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can my brass be saved?

heavy boolitt

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 14, 2011
66
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52
wisconsin usa
ijust discovered i have been bumping my shoulders back to much. getting alot of case head seperation,i already have 60 rounds of 7mm rm 162 a-max loaded up.can i pull them apart and load them lower charge weight , to fire form them back so i dont get case head seperation . or do i scrap them any help would be greatly appreciated.thankyou al in advance.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

If you are already getting case head seperations, they have been stretched too much. Start over with new cases.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

Curious....
With factory dies, this is an unlikely scenario. They're just not set up that way. Usually you've got to set a press to cam over really hard just to bump them back far enough. I've never had one that would bump them back so far as to cause an issue.

Did you check the fireformed brass against a factory case with a headspace gauge?
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

they have 2 firings about to get 3rd, rem brass. and yes my dumbass had the cam over effect,but itook afired case with black soot onit and setup my full length die so it doesnt bump the shoulder any more .got a lee necksizer onthe way from midway.so could some be saved?
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

do the papper clip check looking /feeling for the ring /groove at the bottom of the case inside.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

To answer your question, I would pull the bullets save the powder for new brass & scrap the old. If you have head seperation on the third firing, even if you pull the ones you have left & down load them they are worn out. You may get another shot from them before having problems. If you neck size only you may get more. I would just save the powder & bullets and go with new brass. Hope this helps.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

my dies already got ordered on monday.im going to pull them tonight , already have 50 new brass .gotta git this load done .162a-max -rl22,it just sucks iwas right in the middle of aladder test. ithought idone the math wrong with coal. so iseated them in deeper ,same problem so itook one of the better spent cases and sooted it up just to checkif i was hitting the shoulder.sure enough iwas.thats not the bad part yet..! last month i resized 400--06 cases ive been sving for abuild,bumping the shoulder back so tomorow il be checking to see if theyll chamber in a 30-06,i hope they do ..... im preying ididnt screw them up badly. but on the +side ill be redoin all my dies to make sure it doesnt happen again!
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

id rather walk away smarter from my mistakes , than not learn anything at all once again thanks ,thankyou all for your support and knowledge .
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

Thunder, i have been reloading for over 20 years and i learn something new about it everyday. Like you said, as long as your learning your doing ok. You will learn new tricks and new things all the time. Just be safe & have fun doing it! Good luck & enjoy.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

About 3 firings is all I generally get out of Rem brass.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

What kind of press/dies??? I've been using inexpensive Lee press/dies for many years. Love their collet neck dies. For your reference, I'm on my 7th load with same 308 Win brass and they're in excellent shape. Take in mind, I don't load hot. I load for accuracy, not speed. I will tell you that I don't like using collet neck dies with presses that utilize cam-over....way too many variables to consider.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

Oh yes......my 223 Rem brass which is Win brand.....10th loading and still looks great. Just don't work the brass so much.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

I would get 6 solid loadings from Rem brass, sometimes 7 before the primer pockets were done. I ran 67gr of R22 and the Amax and 63gr of R22 and the 180 smk, so both loads were on the warm side. I never had any other brass issues, just primer pockets becoming loose. I used a standard RCBS FL sizer and a Forster micrometer seater. I bumped the shoulder back so slight I couldn't even measure it. It would make it so the case chambered with the slightest resistance.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

What kind of rifle?

If it's a M1-A, they are really tough on brass. The best I've ever done was 3 loadings on brass from that rifle.
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

If you have a fairly large number of cases that you have oversized (bumped too much), you can clean and lube the inside of the case neck and using an expander (K&M makes an inexpensive one) you can expand the neck to a larger diameter, then size it back down with your FL die to the correct length...leaving a tiny "false shoulder" in the neck base for the case to headspace on. Load and fire it and the case will expand to fit the chamber without the early case separation problem. I had to do that recently for a .35 Whelen Handi Rifle wherein the Remington factory cases were too short for reliable ignition. Expanded them to .375 and necked them back down to .35 Whelen and works like a champ! JMHO
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

I would simply buy new brass and start over.

Even the bullets, once extracted from the cases, have a potential for distortion, and loading manuals I have read state that one should not attempt to salvage powder.

No handloading components are so valuable that I would take a chance on my personal safety to salvage the components. If this seems wasteful, how about the cost of an eye, etc.?

The feeler test can determine if a case head separation is pending.

Greg
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

Pulling a bullet and dumping a know type and weight of powder into a new primed case of the same caliber is not salvaging powder. I have done this, it is not difficult.

Salvaging powder usually involve a unknown brand of powder, reloaded in different cases. This is dangerous.

Good luck

Jerry
 
Re: can my brass be saved?

No issues pulling the bullets and dumping the powder into a new case (providing you know exactly what the components are and its done carefully and into a case with similar internal capacity). It would take some severe distortion of a bullet to become unsafe to reload and fire, the most harm its going to cause will be in regards to accuracy.

If you know you've been over sizing, cases have separated and you strongly suspect the remainder of the cases to be unsafe, scrap them off without any further hesitation, they are not recoverable.