Cause for neck splitting?

[Daryl]

By "case will grow" - yes, it will lengthen and sooner or later need to be "trimmed to length". I have rifles that have shot only neck-sized cartridges - NEVER have the cases been full length sized, nor did they need to be.
I have read that some folks have to "bump" the shoulders of ctgs. time to time, but that is due to them using very hot loads.
I, myself have been accused of using very hot loads in these rifles of mine, however, partial full length sizing where only part of the neck is sized is all that I have ever had to do.
That loading includes getting 3,340fps with 40gr. bullets in a CZ .22Hornet & 3,650fps for 40gr. bullets as a steady diet in a .218Bee Ruger #1 & partial neck sizing only (1/2 the neck). 14,000rounds with 500 original cases, both rifles.

[Daryl]

Oh yes - btw - necks split for one reason only, literally, the brass is too hard for the amount of expansion that is happening when they are fired. period - no other reason.

If brass is soft enough, it can be expanded from .33 caliber neck, out straight to .50 calibre with one shot- without damage. I've done this, but the brass was "softened" (annealed) before it was loaded and shot.

[mefizto]

Hi Daryl,

thank you for the reply. Without singling you out, your first message exemplifies the problem with trying to obtain information. As it reads, you have only been trimming and neck sizing, never bumping back shoulders or full body resizing. Other people reported the need to full body resize every two-three neck resizing.

Now, it is entirely possible to ascribe the difference to different loads, different barrel chamber, etc. Again, your number of per case reloads is impressive - 70.

So what I decided to do is to measure and log the critical cases' dimension after each firing, and proceed accordingly.

I am no metallurgist, so I did not realize that an expansion given in your example is possible, hence my question if the 0.008 inches in my case is not excessive.

Kindest regards,

M

[Oso Polaris]

Originally Posted by mefizto

Hi Dean2,
Hi Oso Polaris,

thank you for the advice. I can borrow a collet puller, so that is not a problem. But I am uncertain, how do I remove the primers. If I use resizing die with the rod, will the primer go off? I have to do some reading about it.

Kindest regards,

M

The safest way to remove the primers is by using a sizing die or universal decapping die. The primer has three (3) basic components: primer cup; anvil (small pyramid/cone shaped metal piece that gets compressed against primer pocket when firing pin hits primer; and primer powder/chemical compound that ignites under the strike of firing pin. The anvil is designed to be compressed when struck from the outside (one direction). Long and short is that when you are depriming a case, you are applying force from the opposite direction so very low probability of causing it to detonate, Slow even pressure on your press will ensure safety. When I am dealing with depriming cases that still have a live primer I wear ear protection as a precaution.

[Bayou City Boy]

Originally Posted by Daryl

Oh yes - btw - necks split for one reason only, literally, the brass is too hard for the amount of expansion that is happening when they are fired. period - no other reason.

If brass is soft enough, it can be expanded from .33 caliber neck, out straight to .50 calibre with one shot- without damage. I've done this, but the brass was "softened" (annealed) before it was loaded and shot.

This is the simplest and most straight forward way to explain the issue, Daryl. In order for brass to expand a little or a lot, it has to be malleable. If its not, it will split and crack.

As for live primers, they can be removed by the decapping rod as has been described. However there is no fool proof way to remove live primers from a cartridge case. The most reliable method is slower but much safer. Simply pull the bullet, dump the powder out of the cartridge, go out in the garage or somewhere similar where the noise won't be a factor for anyone else, put on some hearing protection for yourself, place the primed cartridge into the rifle chamber, point the barrel is a safe direction, and pull the trigger to fire the primer. A fired primer will shoot a flame out of a rifle barrel so consider that factor also in choosing where to point the rifle barrel. Then decap the fired primer as per regular.

Why is it the safest in my opinion...? I have an acquaintance who had removed beaucoup live primers from cartridge cases before one didn't cooperate. The primer went bang and flew out of the cartridge case though the normal dump route on the press. After that it embedded itself about 3/4" into the flesh on the inside of his right thigh. Not good.......... Live primers can be extremely dangerous. This happened quite a few years ago, but I haven't seen or heard of any extra safety measures added to rifle primers since then.

In addition to the hearing protection previously mentioned, you might want to consider eye protection (which is a must any time you are reloading) as well as body protection if you want to make a career of removing live primers from cartridge cases. A loose flying primer can go anywhere....... which they can do with considerable velocity involved.

JMO - BCB

[flyrod]

Originally Posted by Daryl

Oh yes - btw - necks split for one reason only, literally, the brass is too hard for the amount of expansion that is happening when they are fired. period - no other reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season_cracking

[Bayou City Boy]

Originally Posted by flyrod

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season_cracking

Boy, howdy......... This will result in maybe 6-8 more pages.....

-BCB

[flyrod]

Who knows where his cases have been...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_embrittlement

[mefizto]

Hi Oso Polaris, Bayou City Boy,

yest the two methods that you describing is, what I learnt in a meanwhile, so thank you for the confirmation.

I decide if I "feel lucky" to try the former method, I would definitely wear ear and eye protection and put a blanket over the press in addition. Paranoia is sometimes great.

Hi flyrod,

thank you for the interesting links.

Kindest regards,

M

[georgeld]

Wow, you really opened the can of worms!

YES I wrote 60 reloads from those .222mag cases.

Far as decapping live primers. Just go real easy with the pin
and they'll come right out. I feel fairly sure I've pushed a couple
thousand out over the years. So far I've never popped one.

BCB: Far as costs go, they're getting close to $30/1000 these days.
Back years ago when I started reloading they cost 25 cents/100.
Bullets were $5.25 for Hornady's best. Others were even cheaper.
Powder was 50 cents a pound. Gas was 25 cents or once I even
saw it sell for a dime a gallon. (Yeah I am that old!)

Nothing compares to those prices these days. Most of us reload to get more
ammo out of our dollars allotted to the game. Others do it for better ammo.
Or special needs on rare or wildcat cartridges.

Save a few cents by pushing live primers out. It's safe IF it's done easy,
if the case is rammed up in the die sure it may very well fire. That's where
the trouble is.

Good luck kid, sounds like you need to find someone local with a history of
reloading for years to mentor you. Ask your supply store, gun club, or at the
public range, or even put an add in the paper.

Where in CA are you? Quite a few others on here are still out there in Pelosi's
land.