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Offline Preacherman

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Cracked necks
« on: August 14, 2009, 01:59:16 AM »
I just resized some 204 Ruger brass and about 10 out of 50 split some resized hard.I don't know how many times they have been loaded.I don't load hot.They all were lubed inside and out.Any ideas on what caused this?
Preacherman
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Offline wncchester

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Re: Cracked necks
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2009, 03:20:49 AM »
"I don't know how many times they have been loaded.I don't load hot.They all were lubed inside and out.Any ideas on what caused this?"

Yeah.  Brass splits from "fatigue". 

Meaning it gets progressivly harder and less ductile as it's fired (stretched) and sized (compressed).  Eventually, it can't take it anymore and splits.  For whatever reason, I find it mostly happens during resizing.  No ammount of lubing, inside or out, makes any difference and how hot the loads are don't make a lot of difference either; necks fully expand even on moderate pressure loads.

Toss the whole lot or anneal it before futher use.  Annealing is easy but not as easy as some seem to think.  Most folks vastly over heat the brass and leave it dead soft, that's not good for accuracy.
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Offline LaOtto222

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Re: Cracked necks
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2009, 04:58:09 AM »
It sounds just like wncchester has described it - the brass has been worked to the point of being too hard or brittle. It is time for new cases - it happens. If you want to save the cases for a few more reloadings then you can always anneal.

Hornady sells a case annealing kit. In it you get 3 different sized spinners and a bottle of heat sensitive paste. Along with a bucket of cool water and a propane torch is all you need to do a quality job of annealing. You daub a little on the shoulder and heat it up until it melts and then you dump it into water. Takes all the guess work out of it. I have used it enough now to know when the temperature reaches the melting point of the heat sensitive paste and dump it into water. Annealing was a little intimidating to me for the same reasons as wncchester has stated. I was afraid of over doing it and ruining cases. If you do not get it hot enough, you haven't ruined the case, because you can always have a redo.

If you only shoot a couple of hundred rounds a year, then just get new cases - 1 hundred cases will last you for several years without annealing. The annealing kit would be a bit more expensive than 100 rounds of brass. Last I checked it was about $45 for the kit. It is priceless if you are making brass from another case or you do a lot of shooting where you want the brass to last as long as possible.

Good Luck and Good Shooting
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Offline Preacherman

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Re: Cracked necks
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2009, 04:29:53 PM »
I got the brass used.Will just buy some new.I don't shoot the 204 much. Thanks for the info will keep it for the next time it happens.
Thanks
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