Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ask John Barsness Questions about "RIFLE BRASS."

John,

I just discoverd that it seems to be happening when I decap and full length resize I use Forester dies and reload for several rifles but this is the only caliber 300wsm that is giving me trouble. I purchased the K&M tool as suggested by forum members after use it seemed ok so I decided to try and run it thru the die after turning, seems the dreaded donut was back not as severe ?
Would this be my expander ball I lube the inside of all necks prior to resizing.

The donut is formed by the thicker shoulder brass starting to move into the base of the neck as cases are fired and resized. The severity depends on many things, including how well your dies and rifle chamber match up. Some cases are also more susceptible to stretching.

You might try backing your sizing die off just a hair and see if that helps, but once the cases develop a donut about all that can be done is ream it out.

JB, I'd very much appreciate your thoughts on whether there is any need to crimp either the .375 H&H or the 9.3 X62.

Thanks in advance!

I don't crimp either one and haven't had any problems.

Thanks very much.

John,

I did a little checking last night and it is absolutley happening in the die without the decaping assembly. I inserted a case that I had reamed into the press with the die just touching the shell holder (No cam over) the case came out with a slight donut that would not let me insert a pilot. I inserted another case with the die just off the shell holder no Donut so I emailed Forster because with the die just off the shell holder the round caused slight resistance when closing the bolt and this is a hunting rifle(NULA). Brass was trimmed to the proper length. Have you ever seen any dies with this problem?

How did you adjust your die when setting it up? Did you just screw the die down onto the shell-holder? Or did you started with the die a little off the shell-holder and experiment until sized cases just fit in the chamber?

It sounds like your cases are being slightly over-sized, the reason the thicker shoulder brass is ending up in the bottom of the neck.

K&M's Carbide Arbor has 4 sharp flutes that cut that donut so easily I usually don't notice it when the arbor cuts/shaves the donut off the interior of the neck/shoulder junction.

I started with it touching the shell holder. I relize now that in some cases I may need to move the die up until I get the right fit without getting the donut. I am surprised that out of the 7 rifle calibers that I load for that this one requires a different set up. I have experimented with this before but just figured that my rifles are used for mostly hunting and that I should worry more about feed than perfect fit.

John, Maybe I missed this in the thread, but have you ever compared accuracy between lets say Rem, Win and Fed brass to see any difference?

Well, yeah, in a way. I always sort brass for neck thickness, since that's the primary factor in accuracy. Some batches of new brass will have a higher reject rate than others--but I have never seen any vast difference in the average, overall between those brands.

John:

You mention in the article that brass may be made by company x and then company y's headstamp is added. Who makes most of the brass in the US? Is this something that happens between lots?

Scott

I dunno which company makes the most brass in the U.S., but it would have to be Federal, Remington or Winchester--or if some of the smaller companies switch makers between lots, though I suspect that happens once in a while.

randyb63,
I believe you may be bumping the shoulder back when you resize touching the shell holder. Do you have a way to check the headspace on your brass?
Butch

My .260 has been replaced with a .243, and consequentially I have a good supply of .260 brass that I am considering "necking down" to .243. I understand that buying .243 brass is a simple solution, and I could probably sell the .260 brass, but would be grateful for your comments on the advisability of necking down and suggestions for the proper way to do it.

Many thanks in advance (once again!) for your insight.

Necking down brass would certainly work, and necking down generally results in better accuracy than necking up, for a couple of reasons. But it would be advisable to anneal the .260 brass, since necking down work-hardens brass considerably.

Sometimes in necking down, the necks become too thick for proper chamber clearance. I doubt that would happen with .260 brass in a standard .243 chamber, but who knows? The way to check is to seat a .243 bullet in the necked-down brass, and then measure the diameter of the neck. SAAMI specifies no more than .276" for .243 brass with a bullet seated.

Many thanks! Am I correct in presuming that simply running the .260 brass through the .243 die will do the trick?

Yep!

Thank you John. I really appreciate this and all the other advice!

I have a remington model 660 6mm with a thumb hole grip in great condition, does any one ahve an idea what it is worth