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Brass collapsing issue (6gt)

vwpilot

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Minuteman
Dec 17, 2007
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www.jimsykes.com
So recently got my GAP 6gt and was loading the first rounds today and had an issue I haven’t had before.

The brass is collapsing at the neck under seating pressure. I never got the bullets close to seating and the brass just collapsed. I tried one, thought it was a fluke, had it happen again, then even ran the mandrel through a neck again to be sure and went real slow and it happened a third time.

You can see the three pieces. It’s virgin Hornady brass purchased from GAP and with a .2415 mandrel run through it. The bullet barely made it past the boat tail.

Am I doing something wrong here? I haven’t been loading a long time but never had this with the 308 rounds I’ve loaded. Though I’ve never started with virgin brass, always once fired factory brass.

Any help appreciated.
 

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Did you chamfer the case mouth? Did you apply any dry lube like Imperial graphite to the inside of the neck?
 
What sizing and seating dies are you using? What size mandrel as well

ETA: Whoops you specified the mandrel size, my bad
 
Seating die is set up wrong
[/QUOTE
So recently got my GAP 6gt and was loading the first rounds today and had an issue I haven’t had before.

The brass is collapsing at the neck under seating pressure. I never got the bullets close to seating and the brass just collapsed. I tried one, thought it was a fluke, had it happen again, then even ran the mandrel through a neck again to be sure and went real slow and it happened a third time.

You can see the three pieces. It’s virgin Hornady brass purchased from GAP and with a .2415 mandrel run through it. The bullet barely made it past the boat tail.

Am I doing something wrong here? I haven’t been loading a long time but never had this with the 308 rounds I’ve loaded. Though I’ve never started with virgin brass, always once fired factory brass.

Any help appreciated.
Had the same issue recently. When I pin guaged the bushings, two of the five in the set were grossly undersized and mislabeled. Got a replacement from the manufacturer and a free cap for the inconvenience.
 
So recently got my GAP 6gt and was loading the first rounds today and had an issue I haven’t had before.

The brass is collapsing at the neck under seating pressure. I never got the bullets close to seating and the brass just collapsed. I tried one, thought it was a fluke, had it happen again, then even ran the mandrel through a neck again to be sure and went real slow and it happened a third time.

You can see the three pieces. It’s virgin Hornady brass purchased from GAP and with a .2415 mandrel run through it. The bullet barely made it past the boat tail.

Am I doing something wrong here? I haven’t been loading a long time but never had this with the 308 rounds I’ve loaded. Though I’ve never started with virgin brass, always once fired factory brass.

Any help appreciated.
My bad didn't read the issue throughly. My problem was on initial sizing.
 
Only time I ran into this was when trying to seat and crimp in a single step. Die is set too far into the press, as others have mentioned above.
 
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Thank you for the replies. I did have it set up wrong. It’s a Hornady die with their micro adjust seater.

I originally fed a case with bullet into the press and put the ram all the way up. I had the micro adjust backed out most of the way and screwed the die into the press until, what I thought was it was bottoming out on the seater. I was having a total brain fart and not even thinking about the crimp feature of the die.

Thinking I had plenty of room to seat the bullet, pulled the ram down and gave the die another couple turns in...and voila, crushed brass.

Just wasn’t thinking straight.

Thanks again fellas. Thankfully it only took three dead soldiers and some humility to get It right. Virtual beers for all.
 
Thank you for the replies. I did have it set up wrong. It’s a Hornady die with their micro adjust seater.

I originally fed a case with bullet into the press and put the ram all the way up. I had the micro adjust backed out most of the way and screwed the die into the press until, what I thought was it was bottoming out on the seater. I was having a total brain fart and not even thinking about the crimp feature of the die.

Thinking I had plenty of room to seat the bullet, pulled the ram down and gave the die another couple turns in...and voila, crushed brass.

Just wasn’t thinking straight.

Thanks again fellas. Thankfully it only took three dead soldiers and some humility to get It right. Virtual beers for all.
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I made you a special something to remember forever.
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If you run into more problems with hunched shoulders in the future-- with a properly adjusted seating die ;) -- try running an expander ball through the necks first. You don't need to do a full size, just plop the expander in and out.
 
Thanks again fellas. Thankfully it only took three dead soldiers and some humility to get It right. Virtual beers for all.
Humility is literally a gift from God. Some of us have it naturally. Some of us have to earn it. I had to earn mine. And some never seem to acquire it.
Glad you got things back on track!
 
Thank you for the replies. I did have it set up wrong. It’s a Hornady die with their micro adjust seater.

I originally fed a case with bullet into the press and put the ram all the way up. I had the micro adjust backed out most of the way and screwed the die into the press until, what I thought was it was bottoming out on the seater. I was having a total brain fart and not even thinking about the crimp feature of the die.

Thinking I had plenty of room to seat the bullet, pulled the ram down and gave the die another couple turns in...and voila, crushed brass.

Just wasn’t thinking straight.

Thanks again fellas. Thankfully it only took three dead soldiers and some humility to get It right. Virtual beers for all.
None of the rest of us have ever done anything like that. Right guys?
 
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