Problems with Monarch Brass?

[Dacoda]

So I take my rifle to the ranch to sight it in for the beginning of deer season. All of my rounds are a mixture of my reloads. I haven't bought a factory .270 in years. In any case... first shot is on paper at 100. I don't recall the exact chain of events, but I'll notice that once in a while, the bolt will get extremely difficult to close. I shoot the round... nowhere on paper. oook.. NEXT! Pull the trigger... Bang... center mass. Maybe the last one was just a flyer? I let the bore cool in the shade for about 5 minutes between shots. Chamber the next round. Bolt is hard to close. Shoot it... nowhere on paper. hmm... NEXT!!!! (Now I'm getting frustrated). Next few rounds, all fine. Another one with a hard bolt close... So I take out the round, thinking it's the seating depth, but it's seated at the top of the cannelure. I know it can't be the trim length, cause I trim them all to the same length. Maybe I missed one? doubtful, but it's possible. I examine the round, no pushed in shoulder, no marks on the neck. Ahhh... the head is shiney. I look in the box of spent brass.... several shiney heads. Those must have been the ones that the bolt was difficult to close. I know, I'm not a genius, I'm still in the learning process. haha. in any case, I figured out (All by my lonesome) that every piece of spent Monarch brass, had that "nearly scraped off" headstamp.

Anyone else ever had a problem with reloading Monarch brass? I think the headstamp says NNY or something. I actually started reloading .270's for a friend of mine, who NEVER had a problem with this stuff... Only my rifle does. And assuming it's just a thicker rim? Why would that affect the bullet so much? or could it be something else?

The rifle is a Smith & Wesson 1500.
Any suggestions on what to do? If anything at all... Or just stop shooting Monarch brass?

Thanks.
Dacoda

 

[Kawabuggy]

A bolt that is hard to close on a reload is usually a result of a cartridge that has not been sized properly for that chamber, or the bullet is seated out too far and contacting the rifling, or the brass may need to be trimmed as if it is too long it will pinch the bullet as you seat the cartridge (close the bolt) in the chamber.

I don't think the brass is your problem. Plus, if your shots are missing by as large a margin as you are expressing, I'd think you have two problems: a cartridge sizing issue, and potentially a loose scope, scope rings, mounts, or faulty scope.

Cartridge reloading=Fail. Go back to square one. Do not fire your rifle again until you have read the ABC's of reloading, and have the tools necessary to measure cartridge head-space, and can verify that your reloads fall within the specifications of your specific chamber.

 

[y5e06]

NNY

NNY head stamp is actually PRVI. so your monarch brass is just reboxed PRVI.
I've used lots of NNY in 30-06, 7.5 swiss, 8mm Mauser, and x54R. narry a problem with the brass. your reloading results are suspicious. pull the bullets out of the unfired cases, deprime, resize & trim, and load as a dummy round. recheck your chambering again. take measurements of shoulder position, neck size, various diameters etc before & after resizing.
if you fired all your brass then they'll be fire formed now and should fit your rifle well with just a neck sizing... assuming your issue was just case prep problem. Load a bullet as a dummy round and recheck chambering.

 

[ArtP]

To prove it to yourself, that it's the cases or your methods, try a factory "monarch" or "NNY". You'll know instantly.

Next time you get a sticky one, unchamber it and save it. Take it home and "caliper" every inch until you find the problem. OR color the case with a felt pen (let dry) and rechamber and see where it leaves marks. Get creative.

BTW - I have a friend with a factory rifle which leaves those same swirl marks, but it's with all ammo and is caused by a headspace issue with a certain brand rifle manufacturer that is known to have easily replaceable barrels.

 

[Dacoda]

A bolt that is hard to close on a reload is usually a result of a cartridge that has not been sized properly for that chamber, or the bullet is seated out too far and contacting the rifling, or the brass may need to be trimmed as if it is too long it will pinch the bullet as you seat the cartridge (close the bolt) in the chamber.

I don't think the brass is your problem. Plus, if your shots are missing by as large a margin as you are expressing, I'd think you have two problems: a cartridge sizing issue, and potentially a loose scope, scope rings, mounts, or faulty scope.

Cartridge reloading=Fail. Go back to square one. Do not fire your rifle again until you have read the ABC's of reloading, and have the tools necessary to measure cartridge head-space, and can verify that your reloads fall within the specifications of your specific chamber.

kawabuggy, I guess I wasn't specific enough, sorrry. I trim ALL my cases to the exact same length. This means LC, RP, Winchester, NNY AND Federal. The ONLY ones giving me the problem, are NNY Brass. Do you STILL think it's not a Brass Issue?

Also, I didn't do the felt pen test, but visually, there were no other rub indicators on the cartridge case. No other case has this problem. I'm thinking maybe the rim is just a hair thicker than all of the other different cases in which I'm not having any problems with. And that maybe the scraped up head is being caused by the distance from the bolt face to the extractor claw? Has anyone ever heard of an issue like this? Oh, I haven't put the cases in a caliper yet, I know, I know.... instead of typing, I should be investigating. Also, every other one of my rounds fired perfectly, decent grouping. Only having this problem with the NNY cases.

Thanks,
Dacoda

 

[ArtP]

Also, I didn't do the felt pen test, but visually, there were no other rub indicators on the cartridge case. No other case has this problem. I'm thinking maybe the rim is just a hair thicker than all of the other different cases in which I'm not having any problems with. .... instead of typing, I should be investigating. Also, every other one of my rounds fired perfectly, decent grouping. Only having this problem with the NNY cases.

Thanks,
Dacoda

You don't have any calipers, huh? They're $20, go get yourself some. They're useful for other stuff too.

 

[rbernie]

Do you STILL think it's not a Brass Issue?

Yes, I do. Prvi is fine brass and I've used it without issue in 270 and 30-06 and 223.

I suspect that your resizing die is not set up properly, and that the Prvi brass was simply previously shot in a rifle with a larger/longer chamber than your rifle whereas the other brass was shot in chambers closer to your current rifle's. I have had that happen to me, and it took me a while to figure it out.

Go check your sizing die and make sure that it makes FIRM contact with the shell holder. If it does not, set it up that way and make a small run of Prvi cased ammo to see if this helps....

I also found that one of my bolt rifles had such a small chamber that I needed to get a small-base die to get all of the 'once fired' brass that I bought to resize properly to fit it. Again, that's not a brass brand issue; it's related to the chamber spec on the rifle that was used to PREVIOUSLY fire the round coupled with the dimensions of the current chamber and the sizing die that's being used.

Remember - a full length sizing die doesn't actually size the brass down to as-new dimensions but to something larger and not all the way down the web. If you buy/scrounge brass, you will eventually find some pieces that are dimensionally an issue even after 'normal' resizing.

 

[rhubarb]

I have found that 223 PPU is a bit bigger at the case head than other cases. Sometimes I have difficulty getting them into or out of shell holders. Not my favorite 223 brass, but I've never had a malfunction with reloaded PPU brass in my AR. I have enough 223 brass that I put PPU into my "rainy day" bucket. I load quite a bit of 223.

I have not had the same experience in 30-06. The PPU brass I've used for 30-06 is not noticeably different from any other brand and works fine in all respects. I don't load much 30-06.

That said, I would suspect like rbernie that it is a sizing issue.