My Brass is too SOFT!!

[TopperT]

I may have screwed up . 

I just received several hundred Starline 38-55's,... 2.125" , and I had read that Starline brass was considered "HARD" and should be annealed.  So, I took 50 cartridges, one at a time,  and heated them over a propane burner until they were slightly glowing red.  I then dumped each of them into a pail of water. 

Now, today when I began to reload these I am having all sorts of issues as I go to set my bullet.  The cases just seem to colasp as I go to my slight crimp ( I am using a .381 Swaged 265 grn head that works out to 2.60" overall on the o/a length)  This setup has shot really nicely for me so far in my limited testing so I decided to try the 'load' with the new brass.  I am only using 39.8 grains of FFF Swiss and a .030 veg wad that I compress slightly with a dowel.....there is plenty of room when I use my Winchester brass which is 2.085.....  I went to the longer brass because I'm thinking that I'd like to try about 44.6 grans of FFF and see what the increased velocity would yield.

Next I tried 10 rounds of new Starline brass without anneal.  They loaded fine.  So......I think I have softened the annealed Starline too far.......question here is how do I get it back?   or Can I get it back to original hardness? 

[Lead pot]

Your brass will harden with repeated full length sizing again.
You might just seat the bullet with 2 or 3 thousands of neck tension or set your crimp if you need it for a tube fed lever rifle.
A soft case neck is not much of a problem in a single shot rifle.
When you anneal a case and you see red it's to late, you went to far, but it's not a loss just use a light or no crimp for a while.
The brass will work harden again.

LP

[Lead pot]

I for got.

Make sure all your cases are the same length, if there not one will take a harder crimp and you will wrinkle the neck.
I don't crimp my cases. I just remove the bell.
You might also not have your seating die set right.
You might be starting your crimp to tight while the bullet is still seating.
Raise your seating stem, with a empty case in the press and the ram is on top, lower the die body till it makes slight contact with the case.
Lock the die ring.
Now take a bullet and seat it a little at a time till you get the oal you need, then lock the seating stem.
If all your cases are of equal length you should get along good if your expander plug diameter is big enough so the bullet wont put to much pressure on the case while seating it.

I mention all this not knowing how much loading experience you have.

LP

[TopperT]

Thank you....obviously I DON'T have the knowledge of reloading that I need ......or will obtain .  This is a "new" venture for me (retirement hobby now that I have the time) and so far my results have been good but I'm really just learning all the different facits of this. 

I appreciate your input,interest and information.  Thanks.

[TopperT]

You might be starting your crimp to tight while the bullet is still seating.


I just thought about this (now with a coffee at this early hour) and THIS may indeed be the issue.  I will try this.  THANKS!!!!!!!

[John Boy]

and heated them over a propane burner until they were slightly glowing red.

Topper - for the future:
Just anneal the mouth area to the approximate depth of a seated bullet.  With the lights turned low, when the color is a straw or a blue/green ... dump them in the ice water.  This will anneal to a temperature in the 650 degree range - where your want to be.  Slightly glowing red is pushing 1000 degrees

This is a no guarantee on brass but if you want to try it... heat the brass - dip in Kasinite - heat to the straw color and then dump them in the ice water.  Kasinite is a metal hardening compound

[TopperT]

Thanks....really appreciate the input, saved almost all the brass after reworking and adjustments made to my loading process.  Lesson learned.  THANKS!!!!  Much appreciated.