Belted Magnum questions for you guys..

AtownBcat · #1 02-19-2012, 04:04 PM

Today I have had to throw away(in the bucket for recycling), 150 pieces of RWS Brass. It had all buldged at the area right above the belt to .512-.514, new brass is .507.(Using the blade or knife portion of my calipers right under the belt.) I had been having trouble with a sticky bolt, but not heavy from the bottom but almost stuck at the very end of the bolt lift. My brass had only been fired 3 times. I believe this was caused because of a couple things.
1. My load is on the warm side 77.7 retumbo 210/208 burger/Amax both shot great. CCI Mag Primer. Neither bullet actually touching the lands. The primers are pretty flat but I didnt have loose pockets and there was no ejector mark.
2. I have been pushing my shoulder back way to far. According to my new(and bad ass) headspace guage that I got from Innovative Technologies, I have been pushing the shoulder back .0075. This was happening because I was trying to get my redding body die as low as possible to get as close to the belt as possible. I also bought a special collet die for belted magnums from Innovative Technologies, but the max that can be saved is .511 and all my brass was past that point.

So I need to buy new brass and start over so I wanted to see what you guys with belted magnums are doing about this issue. What brass seems to hold up the best for you? I thought RWS because of the thickness would have been the toughfest and maybe it is but I was over working it.(I was shocked to learn the first time you shoot virgin brass it as .020 clearance at the shoulder)I know Lapua isnt doing 300WM any more...
I know a few of you guys have suggested h1000 but this gun is shooting .3 moa groups consistantly and I really hate to start from scratch again...

elkaholic · #2 02-19-2012, 04:54 PM

Wow! That's a shame having to chuck all that RWS brass! I think you already have it figured out, hot loads and improper headspace will cause exactly what you experienced! There is no tougher brass than RWS so start headspacing off of the shoulder instead of the belt and just enough to close the bolt without too much force. All you need is a thou or two clearance......Rich

kc0pph · #3 02-19-2012, 04:59 PM

You should be able to size all of that brass you chucked back down to good specs. Larry Wills at IT makes a collet die set that is exactly what you need. Now over pressure is not good in any case. I just talked with him a little bit today and his dies are 100 including shipping. I was going to buy one until he told me they wont fit the 378 wby case (The parent for my cartridge). You already have his gauge (Which i ordered today) so use the collet system and his gague and you should be good. Also lower your pressures. If you want to shoot hot loads then expect to only get a few shots down the tube before the brass needs retiring.

AtownBcat · #4 02-19-2012, 05:06 PM

Thanks for the replies, I actually already have his die. My problem was that it will only handle brass that is .511 or smaller. Anything over that is to much to save(according to Larry) He said "and I dont mean .5115..." so that gives you an idea.

joe0121 · #5 02-19-2012, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elkaholic

Wow! That's a shame having to chuck all that RWS brass! I think you already have it figured out, hot loads and improper headspace will cause exactly what you experienced! There is no tougher brass than RWS so start headspacing off of the shoulder instead of the belt and just enough to close the bolt without too much force. All you need is a thou or two clearance......Rich

I really like the RWS brass I have. I actually got RWS ammo for cheap. Ammo was meh but I wish I had known how good the brass was I would have bought 500 rounds of the ammo for the brass. midway had a sell for basically a buck a round on time.

AtownBcat · #6 02-19-2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe0121

I really like the RWS brass I have. I actually got RWS ammo for cheap. Ammo was meh but I wish I had known how good the brass was I would have bought 500 rounds of the ammo for the brass. midway had a sell for basically a buck a round on time.

I just checked midway but all they show now is 22lr stuff. I am working on buying some in bulk though so i will post if i find some for a good price..

joe0121 · #7 02-19-2012, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtownBcat

I just checked midway but all they show now is 22lr stuff. I am working on buying some in bulk though so i will post if i find some for a good price..

Do a group buy! If you got the cash buy a crap done than post up a group buy. Usually you get a great price buying in large bulk. You can sell what you dont want on here. You save and we save. I dont know why people on here dont do group buys more often. I dont have the cash or I would.

I got the ammo a long while ago I think it was on clearance?