Neck collapsed reloading new brass?

[rmiked]

I was loading new ADG brass for 7 PRC this AM. I performed no case prep. Done this before, insert primer, charge with powder, seat bullet. While searing the bullet, the neck collapsed at the base (at body of case). This has never happened before. Obviously can’t chamber the round as the OD of the body is enlarged as it squashed out. I don’t have a bullet puller. Should I have chamfered the case neck? Should I have lubricated the inside of the neck? And what is the safest way to dispose of a primed and charged round that is unusable? The inside diameter of the new brass necks match those of sized brass being 2.281”.
Thanks.

 

[spife7980]

Chamfer yes. Lube yes. Make sure the seater die isn’t too far down, it it bottoms out on the neck you’re going to crush cases.

 

[Baron23]

I was loading new ADG brass for 7 PRC this AM. I performed no case prep. Done this before, insert primer, charge with powder, seat bullet. While searing the bullet, the neck collapsed at the base (at body of case). This has never happened before. Obviously can’t chamber the round as the OD of the body is enlarged as it squashed out. I don’t have a bullet puller. Should I have chamfered the case neck? Should I have lubricated the inside of the neck? And what is the safest way to dispose of a primed and charged round that is unusable? The inside diameter of the new brass necks match those of sized brass being 2.281”.
Thanks.

Yes, yes, and just pull the bullet out with pliers/channel locks. Who cares if you mangle the case as it’s FUBAR’d already.

I’d just toss the case w primer but if you want, just decap it.

 

[OREGUN]

Chamfer yes. Lube yes. Make sure the seater die isn’t too far down, it it bottoms out on the neck you’re going to crush cases.

Way more likely that the seater was set incorrectly and is hitting the brass mouth like he says here. But yes, chamfer and lube new brass. Tumbling in dry media can add enough dust to smooth things out a bit if you really don’t want to lube. Don’t dispose. Set it on your bench to remind you not to do it again.

 

[AllenOne1]

I normally full length resize new cases then set the neck size with a mandrel die so that everything is consistent. A little lube in the neck helps. Chamfer the case. As Spife said make sure your seating die isn't set to low and causing the case to be compressed by the die.

 

[OREGUN]

On second thought, throw it in a fire place. Tape a marble to the case head and throw it down hard on concrete. Clamp it in a vice and smack the primer with a pin punch. Drill a hole in the bullet and use it as a keychain. Chuck it in the “brass” bin at the range. Throw it in a lake.

Use a leather pad around the bullet, pull it with pliers. Reuse the bullet and powder. Shit’s expensive.

 

[rmiked]

I backed my seater die out 2 full turns after bottoming out on case mouth, to assure that’s not the issue. After chamfering the inside of necks, they seated fine now. I lube inside of the necks when sizing case to keep the expander ball moving smoothly. Thanks for the advice. I was able to get the bullet out of the damaged case using 2 sets of pliers. The powder was removed so it’s safe now. I never had round I couldn’t chamber before. Of course I didn’t attempt that as it was obviously messed up.

 

[Rhed]

Neck tension too tight? Expander mandrel? Or use dry neck lube? Or like said, back out on the die.

 

[memilanuk]

I was loading new ADG brass for 7 PRC this AM. I performed no case prep.

First problem, right there.

Done this before, insert primer, charge with powder, seat bullet. While searing the bullet, the neck collapsed at the base (at body of case). This has never happened before. Obviously can’t chamber the round as the OD of the body is enlarged as it squashed out.

What kind of die are you using? The better quality inline micrometer seaters (Redding, Forster, Wilson, etc.) tend to not have that kind of problem. Partly because the body sleeve supports things better, and partly because they don't have any option for crimping depending on how the die is adjusted.

I don’t have a bullet puller.

Go to the local sporting goods store - or Midway/Amazon/whatever, and get one. A generic kinetic 'hammer' style puller works fine. The collet style pullers work better, but cost more and/or are more fussy to set up. Smack it on the floor until the bullet comes out, dump the powder back into the jug, and look at both the bullet OD and the neck ID to see what's going on.

Should I have chamfered the case neck?

On brand new virgin brass? Yes. Run it through a F/L sizing die with an expander, or over a mandrel, whichever you're using, to make sure the new brass is actually *round* and hasn't gotten dinged up in shipping/handling. Then a light chamfer to ease the bullet entry into the case mouth. This is metallic cartridge reloading 101.

Should I have lubricated the inside of the neck?

It probably wouldn't hurt, particularly on virgin brass. Some manufacturers - Lapua for sure, dunno about ADG - finish with a wash cycle that leaves some sort of residue that results in obnoxiously high initial seating force. Like 'holy $hit' seating force - but still not enough to collapse the neck , in my experience. You can either put some sort of lube inside the case necks... or throw the new brass in the tumbler with some used dry media for an hour or so. The tumbler dust does a surprisingly good job of acting like a dry lube on the neck ID, and can dramatically reduce that seating force on virgin brass. FWIW, that tip came straight from a Lapua rep at a big match, years ago.

 

[straightshooter1]

All of this ^^^^^

On inspecting my ADG brass, when I first got it, I could see that the trim length was very consistent, but . . . their trim left very distinct burrs on both the inside and outside diameter. Those burrs needed to be removed and chamfering was especially important to do. Once chamfered and deburred my 6.5 PRC ADG cases, I had no problem seating my bullets (though I do use a Wilson Inline Seating Die with micrometer).