6mm remington brass help

[shamu2240]

Hello everyone, I need some Help. I'm brand new to reloading, reloading for my 6mm Remington because I live in California. That means I can't find ammo for it, never mind lead free. So my first batch of 60 rounds, once fired brass from my rifle, came out pretty good and shot better than the factory loads I have for it. Still need to tighten them up a bit. The problem I'm having is that I bought some once fired brass from a local reloading store and didn't realize they had a weird ring near the base of the case until after i cleaned them up. So I went through the process clean, full length resize, measure, trim etc... I thought the full length resize would take care of the ring. So I went ahead and loaded up about 50 rounds and they will not chamber in my rifle. I've also got about 90 cases I didn't load up...luckily. What can I do about this problem, can it be fixed and more importantly what is it?

 

[BallisticsGuy]

Kinda hard to tell. Almost looks like someone ran a die over it but didn't go all the way down, or had it in too small of a body die.

Where you at in Cali? If you're local we can connect and I can try to get a better look and take some measurements to give you an absolute answer. It might be able to be fixed by just bumping the shoulder back or running a small base die over it or it might just be hosed. I don't like the look of that brass though.

 

[shamu2240]

Kinda hard to tell. Almost looks like someone ran a die over it but didn't go all the way down, or had it in too small of a body die.

Where you at in Cali? If you're local we can connect and I can try to get a better look and take some measurements to give you an absolute answer. It might be able to be fixed by just bumping the shoulder back or running a small base die over it or it might just be hosed. I don't like the look of that brass though.

I think I'm SOL on these. I tried running it through the resizing die again, about 12-15 times, and made very very small adjustments to the depth of the die trying to see if it would work it out. No change at all. I'm in Huntington Beach, you?

 

[just country]

morning, looks like the FL die is not set right.
what is the make of the fl die? all purchased 1X
fired cases should b run thru a fl Die I shoot a 6mmAI.
as for as SOL u could pull the bullets, remove the powder,
remove the decapper in the Fl die and adjust die to proper
adjustment. leave the primer in the case. whatever
u decide. justme gbot tum

 

[bob4]

I'm just curious here. Can you feel the ring ? Is it larger the lower you go ?

 

[Pmacc60]

Do not take this a fact , it's just a observation . I used to shoot lot of 6mm rem. In the past i have noticed this ring as well also with the 260 and both Remington brass. It may be only cosmetic and I think I was told that when I was concerned. The brass I had that looked this way did not effect performance .

 

[DocDoc]

Blacken a case with a felt pen to see where the once fired case is hitting and blocking the close. It could be at the shoulder, and you need th push the shoulder back till it closes. If it is at the base, you may need a small base die to allow the action to close and lock up. In either case, the brass should be useable.

 

[BallisticsGuy]

I think I'm SOL on these. I tried running it through the resizing die again, about 12-15 times, and made very very small adjustments to the depth of the die trying to see if it would work it out. No change at all. I'm in Huntington Beach, you?

Maybe, maybe not. Don't get discouraged yet. I'm up in NorCal. It's not a big deal to go down to HB, I have family down Riverside way I need to drop in and visit before they disown me. See below for next steps. I can help from remote too but the steps below were where I would take you next anyway.

Blacken a case with a felt pen to see where the once fired case is hitting and blocking the close. It could be at the shoulder, and you need th push the shoulder back till it closes. If it is at the base, you may need a small base die to allow the action to close and lock up. In either case, the brass should be useable.

 

[Riceguy]

The Boys (Brian or Billie) at RCBS in Oroville are very helpful, you might give them a call. What brand of die is it? I have some 6MM brass that I'm willing to part with and some RCBS dies.
<Riceguy>

 

[rewiltshire]

Now I understand that things are different in the Republic of California and supplies are limited, but have you tried a Redding body die? Midway carries them. Also the comment about contacting RCBS is a very good idea. The people there have helped me in the past.

 

[wildcat westerner]

Hope this helps and it does not cause you excessive concern over this problem. The best die to get to resize cases once formed in another chamber is a SB or small based die meant to be used in automatic rifles.These squeeze the case down when FL sizing to absolute minimum chamber specs and then all these cases should fit your present chamber. Once fireforned, then use your regular dies so the cases fit your chamber correctly.
Look closely at this ring. Do you have any of the cases where the "ring" is brighter? It may be ,as some have stated this may be in indicator here ofa case being resized in a die. That's is the good possibility. The bad one would be they may be fired in a large chambered weapon and maybe an automatic, which is why they were sold in the first place. If that is indeed the situation here, you may be looking at the first stages of a problem known as incipient case failure where the case separates in two pieces when firing or when you go to extract the cartridge and only the back third comes out of the chamber. That has happened to me. The brighter the ring the thinner the case is at that juncture. If its been fireda few times this way, you can takea wire with a small angle to fit inside the neck and havea sharp point. Insert it into the case and feel down the sides of the case. When you reach the point of the bright ring the point may run into resistance because the case is thinning at that juncture. if indeed that is the case, then you know why these cases were sold. The former owner encountered the problem with his weapon due to bad headspacing and when a case separated is when he placed all this brass up for sale. I wish you well in solving this problem and hope its only a case of the brass marks caused by a sizing die. The 6mm-.244 is the favorite cartridge I have in the 6mm caliber.

 

[rewiltshire]

Checking around with some of the suppliers I use, the only new 6mm Remington brass I can find is Hornady. Hornady is not cheap, but there is new brass available. Can people in CA order empty cases and have them mail ordered in? I know your 'common sense' gun laws keep changing. I do have a lot of 6mm brass if interested.
I shoot a Ruger #1 in 6mm Remington and I just neck size with a bushing die. I use this for deer hunting, which lately I have been doing with a scoped Contender in 7-30 Waters. Last hunt out in CA was done with a bow so I didn't have to worry about lead free bullets.

 

[Riceguy]

Checking around with some of the suppliers I use, the only new 6mm Remington brass I can find is Hornady. Hornady is not cheap, but there is new brass available. Can people in CA order empty cases and have them mail ordered in? I know your 'common sense' gun laws keep changing. I do have a lot of 6mm brass if interested.
I shoot a Ruger #1 in 6mm Remington and I just neck size with a bushing die. I use this for deer hunting, which lately I have been doing with a scoped Contender in 7-30 Waters. Last hunt out in CA was done with a bow so I didn't have to worry about lead free bullets.

Yes so far we can get all the brass and bullets, primers and powder that we want. But who knows how long that will last with Newsome Three Some and the Lib Dems controlling both state Houses. Ammo has to be shipped to an FFL dealer.

 

[rewiltshire]

If push comes to shove, see if you can find some 7x57 brass (Norma is what I like), parent case for the 6mm Remington, and form it down. Then you will have some good brass to work with.
I shoot 'odd ball' cartridges, not to say I am not an 'odd ball', and I can not find factory brass so I have to form my own. 17 Mach IV is a prime example.