Short brass? 300 WinMag

[igotta40]

While going through my neck sizing & trimming steps on my once fired brass, out of a hundred or so I came up with about a dozen short ones. It’s not a single brand. It’s a mix of Hornady and WW Winchester and one Barnes case. The Winchester was new brass. None were short when loaded the first time.

Max length is 2.620, trim length is 2.610. This dozen or so run 2.597 up to 2.607, mostly 2.604.

Only 2 were in need of trimming, but not much. Was that because I neck sized?

My question is, do I toss these as unusable, what’s the issue with loading them? Need advice, cause I really don’t know, I’m a novice hand loader. thanks.

 

[troy fairweather]

Common, starline sells brass that is a little longer. 10-15 thou even won't matter trim everything to the shortest case.

 

[Blue68f100]

While going through my neck sizing & trimming steps on my once fired brass, out of a hundred or so I came up with about a dozen short ones. It’s not a single brand. It’s a mix of Hornady and WW Winchester and one Barnes case. The Winchester was new brass. None were short when loaded the first time.

Max length is 2.620, trim length is 2.610. This dozen or so run 2.597 up to 2.607, mostly 2.604.

Only 2 were in need of trimming, but not much. Was that because I neck sized?

My question is, do I toss these as unusable, what’s the issue with loading them? Need advice, cause I really don’t know, I’m a novice hand loader. thanks.

Load them up and use them. They will eventually grow so they will need trimming.

The reason you may have not stretched is your sized the brass with minimal shoulder set back. Which is what I strive for. You will get a lot of use out brass without case head separation. Your primers pockets may loosen up first.

 

[243winxb]

Minimum length is 2.600" after full length sizing. See SAAMI.

 

[AJC1]

Your case is expanding in diameter to fill your chamber. The opposite happens when you size. The die is reducing the diameter and the length increases. It appears this is common and that's why some companies sell longer versions. You may find you need to size right above the belt, and that specialty die is running over a hundred dollars. I'm curious if a custom die will prevent the need of the special collet die and give the best brass life????

 

[Kaldor]

Your case is expanding in diameter to fill your chamber. The opposite happens when you size. The die is reducing the diameter and the length increases. It appears this is common and that's why some companies sell longer versions. You may find you need to size right above the belt, and that specialty die is running over a hundred dollars. I'm curious if a custom die will prevent the need of the special collet die and give the best brass life????

Are you talking about the one from Larry Willis? I may be buying one of these in the near future to try and squeeze a few more firings out of some 257 Weatherby Magnum brass. Factory brass is Nosler, and we arent leaning on it real hard trying to keep the primer pockets intact. Im only bumping shoulders 3 thou, but even then we can see some issues chambering caused by the case getting fat above the belt. Nothing major yet, but you can feel it as the bolt cams closed, and if you marker the brass up, you can see where its getting rubbed.

@igotta40 I wouldnt worry about a whole lot. If you have a few short cases, just load them up, they will stretch. I wouldnt waste the time trimming every case the same length. Just trim to 2.61" which halfway between minimum (2.60) and maximum (2.62). The others? Just deburr/chamfer and load em. One thing you can do with belted magnum brass is only bump the shoulders 2-3 thou and allow the case to sit on the shoulder in the chamber vs the belt. Peterson makes brass that is long from new which allows you to just headspace on the shoulder instead of the belt without having to stretch out the factory brass so much. By doing this you will extend the life span of your brass as it will eventually stop stretching so much every firing.

 

[AJC1]

Are you talking about the one from Larry Willis? I may be buying one of these in the near future to try and squeeze a few more firings out of some 257 Weatherby Magnum brass. Factory brass is Nosler, and we arent leaning on it real hard trying to keep the primer pockets intact. Im only bumping shoulders 3 thou, but even then we can see some issues chambering caused by the case getting fat above the belt. Nothing major yet, but you can feel it as the bolt cams closed, and if you marker the brass up, you can see where its getting rubbed.

@igotta40 I wouldnt worry about a whole lot. If you have a few short cases, just load them up, they will stretch. I wouldnt waste the time trimming every case the same length. Just trim to 2.61" which halfway between minimum (2.60) and maximum (2.62). The others? Just deburr/chamfer and load em. One thing you can do with belted magnum brass is only bump the shoulders 2-3 thou and allow the case to sit on the shoulder in the chamber vs the belt. Peterson makes brass that is long from new which allows you to just headspace on the shoulder instead of the belt without having to stretch out the factory brass so much. By doing this you will extend the life span of your brass as it will eventually stop stretching so much every firing.

I have a few pieces of that brass it's got the oddest neck junction. I can't believe the number of people here that shoot Weatherby and don't reload. I met one yesterday, said he paid 109 for a box of ammo. I don't bother with Weatherby brass as there isn't people who want it.

 

[Kaldor]

I have a few pieces of that brass it's got the oddest neck junction. I can't believe the number of people here that shoot Weatherby and don't reload. I met one yesterday, said he paid 109 for a box of ammo. I don't bother with Weatherby brass as there isn't people who want it.

Yeah, that double curved neck and shoulder is trippy. I wasnt sure I could push the shoulder on it, but I annealed it, and I just push them back 3 thou so the bolt closes nice.
And your right, it stupid expensive. Last my buddy looked it was $75 a box, if he could find it. Luckily he has about 150 pieces of brass in good condition, but he really doesnt want to buy new brass when we can extend the life with that collet die for less money.
Shes a barrel burner though. We arent loading hot though, I talked him right out of that as he only shoots 200 yards at most, when I told him what a new barrel would cost. Its a nice rifle though. Will put 2 into a dime cold bore, then the 3rd is 2" high every time. Then you should stop because its hot and wont group at all.

 

[FROGO207]

Yep, use the brass. Unless you are crimping the neck you will never notice them being short and they will grow to length. Conventional wisdom states that as long as there is at least one caliber of neck contact it should give good neck tension and work. This is unless the brass headspaces on the mouth as in 30 Carbine, 9MM or such.