30/06 case neck tension problem

[Poodleshooter]

The other day I encountered an odd reloading error. On the 2nd round of a garand clip, I had a stoppage with what at first glance appeared to be an unejected case. Upon ejecting the clip, I noticed powder all through the receiver. My first thought was that a bullet had become stuck in the barrel. I checked the barrel-no bullet. Then I grabbed the ejected case- the bullet had actually been driven back into the case (I was testing Ball(C)2 which doesn't take up much volume in a 30/06 case). At home I measured the bullet-.308" just like the rest. This case was sized in a large batch, and seats easily in the chamber. However the neck tension just isn't there on this particular case. It's a relatively new 2x fired Winchester case. Has anyone else seen anything like that?
I can fix it with a FCD, but it still seems odd to me.

 

[Jwar88]

Winchester cases are generally thinner with thinner neck walls than military, also softer.... but they should work fine if your dies are doing the right thing...

I would check your expander ball diameter. Make sure that it is a couple of thousandths under your actual bullet diameter. If it is not I would fix the problem there and not rely on the FCD to solve that problem....

I have had to take a little off mine in the past in 30-06 and 308 to give more neck tension... although I haven't had the problem you are having. It is a delicate balance... take off too much and you can have some seating problems.

If everything checks out on your dies, you may just have had a mis-feed that jammed the bullet in the case... a light boat tail bullet does not have a lot of full diameter bearing surface on its shank. If that is the case a light crimp may be just enough to solve the problem... especially if the bullet has a crimping groove.

If you can't figure it out just use different brand of cases or stick with military brass for your gas guns.

 

[30Cal]

I'm guessing you're using a Lee die to size, right? I've got one of those too. Huck it and get one that is in spec.

 

[Grump]

I'd also double-check for a neck split. Those eliminate your neck tension real quick, and can happen for unexplained reasons even on the 2nd reload...

Then there were the cases last month I though were resized but weren't. But those wouldn't even pretend to hold the bullet. They were fired in a tight chamber and has *perfect* headspace.

 

[Poodleshooter]

It's not a split. There is a bit of a burr on the case mouth,however. I am using a Lee die, but it's odd that the other rounds were fine. I think I'll just hit this one with the FCD. The brass probably doesn't have more than 2 or so firings left to it in the Garand.