Peterson CheyTac Rifle Brass

[nchunter182]

I recently purchased 100 rounds of their new 375 CheyTac brass and wanted to pass along my impressions of the brass. I purchased this bass for forming into the 375 SnipeTac. Only brass I've dealt with so far in this caliber is Bertram. I've just begun to fire form it and have not yet built any loads for the rifle. Hopefully this spring when the weather improves.
First off was the visual inspection of the brass. It came packaged in very nice flip top clear plastic boxes similar to the MTM series. Brass is beautifully polished inside and out with annealing discoloration just barley visible. The annealing appears to be very consistent - even all the way around the case and extending the same length below the neck-shoulder junction on each case. The case mouth edges are smooth, round and have been inside chamfered. I did find one that the case mouth was dinged up on. Nothing serious but not what I expected. Checked the flash hole with my flash hole deburring tool and just a few very small flakes of brass came out.
I started the measuring checks by randomly picking 10 pieces of brass. The weight of the 10 pieces ran from 366.2-364.3grs, a spread of 1.9grs. Neck runout measured from .001" to a max of .0025". Neck thickness varied from .0134" to .0141". Neck thickness on each case had a variance of .0004"-.0005" max with some falling lower than that. Checked the primer pocket depth and they all measured just under .130" My Sinclair primer pocket uniformer just barely removes any brass from the pocket. A .077" drill bit will slide through the flash holes but an .080" will not. I don't have the sizes that fall between but I'd guess the holes to be around .078". Case length measured 3.033" with a +/- of .001".
Overall I'm impressed with the brass. Looks like prepping this brass will take very little time. Only time will tell if it holds up to multiple reloadings. I don't have any experience with Peterson's other brass but it it is like this batch - I'd say it's pretty good brass.

Jay

 

[Broz]

Thanks for the report. I wanted to try some of this but have yet to get an answer to the email I sent them. Maybe I will try to call. I since ordered some Bertram though and should have it any day.

Jeff

 

[nchunter182]

Hi Broz,
I'm surprised they haven't gotten back with you. I got on their mailing list some time ago and they called me when it was available to order. I'd urge you to give the brass a try. Sure looks like nice stuff.
The Bertram you ordered, was it their first quality stuff or the "malformed" brass? I bought the latter and learned a few things about it. Needed a lot of work to get it ready to fire form into SnipeTac.
Good luck on your project!
Jay

 

[bigngreen]

I should be seeing my order Monday, looking forward to it even though I have nothing to make it go bang yet but I'm sure it'll get the wheels cranking!

 

[Broz]

Hi Broz,
I'm surprised they haven't gotten back with you. I got on their mailing list some time ago and they called me when it was available to order. I'd urge you to give the brass a try. Sure looks like nice stuff.
The Bertram you ordered, was it their first quality stuff or the "malformed" brass? I bought the latter and learned a few things about it. Needed a lot of work to get it ready to fire form into SnipeTac.
Good luck on your project!
Jay

I hope it is not "Malformed" I actually ordered the Bertram 408 brass from HSM. The 408 should form to my 375 Typhoon easier.

 

[nchunter182]

b&g,
I hope you got something in the works to make it go bang! I waited most of the summer and fall to get the barreled action back. Got if finished and put together during the Christmas holiday. Now just passing the time prepping brass for this rifle and several others waiting for warmer weather. I did get 50 of the Bertram fore formed and ready to load so I've got something to start load development with.
Good luck your future project!
Jay

 

[nchunter182]

Jeff,
I bought the malformed brass from IQ Metals. It was less expensive and I thought since I had to fire form anyway - why not? I bet the 408 will work better for you. I had to neck up to 408 anyway and false shoulder it down to get it to chamber tightly for fire forming.

 

[Broz]

Jeff,
I bought the malformed brass from IQ Metals. It was less expensive and I thought since I had to fire form anyway - why not? I bet the 408 will work better for you. I had to neck up to 408 anyway and false shoulder it down to get it to chamber tightly for fire forming.

Thats the plan.

Keep us posted on how the Peterson preforms and lives.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[Bravo 4]

I recently purchased 100 rounds of their new 375 CheyTac brass and wanted to pass along my impressions of the brass. I purchased this bass for forming into the 375 SnipeTac. Only brass I've dealt with so far in this caliber is Bertram. I've just begun to fire form it and have not yet built any loads for the rifle. Hopefully this spring when the weather improves.
First off was the visual inspection of the brass. It came packaged in very nice flip top clear plastic boxes similar to the MTM series. Brass is beautifully polished inside and out with annealing discoloration just barley visible. The annealing appears to be very consistent - even all the way around the case and extending the same length below the neck-shoulder junction on each case. The case mouth edges are smooth, round and have been inside chamfered. I did find one that the case mouth was dinged up on. Nothing serious but not what I expected. Checked the flash hole with my flash hole deburring tool and just a few very small flakes of brass came out.
I started the measuring checks by randomly picking 10 pieces of brass. The weight of the 10 pieces ran from 366.2-364.3grs, a spread of 1.9grs. Neck runout measured from .001" to a max of .0025". Neck thickness varied from .0134" to .0141". Neck thickness on each case had a variance of .0004"-.0005" max with some falling lower than that. Checked the primer pocket depth and they all measured just under .130" My Sinclair primer pocket uniformer just barely removes any brass from the pocket. A .077" drill bit will slide through the flash holes but an .080" will not. I don't have the sizes that fall between but I'd guess the holes to be around .078". Case length measured 3.033" with a +/- of .001".
Overall I'm impressed with the brass. Looks like prepping this brass will take very little time. Only time will tell if it holds up to multiple reloadings. I don't have any experience with Peterson's other brass but it it is like this batch - I'd say it's pretty good brass.

Jay

Jay,
How did the brass work out for you? I got some in and am having trouble when fire forming to Snipetac. I'm getting what appears to be case separation at the spot where the original shoulder was. As far as I'm concerned I'm just ruining this expensive brass! This doesn't happen with Bertram. I got .408 brass and created a false shoulder, then tried jamming a bullet into the lands, light coat of lube on the brass, cream of wheat and green dot, and re-annealed the new brass ...nothing seems to work.
Here is a case I cut, you can see the ring just below the new shoulder.

 

[highdrum]

Jay,
How did the brass work out for you? I got some in and am having trouble when fire forming to Snipetac. I'm getting what appears to be case separation at the spot where the original shoulder was. As far as I'm concerned I'm just ruining this expensive brass! This doesn't happen with Bertram. I got .408 brass and created a false shoulder, then tried jamming a bullet into the lands, light coat of lube on the brass, cream of wheat and green dot, and re-annealed the new brass ...nothing seems to work.
Here is a case I cut, you can see the ring just below the new shoulder.

I do believe that peterson recommends NO wildcatting with their brass. The only brass of theirs that didn't come with that warning was the 300 norma that i received last month. Guys were having problems separating their lapua brass when it first came out. They issued a warning against fireforming or in improving cases.

 

[Bravo 4]

Yep, that's why I didn't call them. I'm sure it "voids the warranty" so to speak. Kinda like every other manufacturer, if you alter their product it's on you. I'm guessing that if I had problems with another manufacturer's brass they would probably say the same thing -"We didn't make it for that".
Thanks for the reply though.

Added: forgot to mention- I had emailed them about their brass earlier last month and told them what I planned on doing with it, the response from their retail manager was that I will love their brass. I just replied to that email telling him about my experience so far, I know it's my fault and asked if others have had this happen.

 

[Bravo 4]

Already received a reply, was told that it was odd this is happening as there are plenty of guys fire forming their brass. He said he will try to make contact with other shooters fire forming their brass and see what they are doing, and he will try to get me some info by next week. They only put the warning on the box for legal reasons.
Hopefully this works out, as in I can still use what I didn't ruin. Can't complain about the customer service.

 

[nchunter182]

Unless you are seeing actual thinning of the brass I would't worry about it. Try sectioning those and see if it shows up on the inside as a thinned ring. I believe this is just a cosmetic issue and have seen it when fire forming other improved cartridges. My opinion is it's just, for lack of better words, stress marks where the brass used to be bent at an angle but was hammered flat by fire forming. Attached is a pic I took today. The Peterson is on the left and Bertram in the middle. The one on the right is a 280 Ack fire formed from Norma 280 Rem brass. The ring is actually showing up more on the Bertram for me rather than the Peterson. I've seen it quite often when doing the 280 Ack but not so much on the 300 Ack. I think that's due to the shallower shoulder angle on the H&H cartridges.
Section it out and let us know what you see.
Jay

 

[Bravo 4]

Unless you are seeing actual thinning of the brass I would't worry about it. Try sectioning those and see if it shows up on the inside as a thinned ring. I believe this is just a cosmetic issue and have seen it when fire forming other improved cartridges. My opinion is it's just, for lack of better words, stress marks where the brass used to be bent at an angle but was hammered flat by fire forming. Attached is a pic I took today. The Peterson is on the left and Bertram in the middle. The one on the right is a 280 Ack fire formed from Norma 280 Rem brass. The ring is actually showing up more on the Bertram for me rather than the Peterson. I've seen it quite often when doing the 280 Ack but not so much on the 300 Ack. I think that's due to the shallower shoulder angle on the H&H cartridges.
Section it out and let us know what you see.
Jay
View attachment 104175

The sectioned one is Peterson and the other is Bertram. The Bertram has a ring from the original shoulder that is cosmetic, the Peterson one looks different. It looks like what I've seen in an impending case head separation. Opinions welcome.