243 brass?

[doninva]

I bought some mixed stamp brass. I also bought a set of RCBS dies, used. I knocked the primers out with the universal depriming die and ran the brass thru the tumbler for a couple of hours. When I started sizing, it was all I could do, to get the cases sized. I have sized a few thousand cases but never any this tough. Winchester worked better that Remington or federal but the brass in the picture below wouldn't go but half way in the die. Anyone know what kind of brass this is. The dies are full length so I don't think it's a die issue. I'm going to contact the guy I got the brass from to see what kind of rifle he shot these in. I am thinking his chamber is REALLY over sized.You can click on the picture to get a better view.Thanks, Don

[Graybeard]

Your resolution is too low to read the headstamp after clicking on it. At first glance the lines make me think of Starline but they don't make brass for the .243 and it appears there is something with a line on each side. What is that something in between?

Perhaps it's merely a matter of too little lube or perhaps it's a work hardened case that it is time to toss. I'd agree the chamber they were fired in is most likely over size perhaps from a semiauto or pump gun.

It's just one more reason why range pick up brass is often a really bad idea and I always assume range pick up with the quantities are relatively small and headstamps mixed.

[Luckyducker]

Buying used brass, especially bottleneck rifle brass, is a coin toss.  The buyer never really knows whether it is really indeed "once fired" or what the chamber dimensions are of the rifle that fired it previously.  I would recommend keeping the Win. brass and tossing the others.  BTW, is that an "I" on the headstamp of the case head in the above picture?  If it is, I have used this brand of brass in 38 Special and though I bought it used and have no idea of the manufacturer but have had zero problems with it.

[stimpylu32]

Don

Lube or lack of , comes to mind first .

What are you using to lube the case ?

How are you putting the lube on , roll pad , spray , finger tips ?

I ran into a batch of 270 win that had been fired in a pump action with an over-sized chamber awhile back , had to run the case in part way , re-lube and then finish FL sizing to get them back down to spec , once that was done they worked fine and have been loaded 4 times now without so much as a hic-up .

stimpy

[doninva]

Luckyducker, It looks like a crown with two lines down the side of the case. Stimpy, I sized about 500 cases today, mostly .223 and the .243. I am using the Imperial sizing wax, rubbing on with fingers to keep it off the necks. Putting some mica in the inside of the necks. When I say hard to size, I mean you have to bounce on the handle and they won't go past half way. RCBS full length dies set up like the instructions say. In the few thousand I've sized in the last 30 years, I've never ran into any this hard. I tried all the ones that I was able to sized, after cleaning, in my Handi rifle and they worked good. Don