Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

[justinbaker]

new hornady 243 brass
41.5 grains imr 4831
new remy 700 243


i was fireforming them to my chamber so i could start my load workup, and after fireing the necks are still VERY tight.

I cant even get my lee collet into the case necks.

any ideas?

here is the picture of the fired case. i was shocked at how clean it was

 

[Hondo64d]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

Measure the mandrel on your Lee Collet die and make sure it's not oversized. Tight necked chamber? Doesn't seem likely on a factory rifle, but who knows? Take a bullet and see if you can slide it into the neck of a fired case by hand. If not, you may need to turn necks. Also measure the neck OD of a loaded round and the neck OD of a fired case and see what the difference is.

John

 

[justinbaker]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

I cant even come close to sliding a bullet into the fired brass.

They did expand as little. The new brass mics at .269 od and the fired brass at .276

This something I should contact Remington about? I really dont wanna have to neck turn

 

[Hondo64d]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

I'd try a different brand of brass first. Could be the Hornady is exceptionally thick. Try some winchester. It'd be worth a box of ammo just to know. I really doubt that a factory Remington chamber is going to require you to turn necks with normal brass.

John

 

[justinbaker]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

well i was trying to be cheap so i originally bought some winchester brass, but was severely disappointed in it. Out of a bag of 50, 19 of them had off center flash holes.


i figured hornady would be better. I ordered 100 of them.



the moral of the story is i shouldnt be a cheap ass, and just buy LAPUA

 

[Hondo64d]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

I suggested Winchester because its generally not as thick as others and would make a good comparison tool. Just out of curiosity, seat a bullet in the Winchester and measure the neck OD and see how it compares to the Hornady. Would also be worth loading a Winchester case and shooting it and see if you can slide a bullet in a fired Winchester case.

Not saying Winchester is the brass you wanna use, but just to use it as a tool to determine whether the problem is brass thickness or if you have an undersized chamber.

John

 

[former naval person]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

It looks to me that you are into buying a set of neck turning tools. Or a set of Wilson inside neck reamers. JMHO

 

[stranded]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

I see where you gave a new neck dia. og .269 but ,what is the new loaded neck dia.? I'm thinking new neck thickness is around .014-.0145? .243+.029=.272? you should have .004 left. Does the fired roumd re-chamber easily? Or put another way .276-.243=.033/2 neck thickness.(.0165) That seems excessive.
Did you inside & out champher the necks?(Do I see a bur in the pic?)

 

[polkovnik]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

I have been using Hornady brass with no problem in my Rem 700 SPS - that said, I'm still working on load data - any suggestions using a 87 gr Hornady HPBT and Sierra 95 gr MK ? I am using both IMR 4350 and IMR 4831 powders.

 

[justinbaker]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

well looks like i was partly wrong about the bullet not going into a fired case.

with a little more effort they do go in. i was just comparing it to my 308 where the bullets fall in with no problem. the 243 takes a little pushing, but they do go in.

and when i said my brass would not fit in the collet, i hadnt tried it yet in the press, i just took the mandrel out and tried to fit it into a case.

the brass does go in and size no problem.

however i was expecting a little more neck tension, as a neck sized hornady =.271 and a loaded neck sized hornady = .272


anyone have luck polishing off a little, or is it best to send to lee and have them do it.


thanks for the help everyone

 

[former naval person]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

Unless you are going to use it in an autoloader, the .001 is GTG. If you want more, chuck it in a drill press and take of a couple of thousandths with 1000 grit paper.

 

[OKIE2]

Re: Necks not expanding on new 243 brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: justinbaker</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I cant even come close to sliding a bullet into the fired brass.

They did expand as little. The new brass mics at .269 od and the fired brass at .276

This something I should contact Remington about? I really dont wanna have to neck turn </div></div>
YOU DIDN'T DO WHAT YOU WERE TOLD TO DO MEASURE A LOADED ROUND COMPARE TO FIRED ROUND. NEW BRASS IS UNDER SIZE.