What happened here?

J

Jethro21

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Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 23, 2011
86
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Phoenix,Az, USA
#1
So I loaded up some 178 amax to do some development with and had some time at my dept range today. I have been shooting 175smk but looking to see if my gun likes the amaxs as well.

So I go to chamber a round and it won't chamber. I look at it and see rounding of the shoulder...weird. Next round, same. Next round, same, and so on for all the rounds of 178 amax I loaded.

In my pack I had some of brass from the same lot as the 178s, which were deprimed, sized and reprimed at the same time- no issues. I also had some of my 175smk loads which were also loaded during the same sitting, no issues there either. When I am loading, I usually visually inspect every round after it is complete, but this is typically just a quick once over unless I see something that catches my attention. Obviously I dropped the ball here.

I have pics, sorry, I am too dumb to figure how to post them here so they are in photobucket...Pics are: 2 of the 178amax loads with 1 175smk and 1 unloaded brass which was sized and primed at the same time, then 2 separate close ups of 2 different 178 rounds.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/ergolfer_99/DSCN0131.jpg

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/ergolfer_99/DSCN0132.jpg

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/ergolfer_99/DSCN0134.jpg

I am loading with Varget, started at 43.0gr and up to 45.5gr- all the rounds I loaded have the rounded shoulder. Brass is once fired Hornady, sized on my RCBS rockchucker with RCBS dies.

What did I do wrong here?

Thanks,
Jethro
 
#2
Re: What happened here?

DSCN0131.jpg

DSCN0132.jpg

DSCN0134.jpg
 
#3
Re: What happened here?

Thanks Turbo for adding the pics.

I should also add, I use Hornady case lube, this brass sized without any resistance. I also inspected my bullet seater die and checked for case lube or dirt buildup and did not see anything of note.
 
#4
Re: What happened here?

Are you lubing the inside of your necks? Maybe your inner mandrel is seated to high in the die. I've gotten this before when I had the inside sizer button of the die binding in the neck either because of inadequate lube or mis-aligned with the die.
 
#6
Re: What happened here?

Gene- I am not lubing beyond spraying the lube onto the casing, I will try lubing the inside of the neck.

Binder- I am just using basic RCBS dies, no neck tension adjustment. How can I adjust for that?
 
#7
Re: What happened here?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jethro21</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Binder- I am just using basic RCBS dies, no neck tension adjustment. How can I adjust for that? </div></div>

It's your expander. If your expander is worn down, not lubed enough or the wrong size or even going too fast it wont expand your necks enough giving too much neck tension and crushing the shoulders as you seat the bullet. Believe me, I had the same problem not too long ago.

Measure the ID of the neck. My bullets were crushing the shoulders when my neck ID was .005"+. I lubed the expander ball and went slower as the ball passed through the neck, measured and got .003" after and no crushed necks.
 
#8
Re: What happened here?

Does your seating die have a roll-crimp (just checked and the regular rcbs dies do)? That looks like what happens when the die is not screwed out far enough to keep from roll-crimping when you don't want a crimp. It pushes the neck/bullet down and squashes out the shoulder.
 
#9
Re: What happened here?

Did this happen before or after the bullet seating phase of the reloading? I was assuming before, but High Binder has a point I hadn't considered.

Edit: so does bricktop.
 
#13
Re: What happened here?

For checking to see if you have your seating die set not to crimp: take an empty, resized case and put it in the shell holder.

Raise the ram to the top of the stroke. Take you seating die with the locking ring loosened and turn it into the press until you feel resistance at the case mouth.

Turn the die out (counter clockwise) one full turn (360º). Set (lock) the locking ring. There will now be a gap between the shell holder and the bottom of the die.

Your seating die is now set not to crimp.
 
#16
Re: What happened here?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 427Cobra</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Your seating die is either screwed down too far, or your die is screwed up, I think its #1 </div></div>


+1
 
#18
Re: What happened here?

After reading all the comments, I agree that I think it is probably that my seating die is screwed in too far. I will try that as well as lubing my expander and will let you know if that solved the problem.

Thanks guys, it is good to have this quick resource available.

Jethro
 
#19
Re: What happened here?

Figure out which operation made it look like that. If the sizing die did it try removing the expander ball and see if they come out not crushed. Are you using the right size dies for your cartridge?
 
#20
Re: What happened here?

If you are neck sizing, make sure your neck sizer isnt turned in too far. I had a problem similar where I had my neck sizer die turned in and it was causing chambering problems. I inspected cases and found a roll on the shoulder. Backed the die off and problem went away.
 
#21
Re: What happened here?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 427Cobra</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Your seating die is either screwed down too far, or your die is screwed up, I think its #1 </div></div>

I had this happen back when I first started reloading, back the seater die out.
 
#22
Re: What happened here?

Your brass needs to be trimmed. I had this problem allot before I started trimming brass. basically it crimps as much as it can then starts to push everything else down.. Get a trim die to use after you resize and this problem will go away. You can raise your seater up but not really fixing the real problem.
 
#23
Re: What happened here?

Your brass is of different lengths the crimp is ok on the shorter casings but for shells that need to be trimmed the edge of the shell rim hits the crimper sooner and pushes the shoulder outward. another thing that can happen if the crimp is set to heavy is the neck at the crimp can start to roll outward. check your shells for length and trim as necessary so the crimp is uniform, otherwise back the seater die out and dont crimp.
 
#25
Re: What happened here?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: High Binder</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Too much neck-tension, should be 2-3 thou.

</div></div>

I'm going with this.
 
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