Cracked shoulders on 300 Weatherby

[mardanlin]

I noticed that all 6 cases that I fired today cracked at the shoulder. I had fired the factory load, neck sized only and fired again, then they needed a FL sizing so I did that and when they were fired again the necks cracked.

I loaded with 82gr of IMR7828 and used a 180gr SBT with large rifle magnum primers. I also noticed when the cases came out of the FL die and the shoulders looked crimped if that makes sense, now the cracks are coming in where those creases were. Is this a problem with my die, signs of high pressure, or both?

 

[Jimro]

Not uncommon to have neck cracks on the first reloading of factory brass in my experience. Not a sign of high pressure, just a sign of hard brass in my experience.

Try annealling the neck and shoulder before reloading next time, and use less lube to keep from crumpling the shoulders.

Jimro

 

[mardanlin]

If i bought unloaded brass (like norma) would this problem still be as bad? I'm using Remington core lokt brass right now. I will try using less lube in the future but these were still fairly hard to work with, I'm guessing because the brass was hard to start with?

I've never annealed any brass before so I guess I can look that up and see exactly how that's done because I certainly hope to get more loads than this out of each case, they're too expensive to throw away.

 

[AllenJ]

Are you putting case lube on the shoulder?

 

[mardanlin]

Honestly the first one came out looking like that so I thought I needed more lube and yes I did put a little bit on the shoulder which obviously didn't fix the problem. Could this be what caused the cracks or would I still need to anneal the shoulder if I don't over lube it?

 

[AllenJ]

What kind of lube are you using? I use RCBS Case Lube and learned very quickly to not put any lube on the outside of the case neck or the case shoulder, and that very little lube is needed on the case body and inside the neck.

 

[mardanlin]

I'm using Hornady lube it comes in a round tin and has a vasoline type texture.

I already sized the other 14 cases, is there anyway to fix them before they cracked as well?

 

[Jimro]

If you haven't loaded them yet, try annealing them.

For 14 pieces of brass, a plumbers propane torch will do the job quickly.

Jimro

 

[tango1niner]

I agree with AllenJ. No lube on shoulder or neck, only on the body(and not much there). I use a tiny, tiny bit on the end just inside of the case mouth. When you think you have a tiny bit reduce the amount by 75%.

You might consider neck sizing only if the brass was first fired in your rifle and you are not hunting dangerous game.

 

[mardanlin]

I tried neck sizing only but that only works once usually. After that they will not chamber. I will try annealing the rest of these cases and see what happens. Also, does anyone know of a good place to find these brass? Mostly all websites I see are out of stock or don't carry it. I would really prefer Norma as well.

 

[F. Guffey]

I also noticed when the cases came out of the FL die and the shoulders looked crimped if that makes sense,

Yes it does.

F. Guffey

 

[jepp2]

MidSouth currently shows some in stock link

 

[SonOfGun]

Remington brand brass is one of the WORST to use in 300 Weatherby Magnum, sometimes they split on the first firing.

For better case life I recommend Weatherby or Norma brass.

 

[mardanlin]

Thanks for the link. I saw those but honestly I hate the look of nickel cases and I've heard that they don't have as good of a life expectancy as regular brass, is this true?

 

[reynolds357]

Definitely use WBY/Norma (same brass). I never buy brass for my Weatherbys. Weatherby factory loads are amazingly accurate in their rifles and they blow the chronograph up. They chronograph faster than published and they are published higher than anything you can hand load at safe pressure. I buy their ammo and start reloading it when I get about 100 pieces of brass.

 

[mardanlin]

Reynolds, unfortunately I can't afford to buy factory ammo for this caliber. When you do reload, what do you use? Have you ever loaded with IMR 7828?

 

[243winxb]

If the FL die is clean, then i would think defective die. Adjust the lube first. The die may be pushing the shoulder back to far & too small in diameter. What brand of neck die are you using?

 

[reynolds357]

Ramshot Magnum, Rl22, Rl25, Norma MRP

 

[mardanlin]

The neck die is a Lee collet die, the FL die is RCBS.

Yes I tried again without lubing the shoulder and it still did it. The die is brand new, it has only done about 10 cases now. Is it defective?

 

[reynolds357]

Need more info. Who made the rifle? Have you shot it a lot and this is only happening with this particular brass? Is it a new rifle and this is the first brass you have tried to reload for it? The problem may very well be that the chamber in your rifle is cut wrong.