split cases
- Thread starter retiredcpo
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roaddog1m
Well-Known Member
retiredcpo .......
You described a very common symptom. This happens when you bump the shoulder back too far during resizing. However, Neck sizing isn't the best solution. Continue to FL resize, just do it more accurately. Check out the two items on this page
Headspace separations can be dangerous. This picture shows what your cases look like on the inside. That's where the damage begins. It can be totally avoided by "measuring" the setback of your case shoulder and setting your die height accurately - don't guess at it.
- Innovative
Hey Chief,
I also have an Encore. I had this trouble recently myself. I don't think it's the chamber, it's just the sizing die. Back it out about a turn then size one. See if it fits in the chamber still. If it won't, start screwing it back in an eighth of a turn at a time and running it back thru. Then check each time to see if it chambers.
I was pushing my shoulder back too far. A little die adjustment and I'm good as new.
Good Luck Shipmate!
Innovative
Well-Known Member
Roaddog1m .......
Better than guessing your die height (one eighth of a turn at a time) try comparing your handloads (at the shoulder) to one of your fired cases. Read my website to find the easiest way to do that.
- Innovative
Better than guessing your die height (one eighth of a turn at a time) try comparing your handloads (at the shoulder) to one of your fired cases. Read my website to find the easiest way to do that.
- Innovative
boomtube
Well-Known Member
"boomtube, can you usually see the shiney ring before case polishing?"
Usually? I dunno, that's kinda strong and I strongly suspect that would depend a whole lot on how highly polised the case was before firing. Actually, it's been a LOOONG time since I've seen that "shiney ring" it was before tumbling/polishing became popular.
I started reloading when most loading rooms were caves we carved ourselves. We had very little printed info to help us and not many fancy tools to use. We cleaned our cases with a damp cloth and loaded them, surface oxidation meant nothing (still doesn't mean a lot to many of us old guys) so the "incepient" stretch ring was quite visible if we bothered to look. If we saw it we knew we were excessively sizing and took steps to resize correctly.
No one back then did any "partial FL sizing", whatever that is. We did custom resizing to make our cases fit right. (I'm still puzzled about the lack of real meaning to "partial FL sizing"; to me, that can mean anything from a thousanth off the shell holder to sizing only a thousanth of the mouth!) ALL FL sizing to SAAMI dimensions does is to make sure ammo so made will chamber in any rifle ever made in that cartridge; what reloader cares about that? Custom sizing means something specific, that means it fits right. What we really want to do is make our ammo fit our rifle, perfectly, and there's nothing "partial" about that.
Read Larry's article. He will describe how to custom resize and get it right. That's a large part of what hand loading is about, as opposed to reloading which generally suggests just cramming cases fully into the size die, willy-nilly, with no regard to how well it actually fits. And that can easily lead to case seperations and the common suggestion to not reuse a case but 4-5 times. I often get 3-4 times that many uses and my cases fail due to neck splits, not head seperations.
One thing that may help with your die adjustments is knowing how much you are changing and what the headspace range really is. Our dies are 14 turns to the inch, so they move .07143" per turn. That means 1/8th turn is almost .009", a lot of change really. The typical total range of shoulder headspace for bottle neck cartridges, belt or no belt, is about .007" so a 1/8 turn will exceed that total range (plus a high percentage more) for a SAAMI fit! Reducing case stretch to a minimum requires MUCH smaller turns! I strive to restore resized shoulders to the fired lenghts, no less is really needed because the fired case has already shrunk back a tad from full chamber length.
Larry's excellant "Innovative" shoulder length gage or the RCBS Precision Case Mic or the Hornady LnL/Sinclair case tools with a dial/digital caliper will allow you to measure the head-to-shoulder lengths in thousanths. That makes proper die adjustments fast and easy, no need to fiddle around with the rifle itself as we once did.
I just LOVE all the "new" case measuring tools and micrometer seaters and hand-held neck turners and chronographs and Lee Collet neck sizer dies! And, yeah, tumblers are nice too. Digital powder scales/dumpsters suck tho, IM (not so) HO.
Usually? I dunno, that's kinda strong and I strongly suspect that would depend a whole lot on how highly polised the case was before firing. Actually, it's been a LOOONG time since I've seen that "shiney ring" it was before tumbling/polishing became popular.
I started reloading when most loading rooms were caves we carved ourselves. We had very little printed info to help us and not many fancy tools to use. We cleaned our cases with a damp cloth and loaded them, surface oxidation meant nothing (still doesn't mean a lot to many of us old guys) so the "incepient" stretch ring was quite visible if we bothered to look. If we saw it we knew we were excessively sizing and took steps to resize correctly.
No one back then did any "partial FL sizing", whatever that is. We did custom resizing to make our cases fit right. (I'm still puzzled about the lack of real meaning to "partial FL sizing"; to me, that can mean anything from a thousanth off the shell holder to sizing only a thousanth of the mouth!) ALL FL sizing to SAAMI dimensions does is to make sure ammo so made will chamber in any rifle ever made in that cartridge; what reloader cares about that? Custom sizing means something specific, that means it fits right. What we really want to do is make our ammo fit our rifle, perfectly, and there's nothing "partial" about that.
Read Larry's article. He will describe how to custom resize and get it right. That's a large part of what hand loading is about, as opposed to reloading which generally suggests just cramming cases fully into the size die, willy-nilly, with no regard to how well it actually fits. And that can easily lead to case seperations and the common suggestion to not reuse a case but 4-5 times. I often get 3-4 times that many uses and my cases fail due to neck splits, not head seperations.
One thing that may help with your die adjustments is knowing how much you are changing and what the headspace range really is. Our dies are 14 turns to the inch, so they move .07143" per turn. That means 1/8th turn is almost .009", a lot of change really. The typical total range of shoulder headspace for bottle neck cartridges, belt or no belt, is about .007" so a 1/8 turn will exceed that total range (plus a high percentage more) for a SAAMI fit! Reducing case stretch to a minimum requires MUCH smaller turns! I strive to restore resized shoulders to the fired lenghts, no less is really needed because the fired case has already shrunk back a tad from full chamber length.
Larry's excellant "Innovative" shoulder length gage or the RCBS Precision Case Mic or the Hornady LnL/Sinclair case tools with a dial/digital caliper will allow you to measure the head-to-shoulder lengths in thousanths. That makes proper die adjustments fast and easy, no need to fiddle around with the rifle itself as we once did.
I just LOVE all the "new" case measuring tools and micrometer seaters and hand-held neck turners and chronographs and Lee Collet neck sizer dies! And, yeah, tumblers are nice too. Digital powder scales/dumpsters suck tho, IM (not so) HO.
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boomtube, I can appreciate where your coming from I started reloading in about 67' for a year or two nothing to serious then with family and career 40 years pasted. It's a whole lot different today and a lot to catch up on. With the limited reloading I did way back then I didn't recall or new to look for any shiny ring. Thank you for responding and sharing your insight.
