I don't understand the Federal hate. It's swift brass. Soft brass lasts a long time if you don't blow out primer pockets.That looks like garbage brass to me, yup, the bottom says Winchester.
My annealing effectively triples the brass life, so, yes, I feel it is worth it.
Going on round twelve with some, allegedly soft headed, Federal brass in my 5.56 AR.
I’ll probably toss them soon because the extraction groove is getting chewed up. I’m not about to file case heads to get them to fit a shell holder…
Cracked neck
- Thread starter Twindad
- Start date
- Status
Engineer1911
member
I tumble my brass to get it clean, anneal case neck & shoulder with propane torch, battery drill & socket, lube and resize using small base RCBS X-die -- trim once and forget. I no longer have cracked necks, no need to trim anymore, and anneal again after 3rd firing. RCBS X-die and annealing ended my brass problems.
I cannot confirm that my process is perfect or correct, but it ended my brass cracking issues. Under annealing causes resizing to need more force on press handle. Annealed case body, not the base was not a problem. I shoot mid-range loads in my center fire rifle calibers.
I cannot confirm that my process is perfect or correct, but it ended my brass cracking issues. Under annealing causes resizing to need more force on press handle. Annealed case body, not the base was not a problem. I shoot mid-range loads in my center fire rifle calibers.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
The primers shown in the photo look perfect.
I know pressure will not split necks. I was trying to clam the nerves of the OP when realizing there was no excessive pressure. I'm guessing either a bad batch of brass or like said above, hardened brass.
I know pressure will not split necks. I was trying to clam the nerves of the OP when realizing there was no excessive pressure. I'm guessing either a bad batch of brass or like said above, hardened brass.
Thanks for all the good information. This is a great place to learn. I was pretty sure that there were no pressure issues, but it’s good to have that confirmed, or that there wasn’t something else unsafe going on. I’ve never annealed my brass, but I may start looking into it.
243winxb
Member
Compressed Load- Was powder up in the neck when bullets were seated? A LITTLE compression, with IMR 4064 should be ok. Wnen i tried it, compressed, not to my liking.
lightman
Member
Thats the exact reason that I bought an annealing machine. Winchesters QC really got bad back during the last shortage. I was getting a high % of split necks on the first firing.
RainDodger
Member
I anneal every case, every time. Too much trouble to keep separate records of how many times a case has been loaded. Every rifle case that I hand load.
- Status
