Got real lucky

[Russ Hatch]

I was reloading 20 Norma 7mm cases today and had the head pull off of one. I have had cases stick in dies before and had the rim pull off the case but never the whole head. This one pulled off .376 inches above the rim and .123 inches above the solid head. Was not using a lot of up force on the press handle when it happened. Glad it failed in the resizing die and not the rifle. Had reloaded this particular batch of 20 11 times before today. I ditched the other 19 cases, not worth the risk. Anybody else had this happen?
Russ

[johnnyk]

I haven't but I have not reloaded mine that many times. I think I've reloaded mine about 5 times now. I have annealed them once already. Had you annealed yours? JohnnyK.

[Winchester 69]

Belted magnum? Most folks are not able to get that much life from a case. Sounds like case-head separation. You need to control your headspace with the shoulder rather than the belt. When the belt catches, the case stretches, thinning above the base until the head comes off. You may need to form a false shoulder on the virgin brass so that it fireforms on the initial firing.

[Russ Hatch]

Just a old 7mm Mauser, cases annealed once. Neck turned and I set the dies to .002 squeeze on the shoulder. Have been reloading for it for 30 years. Tried new loads last month using WW760, Hornady 162 Amax, and Federal 210M primers. It shoots best with the top load in the Hornady 7th edition loading book. Last two groups at 200 were 1.2inches and .724 inches outside to outside. Have killed a lot of deer with this rifle. I also ran a dental pick down inside of the other cases and could not feel anything wrong on the inside of the cases.
Russ

[Gene]

You need to lube inside of the necks, and the case exterior, without overdooing it.

[Winchester 69]

The perils of scant information.

Note to self: Be less forthcoming in the future.

[Russ Hatch]

I use Imperial Sizing wax on a pad that I roll the cases acrossed. I don't have the neck sizing button in the dies as pulling the button through the neck can cause trouble with runout. But thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate it.

Russ