Cold gives a good excuse to work the bench. Did have to brave the 15 degrees to test the ladder though.
I also started the tedious prep on 200 new-to-me 30/06 casings last night. I know it's likely overkill, but when I get new brass I always uniform the flash hole, do a full super polish, shine up the primer pocket, trim, chamfer, deburr etc. Most importantly, I inspect the brass. which was good in this case --- out of the first bag of 100 "once-fired" I got from a reputable local shop here I found
94 - Good to go
5 - Good, but were actually 270 Win
1 - Good, but was actually 25/06
2 - Dents in bad places = throwout
1 - Split neck = throwout
The most concerning was the split neck, because that is not something I'd ever expect on once-fired, so it makes me trust the lot less. I haven't even looked at the second bag of 100, but I'm sure as heck checking all headstamps and necks first.
94 - Good to go
5 - Good, but were actually 270 Win
1 - Good, but was actually 25/06
2 - Dents in bad places = throwout
1 - Split neck = throwout
The most concerning was the split neck, because that is not something I'd ever expect on once-fired, so it makes me trust the lot less. I haven't even looked at the second bag of 100, but I'm sure as heck checking all headstamps and necks first.
I had a neighbor that bought Hornady Lever evolution ammo for his 30-30 Marlin.
He knew I reloaded and gave me the box of 1 time fired 30-30 Hornady brass.
Just about all the cases had splits in the shoulder.
I contacted Hornady and they wanted my neighbor to contact them.
Hornady shipped 2 new boxes of the same ammo to him.
They wanted him to shoot 1 20 count box and send it back to them for inspection and he could keep the other box and do whatever he wanted to do with it.
That box he sent back had already paid shipping from Hornady and No split shoulders in that batch.
Seems some cases got a little too hard or missed the annealing temp a bit after forming the brass.
I anneal all my rifle cases each time before resizing.
Not really because I am worried about split necks but because I get even bullet seating forces and better accuracy.
I met a guy that has 1 time fired .243 brass, I did not buy it due to the case head had multiple dents from firing pin hole.
Multiple times fired and hot loads at that.
I pointed that out to him you can believe that.
Interesting data point there for sure. I'm definitely curious about your annealing setup. I've looked at the AMP machine (awesome and pricey) and a few others like the annealeez, Anneal-Rite, etc. All seem to have pros and cons in terms of features and price points.
You need different heat times with thin cases like winchester and thicker cases like R-P or Lapua.
Time in the flame will also need to change when you go from 30 cal to say .223.
WSSM cases have a very thick neck and times there will be longer.
Now you could just make the thinner smaller necks a bit more annealed and does it make a difference if it is in the flame longer.
In my testing NO it is not any different.
An older post of annealing I made.
https://www.okshooters.com/threads/annealing-temp-indicator-sharpie.223670/
Time in the flame will also need to change when you go from 30 cal to say .223.
WSSM cases have a very thick neck and times there will be longer.
Now you could just make the thinner smaller necks a bit more annealed and does it make a difference if it is in the flame longer.
In my testing NO it is not any different.
An older post of annealing I made.
https://www.okshooters.com/threads/annealing-temp-indicator-sharpie.223670/
I had a little time this week also
77gn Nosler
69gn SMK
ZMAX 7.62x39 123gn
300BO SMK 125gn
77gn Nosler
69gn SMK
ZMAX 7.62x39 123gn
300BO SMK 125gn
Similar threads
