Are these safe to shoot ?

[brow_tines]

30.06 test loads with IMR 4064 and 150 grain Hornady SST, test loads ranging from 48-50.5. I must have had my seating die messed up, most are fine but you can see the shoulder bumped back on the one on the left. I'm thinking it'll be fine and fire-form out? Just looking for peace of mind and advice, thank you

 

[CLP]

I'd be surprised if that one on the left would even chamber...
Looks like it's destined for the scrap bucket.

 

[rondog]

I'll shoot dang near anything, but I don't think I'd shoot THAT! Might be OK, but I'd expect very high pressures. Not worth the risk IMO. The one on the right looks perfect though.

 

[gamestalker]

You either failed to chamfer the mouth, which caused the bullet hang up on the mouth when seating, which pushed it down, collapsing the the shoulder.

Or your seating die is down too far and started to crimp the mouth, thus collapsing the shoulder.

Either way, I doubt it will even chamber at all. If you can pull the bullet and powder, you should be able to fix it well enough to resize and start over, maybe?

FYI, don't crimp bottle neck cartridges unless they are to be used in a tubular magazine or machine gun.

How to adjust a seating die- Put an empty cartridge in the shell holder, thread the seating die in until you feel it contact the case mouth, back it out 2 turns. Then adjust the seating stem only to the desired seating depth.

GS

 

[brow_tines]

Thanks for the advice, I'll dismantle them and start fresh.

 

[spitballer]

Case length. May need trimming. Don't fire it if it's too long, that's asking for trouble.

 

[jeeptim]

DO OVER. Properly trim load shoot and repeat.
Not worth the risk or the fight to get it to chamber.
If it will chamber I think you have far bigger problems.
Live and learn.

 

[Pit4Brains]

That's why we all have pullers..
:banghead:

 

[mstreddy]

Some of my first 30-06 looked like those. I realized it after sizing a small batch. Reset the seating die. As to the pieces of brass, I ran them through the resizer and they ironed out. They've since been loaded and have passed a Wilson case gage.

 

[witchhunter]

Make sure and check length since they have been sized again. It could have been too long to begin with.

 

[herkyguy]

I did something similar with my first batch of .308. I think it was a result of improper die seating. Mine were not as bent as yours, but were snug once loaded. They did shoot just fine and have since been reloaded with no issues.

Probably wasn't the be best idea to shoot them. I'm still here to talk a out it though.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Don't bother crimping anymore. That's what can happen, even worse it will not be visually evident. Then you'll need to shoot and it won't chamber. Back off the seat die.

 

[flyguy958]

Good choice.

 

[Elkins45]

It does look like a seating die problem. I have had that happen when the neck/bullet were too fat to slip into the narrow straight area where the seater stem is located, and it shoves the neck downward.

What brand of dies?

 

[WelshShooter]

I did a similar thing when I started loading .223rem. I have RCBS dies and I put too much crimp on the seating die and my rounds looked exactly the same as yours on the left. I didn't notice until I was at the range, the bolt wouldn't fully close, maybe 10 to 20 degrees of rotation short of closing. I pulled them and full length sized.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Maybe I'm different but if they fit in the chamber I would shoot them.

 

[Gtscotty]

I've made cases that look just like that before, your seating die settings are honked up and it's trying to super-crimp your cases. I don't crimp any rifle cases, even the ones meant to feed my AR-15/10's.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Maybe I'm different but if they fit in the chamber I would shoot them.

"fowler loads"

I cut a hunting trip short for my son last year. He has a Ruger compact M77 7-08 that kicks like a mule. I had the bright idea of putting a "lite" crimp on his hunting ammo. Long story short- I failed to trim the brass on one of his loads and during a follow up shot the round would not chamber. Doh!

A follow up with gauges determined that I'd produced a lemon in a baket of cherries.

 

[Sunray]

As mentioned, the one won't chamber. Seater is set too low. Not in any way unsafe though. Have a few myself.