Mushed case

[Zatoichi66]

Please save the laughing until I’m offline (egg-on-face emoji missing....)

I was trying to seat a couple 6.5 Creedmoor projectiles in Lapua brass and mushed a couple. They don’t fit in the gauge.

I pulled The projectiles & salvaged the powder, I deactivated the cap.

I was goo g to resize, but was concerned the brass might get stuck.

anyone else have any experience? Should I try to salvage or toss the brass?

Thank you

 

[918v]

New brass?

 

[Zatoichi66]

Yes—3 so far. Redding Micrometer dies

not sure what I’m doing wrong

 

[918v]

You should lube the necks with graphite and run an expander mandrel through them first.

 

[Zatoichi66]

Too late!

I used Hornady One Shot as lube

 

[918v]

You fl sized these cases using hos and now you’re crushing them?

 

[Zatoichi66]

Virgin Lapua 6.5CM SRP brass. When I bought them, I emailed Lapua to ask about what to do & they said they could be loaded as is, unless I wanted to FL resize first, but it wasn't necessary. Previously, when loading 5.56 NATO, I never did anything special with virgin brass, just prime & load.

in the 350 rounds I loaded so far, 3 have gotten “mushed” and won’t fit in the 6.5 CM gauge.

the projectile is an Hornady 140gr OTM.

my load stroke is slow & deliberate, which is why this is confusing. At the apex, there was a sudden “mush” feeling and the round is short, neck gone & I’m confused.

sounds like I should have done something first, based on the graphite suggestion.

all of the boxes of Lapua brass came with 101 pieces, so I don’t feel cheated, just....confused.

 

[spife7980]

What is mushing? Inverting the shoulder? A picture is worth a thousand words.
Forget the gauge, get some calibers and put real numbers together so you actually have something informational.

I have found lapua brass to have undersized necks for lots of tension when virgin. I chose to lube and mandrel them to get the to the size I wanted. I wouldn’t full length size since they are already small enough.

 

[918v]

Virgin Lapua 6.5CM SRP brass. When I bought them, I emailed Lapua to ask about what to do & they said they could be loaded as is, unless I wanted to FL resize first, but it wasn't necessary. Previously, when loading 5.56 NATO, I never did anything special with virgin brass, just prime & load.

in the 350 rounds I loaded so far, 3 have gotten “mushed” and won’t fit in the 6.5 CM gauge.

the projectile is an Hornady 140gr OTM.

my load stroke is slow & deliberate, which is why this is confusing. At the apex, there was a sudden “mush” feeling and the round is short, neck gone & I’m confused.

sounds like I should have done something first, based on the graphite suggestion.

all of the boxes of Lapua brass came with 101 pieces, so I don’t feel cheated, just....confused.

Next time lube the necks with graphite first and run a mandrel through them to break through the annealing which makes bullet seating hard.

 

[Zatoichi66]

Not sure how to post pics. The shoulder is bulged out & rounded due to the neck being pressed towards the case head. COAL dropped from 2.8005” to 2.7790”

the case gauge is a test because I won’t chamber a live, possibly defective round that could get lodged in the chamber of my Tikka, nothing more.

the shoulder is now bulged, rounded, and curved rather than straight/oblique shoulder

if the projectile continue, it would be telescoped/intussuscepted into the case.

 

[Tokay444]

Chamfer the mouths.

 

[Zatoichi66]

This is only for new/virgin brass, yes?

once these are fired, they’ll be FL resized

 

[smoooth1]

Do your cases look like the 300 Not Improved?

 

[NukeMMC]

Check your seating dies with an empty case first. Make sure you are not trying to put a crimp on the bullet:
- Back the body of your seating die out a couple turns and run your EMPTY brass up into the seater.
- With the press at Top Dead Center, screw the seater down until you feel slight resistance, then back off a 1/4 turn.
- Now back your seating stem out 1 full turn so your bullets will seat long.
- Put a round ready to seat in the press, place a bullet and run it up slowly. If you feel any more tension than what you feel when starting to seat the bullet, stop and withdraw.
- Based on the Base-To-Ogive or Overall Length you are trying to get, adjust the seating stem to get the desired effect.

 

[NukeMMC]

Also, which micrometer dies? Are you using the bushing FL sizing die? If so, what bushing? If much smaller than a .292 then there's a suspect.

 

[Zatoichi66]

That’s a negative Smooth1, the shoulder is rounded like pressure in the case had nowhere to go & bulged out the angle of the shoulder, making it arched.

which micrometer? Redding Premium Die Set #66446 FL die set, but I haven’t used the resizing die yet, just the seating die. It only came with one micrometer

 

[Zatoichi66]

I appreciate all the answers & help

 

[hafejd30]

You can see some are getting crushed. Just for reassurance I would chamber a couple loaded rounds to make sure the others are not bulging out as well just not as noticeable. If you haven’t done this already

I loaded a bunch of 6.5 Lapua cases with Redding seater and 143 ELDX bullets. Never had a single issue like your experiencing

 

[Zatoichi66]

I took the firing pin out of the bolt & just did this. In a random sample of 10, all fit & the bolt closed. They all ejected.

my uncle shot a .308 FMJ in his basement through a cider block wall when I was a kid. It left a lasting impression, so I don’t chamber rifle in the house, unless there’s a damn good reason

 

[NukeMMC]

That’s a negative Smooth1, the shoulder is rounded like pressure in the case had nowhere to go & bulged out the angle of the shoulder, making it arched.

which micrometer? Redding Premium Die Set #66446 FL die set, but I haven’t used the resizing die yet, just the seating die. It only came with one micrometer

OK, that set does not have the bushing sizing die. That leaves out using the .264" bushing (yes, that has been done, quite unsuccessfully).

As said above, reset your seating die with an empty to ensure it isn't trying to push down on the neck (crimp) and try again.

 

[TxWelder35]

Check your seating dies with an empty case first. Make sure you are not trying to put a crimp on the bullet:
- Back the body of your seating die out a couple turns and run your EMPTY brass up into the seater.
- With the press at Top Dead Center, screw the seater down until you feel slight resistance, then back off a 1/4 turn.
- Now back your seating stem out 1 full turn so your bullets will seat long.
- Put a round ready to seat in the press, place a bullet and run it up slowly. If you feel any more tension than what you feel when starting to seat the bullet, stop and withdraw.
- Based on the Base-To-Ogive or Overall Length you are trying to get, adjust the seating stem to get the desired effect.

This. Try this before going any further

 

[Zatoichi66]

Will do & report back. Mrs. Zatoichi66 needs feeding, so off to dinner we go....

y’all have been incredibly helpful—thank you!

 

[Zatoichi66]

Done

that’s how it was set for COAL 2.8005” which has occurred with over 99% of the loads—what the bleep am I missing?

this is unsettling since this should be consistent.

some of the OTMs are irregular by a few thou—??? Would that do this?