lapua brass failure?

[deathwobble]

Hi ....has any one had lapua brass fail with moderate loads. I've had 2 fail from the same lot.
Background-
Rifle:rem700LA trued,blued
Caliber:6.5-06 .296neck
Barrel:26"brux#17
Load:46grs
Powder:imr4350
Bullet:140grn berger hybrid
Brass:lapua 30-06 necked down and turned.

Now I ve worked this load up to 49grns before pressure signs.
The brass in question has had 3 loads....annealed on the 2nd. All brass were weight sorted and capacity checked with h20. After fire forming the brass was shoulder bumped and neck sized useing a bushing die. Bullet is .015 off and checked every load..... I just find it odd to have a case fail like this after 3 loads....anyone else experience this?

 

[barnesuser28]

Maybe the heat got too base of the case when annealing and softened it?

 

[ohiohunter]

What exactly was the fail and agreed more than likely over annealing.

 

[B23]

Did you bump the shoulder back every time you reloaded it?

 

[918v]

Hi ....has any one had lapua brass fail with moderate loads. I've had 2 fail from the same lot.
Background-
Rifle:rem700LA trued,blued
Caliber:6.5-06 .296neck
Barrel:26"brux#17
Load:46grs
Powder:imr4350
Bullet:140grn berger hybrid
Brass:lapua 30-06 necked down and turned.

Now I ve worked this load up to 49grns before pressure signs.
The brass in question has had 3 loads....annealed on the 2nd. All brass were weight sorted and capacity checked with h20. After fire forming the brass was shoulder bumped and neck sized useing a bushing die. Bullet is .015 off and checked every load..... I just find it odd to have a case fail like this after 3 loads....anyone else experience this?

You prolly have too little neck clearance. Not that it's pinching the bullet, just that you'll have to back off your load a bit. Or turn the necks thinner.

 

[deathwobble]

It failed at the web. I did bump the brass as it needed. I did this mainly for uniformity. necks where turned down to .0135" giving me a loaded neck diameter of .291-1/2" or 2-2.5 thou" neck clearance. which has worked well for me in the past. It just seems like there may be a defect with my brass. there is no pressure signs. of course there was a sticky bolt lift but Im pretty sure this was cause by the case being a little tweeked from the web separation.. Now I know that Lapua makes a fine product and Im not trying to pick on them. I guess my question should have been more generalized in terms of brand name. Anyway I picked up some new Nosler brass in 270win. and Im gonna switch to H4350 instead of the IMR and rework out my loads.

 

[deathwobble]

All Annealing was done on a Ballistic edge Annealing machine. I don't think over annealing was the problem.

 

[B23]

I only asked about bumping the shoulder because, as I'm sure you already know, bumping the shoulder back a little to much will put undue stress on the case at the web. Add to that this is an improved chamber, which is oversize in comparison to standard 30-06, and it's possible all the above caused your problem.

 

[918v]

It failed at the web. I did bump the brass as it needed. I did this mainly for uniformity. necks where turned down to .0135" giving me a loaded neck diameter of .291-1/2" or 2-2.5 thou" neck clearance. which has worked well for me in the past. It just seems like there may be a defect with my brass. there is no pressure signs. of course there was a sticky bolt lift but Im pretty sure this was cause by the case being a little tweeked from the web separation.. Now I know that Lapua makes a fine product and Im not trying to pick on them. I guess my question should have been more generalized in terms of brand name. Anyway I picked up some new Nosler brass in 270win. and Im gonna switch to H4350 instead of the IMR and rework out my loads.

Maybe a doughnut developed at the base of the neck and pinched the bullet? That's what happens in minimum clearance neck turned brass.

 

[deathwobble]

It is entirely possible that I could have worked one or two of the brass more than they others. but without knowing which ones I guess my only option is to replace the whole lot. Also this is not an Ackley Improved its a 6.5-06 A-Square . standard 17degree shoulder. thanks for the advise though

 

[Deleted member 46119]

I use the same machine.

Every thing else is as I would do it.

Seems to indicate bad brass. It can happen. If you have the info, I would contact Lapua.

For those that started off criticizing the OP technique, perhaps asking for more info first would be of more help. Jumping to conclusions with so little data is not helpful.

 

[Edd]

It just seems like there may be a defect with my brass.

What kind of defect in the brass could cause a separation at the web?

 

[B23]

I'm not that familiar with the 6.5-06 A-Square but I do believe they have a longer length shoulder than a standard 06.

Typically, case head separation is caused from, repeated, excessive headspace. Not always, as there is possibilities for other causes but typically that is the culprit.

Here is some good reading from a very reliable source on what to look for and how you can check your own cases.

The Rifleman's Journal: Reloading: Case Head Separations

 

[B23]

For those that started off criticizing the OP technique, perhaps asking for more info first would be of more help. Jumping to conclusions with so little data is not helpful.

I didn't read anything that was criticizing the OP. I only read suggested possibilities as to why the OP had case failure but if the OP read any of my comments as though I was criticizing his technique, deathwobble, you have my apologies.