Why am I splitting necks?

[Creedmoor shooter]

Ok got some measurements. With my adg brass on the outside of the neck a loaded round is .2905, fired is .295, resized with expander ball removed is .2845, and with the expander ball is .2885. I still had a couple norma rounds that I have still loaded and the loaded outside diameter measured the same as the adg. Hornady loaded outside diameter is .289

 

[SidecarFlip]

You sure you are annealing the brass correctly? How about a picture of a case? As a rule, expander buttons all stay in their respective die boxes, I rarely use one. A fired round will already have an expanded neck that the die bushing makes smaller anyway. Why work brass twice when once is sufficient.

The only time I'll expand a neck is if it's pre run brass (like Nosler new) and I want to size it with a bushing, then I'll just run the neck over the expander button and then go back with the NS bushing die to contract the neck to the resistance I want.

I anneal all my brass with an Annealeze in a dark room and get the neck and shoulder jus to the point of a slight glow and thats it.

Haven't spit a neck in years except for straightwall pistol cases in magnum flavor.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

You sure you are annealing the brass correctly? How about a picture of a case? As a rule, expander buttons all stay in their respective die boxes, I rarely use one. A fired round will already have an expanded neck that the die bushing makes smaller anyway. Why work brass twice when once is sufficient.

The only time I'll expand a neck is if it's pre run brass (like Nosler new) and I want to size it with a bushing, then I'll just run the neck over the expander button and then go back with the NS bushing die to contract the neck to the resistance I want.

I anneal all my brass with an Annealeze in a dark room and get the neck and shoulder jus to the point of a slight glow and thats it.

Haven't spit a neck in years except for straightwall pistol cases in magnum flavor.

I dont think I'm getting them hot enough. And looking at my measurements I just posted it seems to me they're getting worked pretty good.

 

[Diver_mike_85]

I was having the same problem with my Winchester 270wsm brass. After a few loads they would split down the neck, sometimes in more than one spot.
I use Hornady dies and dont load anywhere near max. I recently started "poor man annealing" in Hope's that will solve the problem.
I've been loading for a while now and this is the only size that I have this problem with...223, 308, 30 30, 6.8 spc...so on and so forth. The local gun shop said its probably the shoulder angle...270wsm brass isnt exactly cheap either.

 

[Diver_mike_85]

Also having an issue with the bolt not closing on the same brass. I mic the whole case and can't find any difference to other cases that feed no problem...I have to check each case for proper function before I load it....the local shop recommended a local guy that makes custom bump dies. Fire from 5 factory cases and ship it to him and he does his magic

 

[MagnumManiac]

I have had a similar issue with NEW Remington 22-250 brass I used for short range (600mtr) F-Class.
I anneal before putting through a mandrel and getting the neck the size I want. My last comp, over half developed cracks that were halfway down the neck, none went to the mouth or shoulder and there were 2-5 cracks.
Of the cases that survived, the next firing after annealing again showed the same issue. I still have an unopened bag of this brass of the same lot number. I guess I'll just stick to my Sako brass, it never cracks, swells or gives me grief.
I have never seen this before, not once.
I don't know what's caused it, anyone got any ideas?

Cheers.

 

[243winxb]

No annealing for me on 243 win. neck turned brass, lots fired 15 and 18 times. 1 neck split using Winchester brass. Redding fl bushing Type S sizing die.

 

[LDHunter]

I've never annealed even once and my primer pockets almost always loosen before I experience any other problems with brass. That's usually between 5-7 firings with "magnum" cartridges and 10-20 firings with "non-magnum" cartridges and I can't resist "hot" loads. LOL

I now also avoid dies with sizing buttons that I have to drag back through the neck after I've sized it because I always felt that results were erratic with that archaic system BUT... If I were forced to use that system I'd use Imperial Sizing Die Wax as my lube. In fact it's the ONLY case lube I've used for many years now and my brass lasts until I simply get tired of it or my primer pockets get too large.

When you size brass, which you always have to do between firings (at least on the neck), you're dragging your brass through some kind of metal die and the brass to die friction needs to be absolutely as minimal as possible because that seems to be where some of the most destructive stress to the brass occurs.

The Lee Collet Die system is the most brilliant invention I've ever seen in reloading. Absolutely NO lube is needed because there is no die to brass dragging friction. It's a shame that nobody has ever bought that patent from Richard Lee and produced it in a carefully engineered and precision die that would produce almost NO runout or inconsistencies. I've used his Collet dies for many years with great results but am aware of their somewhat sloppy manufacturing and the resulting problems due to that.

 

[wboregon]

Your all gonna laugh at this..... I just use a hand torch and spin the cases in a drill with a deep socket. I cant afford a annealing machine at this point in time. I just heat it until I get a ring around the neck/shoulder junction(which is about 5-6seconds under the flame). Regardless if I'm doing the annealing right, I should hope the brass would go past 3-4 firings without annealing.

Your gonna laugh at this then, I use a hand torch and spin the cases by hand slowly through the flame for a few count or so, normally I warm up with an old spent case of any said caliber see how long it takes for the flame to start changing colors, super scienc-y guesstimate the time that it took, then run my batch of good cases just short of that. This way I'm not burning the zink out of the good cases. Never had a problem and my hot load of 150gr ablr over 60.5 grains of IMR 7977 in 270win has yet to split a case neck after 8 firings.

I anneal my 270 brass every firing, but I also FL resize them every time and set the barrel up tight off a sized case originally and not a gauge. never had any problem with case growth and I'm normally not even bumping the shoulder back .001.

YMMV probably not the safest thing to do, but it was my first build with a cheap barrel from numrich.

 

[tim_w]

Here is my take.
New brass run thru a caliber size expander mandrel die. Turn necks if you do that sort of thing..skimming... whatever. If not move on to FL size no expander ball .002 tension bushing (doubt you will move or need to move the shoulder at all just to iron out the cases and make sure they are consistent) , trim chamfer,.... sort etc...

Fired case FL size 0.001 shoulder bump neck bushing to 0.002 neck tension ; no expander ball. See how that works for you. Shoot a few cases repeatedly and see how long they go before a split neck. Then anneal at half the reload count before split neck. That is if you are keeping loads low enough pressure for the brass that there is no primer pocket expansion to where they are no longer under good tension before that.

 

[mike06]

I built this annealer about a year ago for $100.00 bucks. Since then I added a regulator and a 1 gallon propane tank together that was another hundred. I am not a high volume shooter and just anneal 25 to fifty cases at a time.

 

[CatShooter]

"This way I'm not burning the zink out of the good cases."

It is impossible to "burn zinc" out of the case. Don't worry.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I went ahead and ordered a Redding fl sizer bushing die and 50 pieces of peterson brass that will be here Monday. When I get my dimensions on the necks I'll get a bushing to make .002 neck tension

 

[mike06]

I am on my first box of Peterson 308 srp 15+ firings so far. Anneal after each firing no splits or loose primer pockets so far. Weighed each case all were within 1grain except for 4 they 1 1/2 grains. I neck size only and have turned them also. Best brass I have ever used.