What is causing thick necks?

[Ripcord]

I bought 500 rounds of processed brass, cutdown WCC headstamp. they all fit just fine in the Sheridan gauge and the neck measures .010", but when I seat the bullet I end up with a bullet that won't pass inspection?! When dropped in the guage it stops about 1/8" high, and will go down if I force it, but then I have to punch it out from the bullet side. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

[plant.one]

can you post pictures?

what bullet are you using?

are you crimping?

have you taken some measurements with your calipers?

[vz58]

Some WCC causes me problems in the gauge.

What bullet are you using?

Is the ogee hitting the lands early?

Are the bullets over size ? 123gr Hornady or pulls?

Are they cast?

[tallburnedmidget]

I bought 500 rounds of processed brass, cutdown WCC headstamp. they all fit just fine in the Sheridan gauge and the neck measures .010", but when I seat the bullet I end up with a bullet that won't pass inspection?! When dropped in the guage it stops about 1/8" high, and will go down if I force it, but then I have to punch it out from the bullet side. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Hi there and welcome!

I agree with posting a pic, maybe we can see something.

Now I have had similar issues when first starting out but with mixed brass.

My first issue was that I had the bullet seating die turned too low and the die was trying to apply a roll/taper crimp. This caused the round to be knocked out of spec like you are mentioning.
I caught this by using the Sheridan gauge after ever processing step. I noticed the cases were fine after being formed and then after seating the bullet they were out of spec or like you rounds could be forced into the gauge. I adjusted my seating die and it got better or eliminated the issue.

Another time I was seating flat based bullets that would cause a slight bulge in the neck while being seated before straightening out.
Again I caught this with the Sheridan Gauge after every step of processing. I then started holding the bullet more straight in the neck before seating and the issue went away.

Finally, I had my nephew helping me one time and he was kind of crimping the crap out of rounds before I showed him that I just needed a light crimp. His heavy handed action on the crimp caused the necks to bulge and same issue.

Now with all of that said, just because it doesn't pass the gauge 100% doesn't mean it will fail to chamber in your rifle.
My rounds can fail the gauge by over 1/8 of an inch and chamber in my rifles with no issue and I have no problems with those rounds at all when it comes to accuracy or function.
I would suggest you seat and then crimp a bullet like normal into a piece of brass that has no primer and powder. Check with the Sheridan gauge that it fails like you currently explain and then go see if that dummy round has any problems chambering. If it doesn't then you are good to go.

To this day I still have rounds that can stick some in my Sheridan gauge so I use a chopstick to pop them out. For the most part though I have eliminated all of my processing issues that cause the rounds to not fit the gauge and with the few that fail the gauge I now how badly I can fail the gauge and still chamber/fire with no issue so I'm golden.

I hope all this info helps

[Ripcord]

http://s61.photobucket.com/user/Ripcord ... sort=1&o=0

It appears to be catching on the neck. Where the bullet meets the brass is .334". I'm using Hornady 208 grain AMAX bullets. RCBS die. And the tolerance on my SBR is pretty tight, so I've found best success with cases that do seat all the way in the gauge. Got tired of having to mortar my rifle to get a stuck live round out.

[smustian]

Maybe it is just the picture but the bullet looks like it is slightly askew in the neck and causing a bulge in the neck. Is that a flat based bullet?

[Ripcord]

Maybe it is just the picture but the bullet looks like it is slightly askew in the neck and causing a bulge in the neck. Is that a flat based bullet?

That would just be the angle of the picture, it's concentric. And the 208 amax is a boat tail.

[tallburnedmidget]

Before you seat you bullets do the cases drop into the Sheridan gauge and pop out without issue?

Check that and report back.

[dellet]

It appears to be catching on the neck. Where the bullet meets the brass is .334". I'm using Hornady 208 grain AMAX bullets. RCBS die. And the tolerance on my SBR is pretty tight, so I've found best success with cases that do seat all the way in the gauge. Got tired of having to mortar my rifle to get a stuck live round out.

If the Neck is .334". The brass is either more than .010" thick, it has a burr from trimming, or it's being deformed somehow in the seating process.

Complete load data would be helpful.

Did you run this brass through your die, or are you loading it as received?

What does it measure at the base of the neck?

[Ripcord]

Tallburned: Correct, it does pass without issue before seating bullets.

Dellet: 208 AMAX 10.3gr IMR 4198, brass length 1.358-.360 OAL: 2.243
I ran the brass as recieved, no sizing on my end
Base of the neck measures .330


I adjusted my seating die a little further down and it seemed to correct the issue for the most part, had 3 cases out of a hundred that swelled after the neck for some reason but adjusting it seemed to fix the issue.