Winchester Super X brass

[lilboots]

Sorry if this has been discussed and i missed it. I have just started reloading, and was reloading some .308 Winchester brass I had bought and shot. Everything was fine until I went to seat the bullet. When i did, the brass buckled at the shoulder, and not just barely. So, figured I had my die set wrong, so backed it off, and tried another. Didnt even start to seat the bullet. Slowly started tightening the die back down until it seated the bullet, and buckled again. After the 4th piece of ruined brass, i gave up.

Cousin, who is much more experienced at reloading, comes over, goes through the setup process again to make sure its right, and buckles the brass. So we get to looking at it, and comparing it to some Remington brass that i had shot, and the Winchester brass is noticeably thinner.

So, has anyone else noticed this? Had 2 boxes, bought at 2 different stores that where noticeably thinner than the Remington brass. Maybe it was because i bought the low end Winchester ammo to start with. I have since got my hands on some Lake City brass, and the Remington brass reloaded fine with adjusting my dies.

 

[Master Carper]

If you have a set of calipers, mic the inside neck diameter and measure your neck expander button. Also make sure you have a good case mouth chamber...

If the case is buckling when you start to seat a bullet, it kinda sounds like you need a slightly larger expander button...

Are you seating boat-tail or flat base bullets?

DAVID

 

[lilboots]

Flat base, winchester silver tips. Ill have to check the expander, I know before i ran em through it, the necks on them were to big, and it had to size em down.

 

[Master Carper]

How much do the necks expand after firing? What is the inside diameter of the case neck after sizing?

 

[lilboots]

After sizing, inside diameter of the neck is .305/.306. Bullet measures between .308 and .309.

Don't have any Winchester brass that is unsized, but the Remington brass is .312 after firing, before sizing.

Remington brass reloaded fine, and shot fine. Only the Winchester having issues. Although I haven't tried the Lake City Brass yet. Finding out military brass has an extra ring or something around the primer that i have to remove before i can reprime.

 

[dennishoddy]

After sizing, inside diameter of the neck is .305/.306. Bullet measures between .308 and .309.

Don't have any Winchester brass that is unsized, but the Remington brass is .312 after firing, before sizing.

Remington brass reloaded fine, and shot fine. Only the Winchester having issues. Although I haven't tried the Lake City Brass yet. Finding out military brass has an extra ring or something around the primer that i have to remove before i can reprime.

Something wrong with your neck expander or its not set up right. Anytime your bullet is larger than the opening, your going to get the results your seeing.

Are you checking the length of your brass, and trimming to length?

The issue your seeing with the military brass is the crimp put around the primer. You have to either swedge or cut the primer pocket, and get rid of the crimp before re-priming.
If your unsure of any advice so far, just ask. We will be happy to get you going.
Some may have different answers for the same problem, but on occasion there is not one reason for that problem, and others have solved it different ways.

 

[lilboots]

I havent even thought to check the length. Ill pull the die apart tonight, and check the the expander, to see if its to small.

BTW thank you guys for the help, more i get into this, the more i realize there is to it.

 

[lilboots]

Broke my decapper/sizing die down, and the sizing part measures .308. So looking like i possibly didnt have the sizing die setup correctly. I am using a seperate universal decapper to deprime my brass, so i dont have to worry about the pin breaking. Gonna retry it while putting the sizer down some more and see what happens.

 

[lilboots]

OK, tried the sizing die again, with it low enough i know it was getting in all the way. Ran one piece of the Winchester through, and 1 piece of the Remington brass. The Remington measured .312 before, and .308 after running it through the die. After running the Winchester through several times, it still only measured .305. Not sure why, almost acting like the brass is soft, and sucking back in. Think I will stick with the Remington brass for now.

 

[Master Carper]

If you want to, send me your dies and a half dozen pieces of Winchester brass and give me a little time to look things over and I'll put everything back in the mail to you the following day. Then I can tell you exactly what is going on....

DAVID