meatyrem
Well-Known Member
Came across this on a different group and op not sure what is the cause at the base of the case just above the belt looks like the die is shaving off the bottom of the case it's a 300wm and no other details
What would cause this.
- Thread starter meatyrem
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Lack of lube or possibly a swelled chamber or both.
I had a Rem 7mm Express and the first factory loads were hot, extremely hot. At that time I had very little experience with a deer rifle and none of the normal pressure signs were apparent to me. As I kept shooting the 10 boxes of bullets they became harder to eject (there was a recall on the bullets I found after I shot almost all of the bullets).
I bought an RCBS Jr. press and the rounds were hard as heck to resize, so much so that the handle broke off at one point. My point to all of the above, once I sent the rifle back to Rem they determined the chamber was swollen (I have no idea what the pressure was but I sure would have liked to have known) but my cases come out looking like this when I resized them. Yes, I had plenty of lube, too much actually as I got dimples on the shoulders, but without what I put on them I could not resize them. Luckily the rifle didn't come apart on me, Rem did not fix the barrel btw, but eventually I did years later when I started building rifles for myself.
I had a Rem 7mm Express and the first factory loads were hot, extremely hot. At that time I had very little experience with a deer rifle and none of the normal pressure signs were apparent to me. As I kept shooting the 10 boxes of bullets they became harder to eject (there was a recall on the bullets I found after I shot almost all of the bullets).
I bought an RCBS Jr. press and the rounds were hard as heck to resize, so much so that the handle broke off at one point. My point to all of the above, once I sent the rifle back to Rem they determined the chamber was swollen (I have no idea what the pressure was but I sure would have liked to have known) but my cases come out looking like this when I resized them. Yes, I had plenty of lube, too much actually as I got dimples on the shoulders, but without what I put on them I could not resize them. Luckily the rifle didn't come apart on me, Rem did not fix the barrel btw, but eventually I did years later when I started building rifles for myself.
BallisticsGuy
Well-Known Member
Oversized chamber, undersized die.
meatyrem
Well-Known Member
Yes lubed before sizing.
Got cases as once fired from another source
Waiting on reply for brand of die
Got cases as once fired from another source
Waiting on reply for brand of die
meatyrem
Well-Known Member
That's where I was leaning towards is over sized chamber likely a factory chamber.
meatyrem
Well-Known Member
These are Lee dies.
Kansaswoodguy
Well-Known Member
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- Aug 26, 2014
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Incipient head separation caused by over working your brass. Just bump the shoulder of your brass back about 3 thousands not 15 thousands or more.
Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment
Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.
www.larrywillis.com
I've never owned a Weatherby rifle but it was the original hotrod of rifles.
meatyrem
Well-Known Member
Appreciate the responses gents
Hugnot
Well-Known Member
"Got cases as once fired from another source"
Bulges often occur above the belt in belted brass. No telling of dimensions of previously fired chamber that was probably cut to headspace on belt. Apparently the previously fired brass developed bulges & the Lee Die swaged the bulge out. My suggestion would be to get new brass & headspace on shoulder & continue using the Lee dies. I am assuming the Lee dies used are F/L dies. I have found my Lee dies are often tighter than others. Measurements of new brass that have been fired in your chamber might be compared to:
Edit: I noticed that my Lee F/L dies instead of having an inside radius had a sort of inside gently rounded taper having a well-defined upper edge (die screwed into press). If the OP's .300 WM dies were similar that would account for the brass shaving. I don't especially like belted cases but go with the flow considering brass availability. Never seen anything like this with a .300 WSM.
Bulges often occur above the belt in belted brass. No telling of dimensions of previously fired chamber that was probably cut to headspace on belt. Apparently the previously fired brass developed bulges & the Lee Die swaged the bulge out. My suggestion would be to get new brass & headspace on shoulder & continue using the Lee dies. I am assuming the Lee dies used are F/L dies. I have found my Lee dies are often tighter than others. Measurements of new brass that have been fired in your chamber might be compared to:
Edit: I noticed that my Lee F/L dies instead of having an inside radius had a sort of inside gently rounded taper having a well-defined upper edge (die screwed into press). If the OP's .300 WM dies were similar that would account for the brass shaving. I don't especially like belted cases but go with the flow considering brass availability. Never seen anything like this with a .300 WSM.
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Likely a swelled chamber but seems to me that a die with a properly radiused base would not do this to a case. Does the die have a sharp corner at the base that could shave off brass? Perhaps try a different die. I had a 7RM years ago in which my brass slowly got tighter as time went on, perhaps 7 reloads or so and eventually had to replace it. The reason was the body just forward of the belt wasnt getting sized and just got tighter with each reload. As mentioned above, the innovative tech die can solve this issue. I never bought another belted case again, never will.
I guess technically it's sort of a design flaw with a belted cartridge if you were to radius off the die more at the bottom edge it would not shave off the brass but then again it would not size that area and you would still have a bulge
