and makes the press handle push back easier.
GLB