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Necks splitting
love2shoot
Member Posts: 576 ✭✭✭
I am reloading .243, some cases have six reloads on them, some five. I started necksizing a batch and the first three split. I was using Talc on the necks as a lube. I switched to FL dies using Imperial sizing wax but more split. The brass casings are old but don't have that many reloads on them. I double checked the necks before sizing and they were not cracked. I also cleaned the necks well with a blitz cloth before sizing. Should I have de-burred the necks before resizing, never have but maybe I was wrong.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Comments
Not all brass is the same. Brass is work-hardened as it is reloaded and the more brittle brass will tend to split as it is flexed during the reloading process or upon firing. You can try annealing the necks to soften them.
Annealing brass is a heating and quick cooling process with a propane torch. Suggest you look it up in a reloading manual or a Youtube instruction video.
Forgot to say, some were WW and some R-P
How do I anneal them?
Thanks
Need to be annealed as has been said, repetive firing and sizing hardens the brass, thus the splits.
There are devices mad to do the process properly, local gunsmith has one.
Youtube the process and then Google search the item to see how expensive they are.
I am pretty sure you can conjure up a home made verson for a few coins.
With 6 plus firing each, the cheapest route could be new brass.
Youtube offered some ideas. One quenched the brass in water after annealing, I think it would be better to cool slowly to keep the brass soft.
I started annealing my own brass way before there were high-tech ways to do it "properly". A couple of the old guns at the range I shot at taught me to clean the brass in my tumbler then inspect it for damage. I was taught to hold the case with a pair of pliers (brass transfers heat fast) by the rim and rotate the case mouth in the blue point of a propane torch and watch for the brass to change color. When the color reached the base of the neck it would drop in into a bucket of water. I kept my brass separated by brand and annealing cycles. I would anneal after 4 firings. Works just fine on .222 Rem, 5.56, .243, 25-06, 300 Win Mag, .300 Whby and .340 Whby. I don't anneal straight walls, maybe I should, but never felt the need.
FWIW my $.02
Annealing brass is just the opposite of annealing steel - steel must be cooled slowly while brass must be cooled quickly. Seems counterintuitive but that's just the way it is.
I believe brass age-hardens as well as work-hardens, so old cases as well as oft-fired cases are more likely to split. An old-timer many years ago showed me his annealing process: stand brass cases in water in a tray, deep enough to protect the case head and body, apply heat with propane torch until neck and shoulder colors a bit, then tap the case with torch to knock it over into water, quenching and annealing at once. Seemed to work well.
BTW, if you are experiencing neck splitting, Season Cracking from exposure to ammonia, or substances containing it, can contribute to splitting issues in brass that is prone to it. Brasso and Flitz both contain ammonia.