Case sizing hic-up

[oneokie]

Was processing some once fired range pickup 38 spl. brass. Using Lee carbide die set. Sized all of cases, changed dies to bell the case mouths. The WW and S&B brass had resistance to the belling operation. The r-p brass felt like it had not been sized. Checked neck tension with j bullets, would fall into case.
Bad lot of brass?

[Pepe Ray]

Not necessarily. Just a good example of various neck thicknesses and/or hardness due to use.
Pepe Ray
P.S. consider yourself lucky if the symptoms are consistent.

[405]

Yep, happens once in a while with Other People's Brass:mrgreen:
If your die settings didn't change sounds like the brass that sized and belled correctly was of one thickness and the R-Ps happened to be thinner. I Don't think it is faulty brass just a different lot and manufacturer. Always a pain to re-set the dies among different brass:(

[crowbeaner]

Some of the RP 38 brass I have is VERY thin compared to other makes notably the yellow brass WW. The stuff that was factory 125 gr. +P especially is very thin. If you sort the brass before sizing and repriming you will notice the variations upon examining them for splits. I run one type through, then another to minimize the variations. Case length is important too. If the cases are longer you get more expansion and the bullet may drop into the case.

[JSnover]

Ran into a similar issue with once-fired Hornady brass. Everything went well until I flared the case mouths. The whole lot was about .075" shorter than the other three brands (R-P, FC, BHA).