Proper Brass Dimension at back of .300 RUM

[Tadman1]

I am relatively new to the forum, so I hope this question is in the right spot. I just ordered and received 50 pieces of .300 "once fired" RUM brass from Gunwerks. When I opened the box, I was surprised at how much wear appeared at the back of the case (for once fired brass), but ignorantly proceeded to resize them...and trim them. They all measured at lest 2.846 after resizing. Several of them became creased in the redding resizing die, so I backed the die off the shell holder a little bit and cleaned the inside of the die. After several of the resized and trimmed cases wouldn't even come close to allowing the action to close, I noticed the excessive wear at the back of the case....possibly where the web is located..but I am not sure. The R-P brass that I have fired in that rifle measures .548 at the thickest point and this brass (well 32 pieces of it anyway) measures between .5505 and .552. Is this extra .0025 - .0040 enough to prevent the bolt from closing? I have sent Gunwerks a message asking if they had any suggestions or if they accidentally sent me brass out of the "many times fired" pile instead of the "once" fired pile..... I guess its possible that someone was just shooting loads so hot or in such a loose chamber, that these cases just won't work in a custom chamber....Hopefully someone here or someone at Gunwerks will be able to help my figure this out. The $75 shipped seemed like a good deal until I got the first casing stuck in the gun.

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

I am relatively new to the forum, so I hope this question is in the right spot. I just ordered and received 50 pieces of .300 "once fired" RUM brass from Gunwerks. When I opened the box, I was surprised at how much wear appeared at the back of the case (for once fired brass), but ignorantly proceeded to resize them...and trim them. They all measured at lest 2.846 after resizing. Several of them became creased in the redding resizing die, so I backed the die off the shell holder a little bit and cleaned the inside of the die. After several of the resized and trimmed cases wouldn't even come close to allowing the action to close, I noticed the excessive wear at the back of the case....possibly where the web is located..but I am not sure. The R-P brass that I have fired in that rifle measures .0548 at the thickest point and this brass (well 32 pieces of it anyway) measures between .05505 and .0552. Is this extra .00025 - .00040 enough to prevent the bolt from closing? I have sent Gunwerks a message asking if they had any suggestions or if they accidentally sent me brass out of the "many times fired" pile instead of the "once" fired pile..... I guess its possible that someone was just shooting loads so hot or in such a loose chamber, that these cases just won't work in a custom chamber....Hopefully someone here or someone at Gunwerks will be able to help my figure this out. The $75 shipped seemed like a good deal until I got the first casing stuck in the gun.

any cartridge name and saami " 300 rum saami " in a google search bar should get you the measurements you are seeking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.300_Remington_Ultra_Magnum

or download this and save to your computer , your caliber is on page 113
http://www.saami.org/specifications_and_information/publications/download/206.pdf

 

[Tadman1]

Thanks for the reply. I was an idiot when i wrote the original question and put the decimal in the wrong spot..... I had the shootable brass measuring .0548 rather than .548. The brass I was sent measues .5505 to .552. So, I guess the question is....how much over spec can the brass be.....at the back....and still be usable? Or is this different for every chamber? I am trying to politely figure out whether I was sent bad brass or if the custom chamber is too tight for average "once fired" brass....

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

take a lighter and get one piece completely covered in soot on the whole front half and check where making contact .

the drawing shows a slight taper that goes from .551 to 525 where are you measuring and getting .524

 

[Tadman1]

I will check that when I get home. I was sliding the brass from front to back and measuring the widest portion....and that seemed to be right around where the "belt" would be if it were a belted magnum. New brass closes easily in the chamber. Brass that has been fired 2x in my gun also closes easily.....and measures .548 at its widest point from front to back. It looks as though the brass is binding right where the "belt" would be if it were a belted magnum, but the "soot" test should give me a better idea. Thanks again for the help...

 

[Edd]

I would consider 300 RUM brass with a .552 web diameter to be scrap. I think your best option is to see if you can return the brass.

There is some new Norma brand brass listed on Snipers Hide for $1.80 each.

 

[Tadman1]

That was sorta the direction I was leaning, but haven't had a lot of experience with the 300 RUM or with receiving "once fired" brass that looked this bad. I have sent a pleasant email to Gunwerks asking for advice from them. I hope they come up with a reasonable solution. If not, I will chalk it up to "a lesson learned". Thanks everyone for the time and knowledge...

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

the custom chamber is tighter than the chamber they were fire in , which is good once you bring those in tight enough to fit , they wont be expanding and sized , back and forth in that area

you could always bail out of it , sell it to someone who doesnt have as tight of a chamber, someone will want it

 

[Tadman1]

My fear for selling it is to not be untruthful and I really dont know what I would be selling. I would sooner be the victim of a bad sale than be the perpetrator........The brass was all R-P, but it was definitley different aged stuff and shotnin different rifles. 18 pieces closed smoothly...

 

[Tadman1]

Well,
The very prompt person who confirmed my brass order within 20 minutes of placing it at Gunwerks, must not have been working today to answer my email about the crappy brass that I got. I did however talk to a nice man whose response, after I explained the situation was, " Man, it's once fired brass, I don't know what to tell you. If you had sent it back without doing anything to it, I could have given you a refund." To which i replied, "How could I have known the brass was too brittle to resize or already unusable because of the web diameter....without resizing it?" His response was very helpful.....He said "you could try annealing the entire case." I said no thanks but thanks for the good customer support. I think I will just keep the brass as valuable lesson....and hope to never have to do business there again....


Would annealing the entire case really work or even be something that is recommended? I thought the idea of annealing....was to soften the top half of the case while leaving the bottom half a little stiffer.....

 

[Edd]

That kind of response from Gunwerks surprises me.

I was expecting them to offer you the choice of a refund or replacing it.

Do you know the name of the person you talked to?

 

[Tadman1]

I didnt get his name...If I had to guess by pattern of speech, I would guess he was in his 20's to 30's, but I could be way off. I was actually surprised too....bc I had a good impression.....I guess that was really just bc of brand recognition/marketing.

 

[Wachsmann]

I never have measured mine on how far it expands at the web but annealing the whole case is something I never have heard of and really have always been told never to do. I trashes some 20 pieces of brass due to doing an oven bake at 450 to dry them out. Well it was strongly susgested to trash them all due to the possible of softting the webbing. Also for as R-P brass. 5 reloads is about it in my experience if full length sizing on the RUM. I split the case at 7 and had another do the same at 6 reloads. I have never had and issue with 5 so far. I heard one person say he trashes them after 3.

 

[Tadman1]

Thanks. I put the brass up for "free" to anyone who might have a larger chamber or might be able to use it to make key chains or something like that. So far, no takers...