Brass At The End Of Its Life

50 BMG, Collet, and steel reloading dies plus the Factory Crimp Dies. Also, discussions concerning the Deluxe, Pacesetter, and RGB die sets.
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Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by 357cyrus »

Well I finally found my first cases that are ready to be retired. I'd say these have been loaded at least five or six times in my 7mm Rem Mag. I haven't done anything to them other than full length resize and trim each time with a Lee length gauge and their basic hand trimmer. The load I've been running is about 95% of what Nosler says is achievable with their 160 grain Accubond and Reloder 19.
The one on the left shows a neck split which showed up after it was resized, and the 2nd shows the light band above the case head that indicates case head separation isn't too far down the road. That I found first by using the paper clip method to feel for a groove on the inside of the case. Since I hadn't seen that lighter band before I was worried that I wouldn't be able to tell it apart from regular full length sized brass which kind of has a gradual lightening to its color. This isn't gradual though, its definitely a band of light, then back to dark, and a gradual lightening up the body.
I hope this makes sense to someone else wondering when their brass is at the end.Image
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by Maximumbob54 »

Expensive brass like that I would be working out a way to anneal the case necks. But then if the case head starts to get that inner groove at the same time maybe it's not worth it after all. Now you have me wondering.
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by 357cyrus »

I believe the head will usually go first since I full length resize every time. I do that because its a load that at 100 yards shoots 1.25" or better in both my rifle, and my Dad's. That was one of my reloading projects this past summer.
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by oscarflytyer »

finally found a few of those in the last look/reloading for my 6.5x55 Swede. Norma brass I have had/shot/reloaded since late '80s. reloaded for over 25 years. Bet I haven't tossed more than 10-15 caes - not counting those that were range pickup and didn't pass initial insepction
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by daboone »

I do anneal some brass. However in my old age I find reduced loads contribute to longevity. So does using Lee collet dies for bolt rifles. But in the end the bottlenecked case neck will split. :cry:
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by Missionary »

Greetings
Annealing necks does a bit more than just longevity. It tends to uniform neck tension on all the brass. Neck tension is very high on the accuracy list.
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by mr surveyor »

not to distract from the topic, but is it worth the effort, for sake of accuracy, to anneal 30-30 brass?


jd
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by 62chevy »

mr surveyor wrote:not to distract from the topic, but is it worth the effort, for sake of accuracy, to anneal 30-30 brass?


jd

If it works for other brass why not 30/30? Don't know so I'm asking.
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by akuser47 »

357cyrus wrote:Well I finally found my first cases that are ready to be retired. I'd say these have been loaded at least five or six times in my 7mm Rem Mag. I haven't done anything to them other than full length resize and trim each time with a Lee length gauge and their basic hand trimmer. The load I've been running is about 95% of what Nosler says is achievable with their 160 grain Accubond and Reloder 19.
The one on the left shows a neck split which showed up after it was resized, and the 2nd shows the light band above the case head that indicates case head separation isn't too far down the road. That I found first by using the paper clip method to feel for a groove on the inside of the case. Since I hadn't seen that lighter band before I was worried that I wouldn't be able to tell it apart from regular full length sized brass which kind of has a gradual lightening to its color. This isn't gradual though, its definitely a band of light, then back to dark, and a gradual lightening up the body.
I hope this makes sense to someone else wondering when their brass is at the end.Image
Awe cyrus some super glue and duct tape its gtg, No kidding aside that's a good life span though.
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Re: Brass At The End Of Its Life

Post by Missionary »

62chevy wrote:
mr surveyor wrote:not to distract from the topic, but is it worth the effort, for sake of accuracy, to anneal 30-30 brass?


jd

If it works for other brass why not 30/30? Don't know so I'm asking.
Well as I am thrifty I want my brass to last as long as possible. Brass is not cheap unless you can find it for nothing. But then what are you picking up ? you still better check it for possible "getting ready to separate head" and then you might as well anneal the neck so it has the same tension as all the other cases. Or you can just wing it and wonder why you have flyers or the neck splits or the case head separates. But I buy most my brass and want it to last. I am still shooting some caliber 41 mag brass in the same Ruger Black hawk I bought in 1989. Then there are some 30-06 brass that came my way about 30 years ago. I do segregate brass to firearms and generally neck size only but just a little time with a torch and a dental pick down the case lets my brass go on and on and on.... Plus all my case necks release the bullets nearly all the same... no strange flyers from unequal neck tension.
So if my brass lasts 10x your brass I have the money still in my pocket to buy more powder or primers or another mold to keep on shooting. Just good economics and I am thrifty.
Mike in Peru
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