Reloading question

pablo.222

Well-Known Member
Been working up a load for my .243. So wrnt to try it and once case was ejected the case was covered in black remanants half way up the case. Could anyone tell me why this could be? There was no signs of over pressure, just this black remanaints on the case
 
Been working up a load for my .243. So wrnt to try it and once case was ejected the case was covered in black remanants half way up the case. Could anyone tell me why this could be? There was no signs of over pressure, just this black remanaints on the case


Post a picture.
It's likely that the round is a little low in pressure and not sealing well, picture will confirm or not!
 
Sorry no pictures. But i cant see how it would be low pressure bacause im quite hot with these loads (1/2 grn of max) so if anything inthought it was over pressure but no other signs of that on case. I tryed a load a grn less the previous time and there was no remanats on case with it. But with these that are a grn higher there is.
 
work hardened or poor quality brass
been asked and answered. I had the same problem with some "once fired" lapua brass

cost you about £10-15 per 100 to anneal them from a nice chap on here (PM "Taylor")

sorted my problem in an instant....then I sold the .243!
 
Newhornady brass once fired. Is this the case of the neck not creating a seal or why wud the brass be at fault?
 
Sorry no pictures. But i cant see how it would be low pressure bacause im quite hot with these loads (1/2 grn of max) so if anything inthought it was over pressure but no other signs of that on case. I tryed a load a grn less the previous time and there was no remanats on case with it. But with these that are a grn higher there is.

Newhornady brass once fired. Is this the case of the neck not creating a seal or why wud the brass be at fault?

Ah well, best you carry on then its a max load that doesn't seal the neck, good luck!
Without a picture we would be ****ing in the wind advising you.
 
Well according to loading manual it is. Could it be a case of all the powder is not burning? The cases are not completly black just black residue left on them. You can wipe it off with your finger.
 
Been working up a load for my .243. So wrnt to try it and once case was ejected the case was covered in black remanants half way up the case. Could anyone tell me why this could be? There was no signs of over pressure, just this black remanaints on the case

Can you clarify whether one case was sooty or were all the cases sooty? How many cases did you load at each powder weight? Were they all sooty? Do you full length resize or neck size? Regards JCS
 
I had 2 loads, 1 42gran N160 and the other load 43grnsN160. The 42 grain was okay, just a little blackening around the neck wich didnt bother me. Gave me .5 " group. The 43 grain tried 2 rounds and thy both come out sooty, the soot come down possible 2 thirds of the case. These cases are neck sized as this is first load from them. Does this help?
 
100gr I assume?
anything below 100gr and you are not at max load.

my sooty neck were with 75gr ladder loads between 42-44gr N160 which is low
 
I had 2 loads, 1 42gran N160 and the other load 43grnsN160. The 42 grain was okay, just a little blackening around the neck wich didnt bother me. Gave me .5 " group. The 43 grain tried 2 rounds and thy both come out sooty, the soot come down possible 2 thirds of the case. These cases are neck sized as this is first load from them. Does this help?

If you're using Hornady cases, these are much lighter and thinner than other makes. More room inside, so more likely to be lower pressure.

If you're using Hornady Handbook loads (recent version) then the recommendations in this are lower than other manuals such as Speer. I go with Speer and a chronograph.

Raise the charge in half or 1-grain increments .......... I've used 45 grains N160, and it's fine for me.
 
If you're using Hornady cases, these are much lighter and thinner than other makes. More room inside, so more likely to be lower pressure.

If you're using Hornady Handbook loads (recent version) then the recommendations in this are lower than other manuals such as Speer. I go with Speer and a chronograph.

Raise the charge in half or 1-grain increments .......... I've used 45 grains N160, and it's fine for me.


Its the 2002 uviht manaul i have took these loads from. And it states 45 grn max with 100grn hornady btsp. So am 2 gran off you. I might try slightly more podwer. Never knew hornady cases where thin. Does this make them bad to load with?
 
I would start by dumping the brass. The case is the seal against all that nasty pressure. If it's not working, I'd find new stuff.~Muir
 
I would start by dumping the brass. The case is the seal against all that nasty pressure. If it's not working, I'd find new stuff.~Muir

Wish it was that easy. But the price of brass i cant afford to be trowing money away. As i say these cases are new. Why would you throw away new once fired cases?
 
hORNARDY ARE THINNER IN THE CASE WALL , GIVING MORE ROOM INSIDE THE CASE , THUS TRY A SLIGHTLY LARGER LOAD but dont jump up to quickly .5 grains a t a time is big enough increase..
 
thinner walls from one brand to the next are not going to drop pressure enough to below obturation levels on a (close to) max load...IMO

just because the are new cases doesnt mean they dont need annealing
for a tenner it would be my first option and then you can categorically exclude brass quality/hardness

out of interest what are you resizing/sizing with?
if you are not getting adequate neck tension then it doesnt matter what you do.

can you push the bullets of your made up rounds in by hand?
 
Wish it was that easy. But the price of brass i cant afford to be trowing money away. As i say these cases are new. Why would you throw away new once fired cases?

When they don't perform their function? The option may be to have them annealed if the issue is that the brass is bad. The thing that get my attention is that you said the case is sooty half of it's length? That is, for whatever reason, inadequate obturation of the case at pressure. A stupid question but are you certain you had your scale set properly? The last time I saw that kind of soot was when someone accidentally set my Ohaus 505 scale to 13.5 grains instead of 23.5 grns for his 20 Tactical. ~Muir
 
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