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soot on necks

paulnyc

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 5, 2009
54
0
56
New York, New York
I am shooting reloaded full body resized 22-250 and the necks have black soot on them - is this a headspace issue - do I need to just neck resize and not do a full body resize? Does this mean that there is too much room between the neck and the chamber?

thanks!
 
Re: soot on necks

"Soft load" is a pressure denotation. What powder,bullet and how much of each are you using the recipe?

There's no shame in not knowing something. Though it'll get ugly if you try to feign same.

A headspace analogy is thus...picture a Mason canning jar painted black,with it's threaded lid as your rifle's chamber. It's contents being your 22-250 brass. When sized in accordance,the brass enters the jar with but slight resistance to the lid,as it becomes fully seated into place. In that manner you could literally shake the entire jar and all would be static,less any sound transmitted by internal movement. That is positive headspace,which was determined very obviously by feel,as the lid sealed things. You've made a perfect fit.

Now full length size that same hull,retighten the lid and give 'er a shake. You will hear "clunk-clunk-clunk" and that is excessive headspace. Problem is,you don't know how big of a "clunk" you are dealing with,because nothing was done in increments to establish same.

Never make a "clunk" any louder than you have to,to assure reliable feed/function. That will promote much increased caselife and bolster Precision in conjunction.

Savvy?
 
Re: soot on necks

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: paulnyc</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am shooting reloaded full body resized 22-250 and the necks have black soot on them - is this a headspace issue - do I need to just neck resize and not do a full body resize? Does this mean that there is too much room between the neck and the chamber?

thanks!
</div></div>

You can always let your necks grow a bit longer in length, as this will create a better gas seal in the neck area of the chamber. Keep headspace as it should be, but don't trim down to the 'trim to' length, published in most manuals.

This works for all cartridges. Headspace should be kept to a minimum, but the necks are allowed to grow. Two different concepts.

Chris
 
Re: soot on necks

I was wondering about that "trim to" length. I realize that that is what's recommended to allow for the neck to stretch again without the need for trimming. Using the Lee trimmer and gauges, etc. you get what you get, at least as far as I can see. I'm using the Zip trim with the case length gauges and there's no real adjustment I can see. If I want to "trim to" a longer length, do I just need to get a different trimmer set-up?
Thanks,
Ty
 
Re: soot on necks

Dial calipers and a lathe type trimmer.

I use a RCBS trim pro with the 3 way cutters (trims, chamfers inside and out).

If I had it to do it over again buying a trimmer setup I'd buy the wilson. Check out the sinclair web page. You don't need all the accessories, the trimmer, the trim die, and maybe a base with their "shark fin" clamp. It's not that expensive and much better than a lot of the other trimmers.

At least buy a dial type caliper to measure your case lengths instead of those rudimentary gages. Graf's had some calipers and micrometers in a flyer fairly cheap.