I wonder if its a metallurgy thing, perhaps the hornady brass gets work hardened quicker due to its composition
Strange problem!
- Thread starter kenbro
- Start date
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Will check die adjustment.
I know you can get results like this with a wrongly set die but discounted it because the PPU brass works.
Next job.
I’ve trimmed and annealed some and still same result.
KB.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
There is a very tiny mark on one case where the neck joins the shoulder.
Will try and picture it.
KB.
Rutland lad
Well-Known Member
Below are some .308 cases I was prepping.
Discovered this was down to the dies I’d been given, which needed some adjustment.
I was completely stumped by the results at first, but it was obvious after some time that the issue was within the die.
Dissemble of the die followed by a rebuild and re adjustment and the problem went away.
I’m presuming that the very top of the case was contacting with the top of the die and was then pushing the heck down into the shoulders.
I hope this helps you find your issue.
Discovered this was down to the dies I’d been given, which needed some adjustment.
I was completely stumped by the results at first, but it was obvious after some time that the issue was within the die.
Dissemble of the die followed by a rebuild and re adjustment and the problem went away.
I’m presuming that the very top of the case was contacting with the top of the die and was then pushing the heck down into the shoulders.
I hope this helps you find your issue.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Hi R L;
I’ve had similar shapes in the past with badly adjusted dies.
Pretty sure it’s not my problem today!
Thanks, KB.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Well, just been back to the cave and made sure the dies was set right.
First case in for another try and this happened on lowering the ram…
Made me think, doh ….shoulda thunk before….
PPU case neck material thickness is 11.5 thou; Hornady is….14.5 thou!
Can’t understand how I’ve been able to reload that factory Superformance brass twice before.
Thanks for all the help.
Ken.
Ps. Gonna buy a better quality die.
First case in for another try and this happened on lowering the ram…
Made me think, doh ….shoulda thunk before….
PPU case neck material thickness is 11.5 thou; Hornady is….14.5 thou!
Can’t understand how I’ve been able to reload that factory Superformance brass twice before.
Thanks for all the help.
Ken.
Ps. Gonna buy a better quality die.
Attachments
Last edited:
Does it not therefore look as though the top of the expander is just about inside the neck of the die, so that when the case-neck gets to that position it is trapped and can't go further up into the die - and therefore is held in position while the shoulders and body of the case are pushed up around it?
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Hi,
That sounds right.
Must be the 0.0035 extra brass thickness that stops it working.
Just need to figure out how I was able to reload this same brass before.
I’ll be dreaming about this tonight.
Thanks, KB.
The expander needs to be a wee bit lower down the die?
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Not sure that will work.
I will try later today but this is a Lee die and the rod part of the expander is flush with the nut in the top of the die already.
Ken.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
A photo of the assembled die? might look wrong to someone.
Just been reading through this post & was about to suggest that the Hornady brass might have a thicker neck wall & hence the taper expander is trapping it against the die. At least you’ve now sussed it.
For all but one of my bottle neck cased cartridges I use a neck bushing die that is sized 2 thou smaller than the diameter of the neck with a bullet seated in it. I don’t use an expander ball. If the neck is visibly out of round then I use an expander mandrel before neck sizing.
I run various brands of 222 brass - Norma with thin walls due to age, Norma with thicker walls as it’s a lot newer, Sako & Lapua. I have neck bushings for each.
Just for those who are interested, this is a classic set of photos that show what typically happens when you back off a full length sizing die in an attempt to use it to neck size only. Have seen it many times with novice reloaders who have tried to save a few quid by not getting a neck sizing die.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
I thought that was a result of having the die screwed in too far?
KB.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I think I’ve solved my problem.
The thick necks started me thinking backwards a few months when I decided I wasn’t going to shoot (Hardly any soft targets near me.) as many rounds just basically turning money into noise poking holes in paper.
To help with this I got rid of everything (And I mean everything) to do with reloading and bought some factory ammo.
When loading I used FL, neck and collet dies. Fl and neck sans guts.
Then mandrels to expand to 2 thou tension.
Looking at my notes (Should have done this sooner) I see the last time I’d loaded the Hornady cases was before I got rid of my loading stuff.
Soon found I couldn’t afford to keep myself in factory ammo as I carried on poking paper just the same.
So, I bought a few bits of reloading gear and for some reason this Hornady brass came into play.
So the Hornady brass has never been resized using a die with an expander in, let alone an expander like this long tapered thing.
The Horn. brass is in the bin and I’ll carry on with the PPU and FL sizer until I gather some better gear together again.
Apologies for wasting everyone’s time over this.
Ken.
I think I’ve solved my problem.
The thick necks started me thinking backwards a few months when I decided I wasn’t going to shoot (Hardly any soft targets near me.) as many rounds just basically turning money into noise poking holes in paper.
To help with this I got rid of everything (And I mean everything) to do with reloading and bought some factory ammo.
When loading I used FL, neck and collet dies. Fl and neck sans guts.
Then mandrels to expand to 2 thou tension.
Looking at my notes (Should have done this sooner) I see the last time I’d loaded the Hornady cases was before I got rid of my loading stuff.
Soon found I couldn’t afford to keep myself in factory ammo as I carried on poking paper just the same.
So, I bought a few bits of reloading gear and for some reason this Hornady brass came into play.
So the Hornady brass has never been resized using a die with an expander in, let alone an expander like this long tapered thing.
The Horn. brass is in the bin and I’ll carry on with the PPU and FL sizer until I gather some better gear together again.
Apologies for wasting everyone’s time over this.
Ken.
It happens because there is no support to the top of the case wall below the shoulder, as the neck contacts the die the ‘path of least resistance’ is not to force the neck into the die but instead to push it downwards where it in turn pushes the shoulder so that it bulges out until it meets the wall of the die.
If you fancy doing an experiment, on a wet & miserable Wednesday, maybe fish some of the Hornady brass out of the bin & feed it through a full length die (without the sizing button in it) to see what happens.
Start with the die properly set up.
Then back the die off a bit so you’re not pushing the shoulder back & just resizing the neck.
Lastly, screw the die in too far - or at least try… on my press all that will happen is that I won’t be able to take the arm over the cam as the bottom of the die will be hard up against the shell holder.
You’ve not wasted anyone’s time, what you’ve done is had the balls to tell everyone about an issue you’ve had & to help us all learn from your mistake
Rutland lad
Well-Known Member
It was exactly that - as I found out once I’d dissembled and then rebuilt die.
Similar threads
