I Wish That My Wife Had Told Me Sooner

[memtb]

I should have titled this....I wish that I had listened much sooner!

Some of you may recall that I was having major extraction problems with my 460 XVR..... with loads well below maximum loads! Though, with some factory loads.....no issues! I mic’d the cylinder charge holes from firing hood end to the throat, mic’d the throats, “slugged” the barrel, polished the charge holes, and the cylinder throats, reduced my bullet size by 0.001” as they were tight in the throat.....all to no avail!

My wife witnessed all of my measuring, my frustration, and my occasional tirade of profanities! I was bouncing ideas off of her, telling of everything I had done.....when she suggested that the brass my be the culprit! I was skeptical, but had some new Starline brass and thought.....”What the hell, nothing else has helped”!

Long story short, With the new Starline brass, I’m now nearing “listed” maximum loads with zero difficulty with extraction! She told me that I’d never admit to her being correct with her suggestion! So, here’s my attempt at humility! Though, the “I told you so” is a bit difficult to handle! memtb

[cwtebay]

So what was the issue??

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[slim1836]

So what was the issue??

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Not listening to his wife.

Slim

[Gtek]

Is she also capable of pointing to the object you have been looking for a period of time in the given area? Mine has that power also!

[memtb]

cwtebay, Hornady brass, with only 3 firings, had to be driven from the cylinder with a dowel rod, even with moderately tame loads. The Starline brass solved this issue.....at least temporarily!

Slim 1836, very correct sir!

Gtek, yes, she has that uncanny ability! Add to that, she “NEVER” forgets my “screw-ups”!

memtb

[CastingFool]

Maybe she should do the reloading, and you stick to shooting. Lol

[gwpercle]

Not listening to his wife.

Slim

He'll learn ... maybe !
I learned a long time ago my wife was a whole lot smarter than my Dumbase !
Gary

[trapper9260]

I say at times 2 heads can be better then one at times because one might over look something and some one else catches it .

[memtb]

I had a fellow member on this forum that had worked with me quite a bit via texts! He suggested many things to try that I hadn’t thought of! And, I followed-up on many of his suggestions, and continued loading with lower charges and different powders. However, I continued to have several charge holes where the cases had to be driven out with a dowel rod! Never did I consider that the brass may have been the issue! Perhaps the brass lost it’s elasticity and failed to shrink back any after firing..... anyones guess is as good as mine! Maybe this will appear again after several firings on this Starline brass.....time will tell!

However, with many years of rifle cartridge hand loading, and years of magnum handgun loading......this was a first. Though, none of my handgun magnum loads approached the pressures that the 460 S&W produces! memtb

[frkelly74]

So can you swege down the offending brass? I hate the thought of trashing brass that doesn't look worn out or damaged.

[memtb]

frkelly74, Yes, it can/will resize back down.....just can’t remove from the cylinder after firing! All charge holes mic very similar in size (to the best of my primitive ability), and I polished the charge holes thoroughly ......but, still have extraction issues!

I was thinking that if I have to use a dowel every time I need to reload....I’d look like Jeremiah Johnson loading that black powder rifle during an Indian attack! memtb

[tankgunner59]

I briefly had this problem with my Axis 6.5 Creedmoor, following the manual recipe to the letter. I was using start load data as I always do to begin with. Using my own cast pills. Loaded a dummy round with no primer or powder same listed OAL, pulled the dummy and there were no marks at all on the cast bullet. So my wife asked if the brass was the right size, yes I already checked the length. She said what about how thick they are. Bingo, I miced the various locations on the neck and shoulder and also the length from the head to the shoulder and that was it. It was Hornady brass too. I took all of my Hornady brass and annealed it and resized and the problem was gone.
Incidentally, I didn't have any Starline but I tried some Winchester and Federal and they extracted just fine.

[megasupermagnum]

I'm very much a critic of Starline brass, but what it does have going for it here is that it not soft, and it is thicker than most brass. As long as they don't start splitting, that should fix your problem for a long time.

I'd send your other brass back to Hornady, and see what they have to say.

[dimaprok]

I am sorry but what the heck is the charge hole?? At first I thought you're talking about the flash hole where the primer ignites the powder but you calling cartridge chamber a charge hole LOL I find it as much strange as funny.

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[memtb]

Quote from dimaprok:

I am sorry but what the heck is the charge hole?? At first I thought you're talking about the flash hole where the primer ignites the powder but you calling cartridge chamber a charge hole LOL I find it as much strange as funny.




I thought it was a bit unusual the first time I saw it in print, not a term that I had ever used. I’ve used “cylinder”, which technically is the entire cylinder with the holes for the cartridges. I’ve also used “chamber”......however, that term seems more appropriate for long guns and semi-auto handguns. This was a descriptive term used by DougGuy, who is pretty well known here on this site. I figured if Doug uses the term.....it likely a pretty accurate description/term! Hence, my use of the term! memtb

[358429]

I wonder if the sticky hornady brass consistently resizes with a different effort or feel compared to the starline brass, then resizing resistance may function as part of the case inspection process.

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[memtb]

I wonder if the sticky hornady brass consistently resizes with a different effort or feel compared to the starline brass, then resizing resistance may function as part of the case inspection process.

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I can’t say that it was noticeable! An interesting thought though....I wish there was an easy way to actually measure the force required to resize.....without buying something specifically for this purpose! memtb

[Bmi48219]

I’ve sized a pile of Hornady brass (38, 357, 45 LC) and deprimed & cleaned a lot more other calibers, all to be sold. Never noticed any of the first group requiring extra force to size. I did notice some of their case lengths were consistently shorter than other manufacturers. Learned here they made it shorter because of the super-duper bullets they loaded. I thought that was pretty inconsiderate because to get a consistent crimp you’d have to adjust your crimp die for their length brass. If you’re loading mixed HS that would be a problem. I don’t load their brass so not my problem.
Only Starline brass I load is 30 carbine. The case brass doesn’t seem thick to me, not like LC 30.

[mack1]

When Hornady brought out the 454 there first run of ammo was recalled for this very reason. Some were blaming the cylinder on the Ruger Super Redhawk but it was fine, seems the FA did not have the same extraction issue but it is one at a time.

[memtb]

I’ve sized a pile of Hornady brass (38, 357, 45 LC) and deprimed & cleaned a lot more other calibers, all to be sold. Never noticed any of the first group requiring extra force to size. I did notice some of their case lengths were consistently shorter than other manufacturers. Learned here they made it shorter because of the super-duper bullets they loaded. I thought that was pretty inconsiderate because to get a consistent crimp you’d have to adjust your crimp die for their length brass. If you’re loading mixed HS that would be a problem. I don’t load their brass so not my problem.
Only Starline brass I load is 30 carbine. The case brass doesn’t seem thick to me, not like LC 30.

No mixed head stamps, all where Hornady, though they were from 20 round boxes (perhaps different lot numbers) of factory loads (200 grain bullets) purchased by the handguns previous owner! All brass was trimmed to same length, primer pockets cleaned, brass polished.....all was as consistent as I could make them!

I’m a bit OCD when loading high pressure rounds and for accuracy. Though, I will readily admit to using mixed head stamps when loading light, plinking loads for my 38’s and 44’s! memtb