Crabby brass... anneal help, or bad alloy ???

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I'd read some bad reviews of Hornady 460 S&W cases, with case mouths splitting... I needed cases for my 45 BPM, & thought, well... these will be much lower pressures...

last night I loaded a dozen cases with 4 different powders to try, & split 2 case mouths just belling them... I can't complain & send them back, as I've knurled the head stamps off, since they are now 45 BPM, not 460 S&W ( cases are used full size, no other modifications were made to the brass )

do you think the brass was work hardened too much drawing out the long case, & annealing the mouths ( before belling the rest ) would help, or is it likely bad alloying in these maximum production days, & I won't see an improvement ???

at the very least I'm disappointed, when you consider the working pressures of the 460, & I'm cracking them just doing enough bell to get a cast bullet to slide in without shaving lead...

thoughts ???
 
M

mete

New member
They probably just forgot to anneal the case necks . Just anneal the necks [never anneal the lower part of the case ]. One of the easiest ways is to line up the cases in a tray filled with water up near the neck. Use a propane torch to heat the case to glowing red , immediately push the case over into the water to cool.
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I did anneal the balance of my cases in a 9"X 12" cake pan, half full of water, heated the case mouths for 15 seconds, then tipped them over in the water... got that familiar color ring...
 
B

buck460XVR

New member
I have had nuttin' but problems with Hornady .460 brass. While not with the necks, even new brass only lasts two or three legitimate loadings without case head separation becoming a concern. This with less than max loads, while Starline brass just keeps going and going.
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
at the time, Starline wasn't available to me... so I hoped the 1/3 pressure 45 black powder magnum would hold up in the Hornady cases... but I was not impressed with case mouths cracking on the very 1st loading... ( my bullets are .452" so I wasn't over mouthing them )

most of my 1st trials wouldn't even need to be resized... only the Trailboss loads pushed out at the web, & I'm going to try 1/2 a grain less, & see how accuracy goes...

shame on Hornady for using such crabby brass on a 60,000 PSI cartridge...
 
R

RC20

New member
They probably just forgot to anneal the case necks . Just anneal the necks [never anneal the lower part of the case ]. One of the easiest ways is to line up the cases in a tray filled with water up near the neck. Use a propane torch to heat the case to glowing red , immediately push the case over into the water to cool.
Click to expand...

Glowing red may not be too hot, it is too hot!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top