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Stripes on cases

Near miss

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Minuteman
  • Apr 8, 2019
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    Finland
    I am getting friend started to reloading and have prepped some cases for him with the Hornady dies he bought.

    Some cases have turned out fine.

    Mainly, Sako cases resized smoothly but Selliers have had a lot of resistance.

    I try to get the selliers prepped because we have a lot more of those, like maybe 600-900 probably.

    This is 6.5CM
    Brass is from the same rifle.
    Hornady dies.

    Sako cases were resizing fine but some (2/5) of the Selliers would not chamber. I turned it some more and now it is taking in all of the cases except now some cases show to have a bumb in the wall?

    Left - no stripes Middle-chambered once Right-chambered 4 times so the stripes are more visible.

    What the hell am I doing wrong here?

    Sellier cases.jpg
     
    Have you tried to chamber the scratched cases in another rifle/chamber? Sharpie the scratches and see if it rubs off at the same spot, that could help indicate if it's the chamber or die.

    Look in the die with a flashlight, and see if you can see brass coloring about halfway up the body section. (if the die has galling in it affecting sizing)

    I'm leaning towards the chamber having some quirk, but I'd rule it out with a second, known good chambering before continuing to troubleshoot.
     
    I’d check the inside of the die for sure. S&B brass seems to be very hard, what are you using for case lube and are you using enough?
     
    What was it fired out of? Looks like hard brass fired in an an out of spec chamber and then run through a sizer with too little lube.
     
    On my .223 SB dies, I had a build up of brass inside of the sizing die causing striations on the sized brass. Took a hardwood dowel and sanded it until it just barely fit inside the die. Chucked the dowel into a drill and using some polish, ended up polishing out the die. Die works great once again.
     
    I polished the die when I got it and remember it having a stripe visible that I tried to focus on. I do not know how bad it is, it seemed minor.

    I have tried both unique and ballistol (the sprayed one) to get the SB cases to size comfortably but I have been unsuccesful.

    About 10% of them I have put in to a trash can that I thought test annealing on (I have never annealed before) to get a feel on it and perhaps improve them. Many of those cases still were tough even on second run in the die, so they are beyond help.
     
    S&b brass is crap. Don’t waste your time with it and come out ahead
    This is what I had figured out doing their 223 brass. Same procedures as with PMC, Sako and Lapua, but goddamn they still were a bitch to size. I called it quits and do not even attempt to size them anymore.

    I just could not believe it is that bad.

    My friend has shot SB load and has hundreds of cases, I already sized and prepped 400 but it indeed seems that they are already overused.

    We already planned to buy Sako Range and use those cases. They are not Lapua but work very well. We have also thought of buying Lapua but he has large primers only and is just getting into reloading. (Like I wasn't, but at least I have over 1k rounds done)
     
    Take a caliper and measure fired brass to see if that area of the chamber is different than the rest of it. Measure every 1/4" from shoulder to base.
     
    Lapua does make large primer 6.5 cases, just fyi
    Yeah, just that I have few Ks of cci 450, while large primers are a bit fuss to get.

    Take a caliper and measure fired brass to see if that area of the chamber is different than the rest of it. Measure every 1/4" from shoulder to base.
    I will check this. I have few sako cases still untouched somewhere..
     
    And here is borecam video from inside the hornady die.

    I was not exactly delighted about the tooling marks but I guess they do not play a role in this?

     
    I have managed to size my Sako and other 223 brass with just ballistol sprayed on them after washing them. But that is with a Redding die.

    I guess I came into this from a wrong angle even I knew the SB brass has bad omen in it.

    I will pause doing SB brass, do the Sako brass and continue the load testing with that. I am expecting the Sako brass to deliver better anyways. I still intend to test them side by side for MV and SD as Sellier has more capacity and want to see how that affects MV.

    I will recommend imperial sizing wax for my friend who owns this 6.5. Most likely he will continue the sizing work from here on and needs wax anyways.

    @TheOfficeT-Rex Thanks for that advice too, not many here have 6.5 but I will take one case to go with me to the range and search for a volunteer.
     
    Lanolin and isopropyl alcohol is the fastest, easiest and most effective Lube I have found. Takes less than 5 minutes and my sizing consitency is always within .001 and zero stuck cases since going to it. Mix up a spray bottle and it will last years with no mess. Also no toxic fumes.
     
    Lanolin and isopropyl alcohol is the fastest, easiest and most effective Lube I have found. Takes less than 5 minutes and my sizing consitency is always within .001 and zero stuck cases since going to it. Mix up a spray bottle and it will last years with no mess. Also no toxic fumes.
    What proportions, may I ask?

    Thanks
     
    I have understood it is quite hard to wash off? I like the ballistol as it can be pretty much be washed off with soapy hot water.

    My brass cleaning processes are quite manual but I do not see specific need to get a tumbler or rotary cleaner.. I am slowly getting there but I get satisfactory results on target so I do not see a need yet.