Help with new brass in .257 Roberts cracking

[LOBO]

I've been reloading since 1997 and have never had the following happen to me.

I'm reloading .257 Roberts for me and my Father for this upcoming deer season. I am using new Winchester brass, RCBS FL dies, and Hornady one shot case lube.

I did not inspect the brass prior to running it through the FL die.

After running the brass through the FL die, & chamfering the case mouth I noticed small vertical cracks in the brass. Some of the cracks appear to be just starting (you can just barely get a finger nail into) to large cracks/splits that run from the shoulder up close to the case mouth. I lost 7 out of 50 pieces in this bag of new brass.

I checked loaded rounds from the same batch of brass and found some cases with what look like the start of vertical cracks (I could get a finger nail in them).

What would cause this in new unfired brass?

The first one on the far left might just be me being overly cautious & might just be a dent. I included it just to be sure. This isn't all of them, just the worst ones.

 

[DIBBS]

Winchester brass is SHIT!

They have NO quality control. I will not buy the current manufacture stuff, red, black white bag again.

It is likely all these defects were there when they came from the bag. I had a 25-35% rejection rate with the LAST 200 cases in 300 WM that I purchased.

You can get a refund... but not sure the work is worth it.

My defective WW cases were exactly like this. Find another brand of brass...

 

[whatsupdoc]

Dis you check for any with the cracks that you did not resize.
Most likely a manufacturing defect.
Dont use it.

 

[918v]

Those are not cracks. Those are folds.

 

[killer-e]

It happens in the brass manufacturing process I have gotten brand new 6gt hornady brass that looked just like that

 

[LOBO]

Thanks everyone.

No, unfortunately I did not inspect the brass before I loaded it.

I've got over 80 rounds loaded already from this same brass. I have inspected the loaded rounds and they look fine. Are they safe to use for hunting season?

I have 200 pieces of this brass that I bought at one time. I've found it very difficult to find .257 Roberts brass at all lately. Any tips on finding good .257 Roberts brass or what brand to look for?

Does the first loaded round in the above picture have a crack starting or is it just a "dent"?

 

[918v]

It’s neither a crack nor a dent. It’s a fold. If your loaded rounds look like those in your pic then you’ll be fine. The middle cases in the bottom pics should be tossed.

 

[lightman]

Its nothing that you did. Its just Winchester brass. Their QC started getting bad back during the Obama shortages and has never gotten better.

Brass from their factory ammo seems to be much better. Its a shame!!!

 

[LOBO]

It’s neither a crack nor a dent. It’s a fold. If your loaded rounds look like those in your pic then you’ll be fine. The middle cases in the bottom pics should be tossed.

Both of the loaded rounds in the top pic are ok or just the one on the left? What is a "fold"? Thanks for your help.

 

[LOBO]

Thank you everyone!

 

[918v]

Both of the loaded rounds in the top pic are ok or just the one on the left? What is a "fold"? Thanks for your help.

A fold, like you fold a piece of paper:

 

[918v]

Both loaded rounds are OK

 

[LOBO]

I got you now. Thanks for the visual. I had not heard of that before. Thanks again for your help.

 

[CUBUFF89]

I bought 300 pcs of Winchester 22-250 brass back in 2019. Many of the cases looked exactly like your pictures. I took a photo of the brass and a photo of the bags showing the lot number and contacted winchester. They refunded my money. And now I'll look for just about any other brand. Worst QC I've ever seen.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

It happens in the forming process. The cases start life as a straight walled blank and are sized into the shape you get as the final product. I have received Lapua brass that looked like that (not as bad).