Issues With WCC Brass

Yesterday I was priming up some Blackout brass converted from .223. Everything was generally going well until a case launched out of my Bench Prime. The offending case had a WCC 05 headstamp (it somehow got primed though!). I put it to the side and kept on priming. Before too long I had the same problem again - also a WCC 05 case.

I checked the Bench Prime to make sure nothing was amiss there - it wasn't - then I went back to priming. That is, until the third case launched out of the shell holder. This one was a WCC 15.

I ended up going through all the brass I had ready to prime and pulled out all the WCC headstamps. Every single one of them was undersized at the rim! These all ended up in the trash.

Has anyone else had a problem with WCC brass being undersized? I'm sure I must have used some in the past but I can't ever recall an issue like this.

higgite said:

They aren't undersized. The original primers were crimped in at the factory. That forms a lip around the pocket that holds the primer securely in place. To reload them, you need to either swage or ream the primer pocket. All of the WCC cases I've seen have crimped primer pockets.

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I wasn't talking about the primers. The entire piece of brass departed the shell holder. All the crimps on the brass mentioned have already been removed. As it happens, I also have a large batch of Lake City brass, some with the crimp removed, some without. All of those stayed in the shell holder.

ETA: the WCC brass pushed out with virtually no effort.

FROGO207 said:

The rims might be a bit smaller on that brass. Are you using the Lee primer tool with the almost fits anything shell holders? Might be the issue coupled with tight primer pockets due to not removing enough crimp.

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I am using the Auto Prime shell holders. They are the only ones that fit.

higgite said:

How much were the rims "undersized"? What's the measured diameter?
Which bench primer were you using?

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These have a rim measuring .354 to .358. Nominal diameter should be .378 (my LC cases measure about .372).

FROGO207 said:

I am not at the bench presently but the shell holder was a #4? I have had no problems with mine for 25 years. The #4 that you used to deprime did work though? Or not lee dies. I believe your shell holder may be bad or marked wrong. At least you have figured out a remedy. I would be trying to prime them on press or with a Ram Prime if there were a substantial number of them though. YMMV

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I dont have a lot of WCC brass in Blackout. I deprime on a Dillon which uses a shellplate. I have been having a piece of brass pop out of that every now and again when loading Blackout. Guess I'll have to check those.

The #4 is out of Lee's Auto Prime kit (its a red box). Never had issues with it before. I think the issue was the WCC rims were all consistently .020 undersized. That's a lot of material to be missing.

Oh I didn't convert it! It came that way. I looked into getting the bits and pieces together to convert them myself but I found a good supply of pre-converted brass for a price I was willing to pay.

db_tanker said:

WCC is from Western Cartridge Company not Winchester. I have a large amount of WCC 01 headstamp as well as LC from different years and other stuff.

Using both Lee and RCBS shell holders I've had no issues with them. I'm thinking that the OP has just had the misfortune of getting a bad batch of brass. But I have to ask have you tried them in a different shell holder just to see?

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The Dillon shellplate likely held these since they were successfully deprimed. I can't be sure however as some have snuck out and it could have been these same cases.

db_tanker said:

I do remember that the Winchester white box Q3131a (where my WCC 01 headstamp came from) was listed as Made in Israel. I also remember that the Q3131 (no "a") was listed as made in the USA and had a Winchester headstamp. I know this has bugger all to do with the OP's original issue of course.

Not sure which Dillon you are using but experience on my Square Deal B I do know that I had to send it back to Dillon once for a tune-up/re-spring, etc etc. All I had to do was pay for the shipping to them. They covered the rest.

D

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I bought my Dillon used. It could use a rebuild but that will have to wait a few years yet. As far as the carousel and immediate parts those are in good shape.