Fire Formed Cases

[ShooterOnTheLine]

Question:
I collect some rifle cases for a specific model that I shoot from a local range. After inspecting and trimming for proper length I tried the 'Plunk' test on my firearms chamber. As I suspected the rifle that fired these case must have had a wider chamber so these cases will NOT fully engage the chamber. I tried running a few through my die for that caliber and they all tend to get stuck in the die even when properly lubed. They are just to big from about ⅔ of the way down the case to the ejection groove.


My question… Would it be advisable to anneal the entire case or just the lower ⅓ of the case and then run them into the die set? Any adverse affects to this process?

[waco]

You do not want to anneal the lower half of the case. This will soften the area around the case head. You could get partial or full head desperation when you fire it.

[gpidaho]

Recycle them and just buy new brass it's better for your guns, tools and your safety. GP

[44man]

NO, NO, never anneal the whole case.
If brass is expanded too much, change the lube so you can size them back. Try pure lanolin. They should come back. If not, toss them.
Another good lube is Hornady Unique.

[dakotashooter2]

Agreed.................. What are you using for lube? You might have to go to a lube made for more aggressive sizing like imperial sizing wax. Or you may have to size that area in steps. Sometimes using the seating die (stem removed) accomplishes this. Seating dies usually have a slighly large diameter than the sizing die. Often you can use them to partially size a case, then run again through the sizing die with reduced effort. I do this when making 243 brass out of surplus 308/7.65....The downside is that depending on the brass length it may crimp the neck as it would do when seating a bullet so you have to open that up again.

[Harter66]

I had 3 ,30-06' s they would share brass if I full length sized every piece. With out that no dice. It is possible that you have a small base sizing die also . That combined with an unknown "fat" chambered rifle will produce what you are experiencing now also . If you have a lot of this brass in some common case size it might be worthwhile to get a push through die . A "deglocking " die for 45 ACP would do for a 22-250,250 and 300 Savage, 308,x57 and 06' families. It is just a long taper Lee push through die of about a .470 id rendering a .473 finished dimension . That would show you how long the over size area is and flatten it out. Then your standard FL sizer will do the rest even if it is a small base.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have ran into this problem with .308 brass fired in a M60. The solution is to lube the cases with either Dillon or Hornady or Lanolin . You can use oil based lubes too but you have to be careful to not over do it with the lube as it will cause dents in the case from Hydraulic pressure on the oil which has no place to go. The Lanolin based lubes don't seem to have this problem.

Make sure to lube the inside of the case necks as well.

Then you shove the case into the sizing die about half way, bring it back out and do it again. It may take as many as 3 passes to completely size the case.

The whole Idea here is that you are not exposing the whole case to the die at once, as that way you end up with too much friction. By partially sizing it, on the second and third passes you are only working the section of the case not previously worked. This generates much less friction in the die and allows the un sized portion to enter the die much easier..

It works,,, try it.

Randy

[country gent]

Another thing not brought up, What press are you using? SOme presses have more leverage than others making sizing much easier. With a proper lube applied correctly is the right die these cases can be resized. The imperial sizing die wax is very good in this use. It is was desighned for heavy case forming operations. There are several things to try, one is sizing in steps size a portion lower ram turn case a partial turn and size farther then lower ram turn and final size. Keep in mind brass has a memory and may spring back slightly. Annealing necks an shoulder may help but annealing the body case head is asking for troubles. What caliber, make of case, appearence of cases ( damaged rims rings/buldges bright rings around case head). Take some time and see what you have and trouble shoot the problem. Ink a sized case with a magic marker and see where the "tight" areas are. Also clean brass sizes easier than dirty brass.

[nvbirdman]

Unscrew the die two turns. Size the case. Screw the die in one half turn. size the case. Repeat as needed.

[gray wolf]

If you have to do that much sizing the brass has to go someplace and most likely will make the cases a tad long . that may create another problem with head space if the shoulder goes to far forward.

Do you really need that much drama in your life ?
Toss the cases and start with some decent brass.

It's not a common thing for brass to fit from one rifle to another without full sizing and sometimes a small base die is in order.

Full auto fired military brass is many times to big to chamber in a bolt gun or even in another full auto gun without roll sizing.

Mark your cases with a sharpie just in case they are hitting the shoulder datum area,
( head space )