New Brass

[fgw_in_fla]

I had to discard a bunch of my Winchester brass. I found many of my 2x, 3x & 4x fired cases were showing a bright(ish) line near the head which, when checked out using the bent paper clip method, turned out to be case heads ready to come apart. In fact, two cracked open in the sizing die. I didn't want to take any chances so.... In the can they went

In the mean time, I finally broke open the 'ol wallet and bought 100 new Remington .270 win. cases.

Question for "those in the know" - After checking all sizes & dimensions, are they OK to load up & use? Or, is it safer / better to run them through the FS die and size 'em up?
I chambered a few with & without a piece of very thin scotch tape on the head & my headspace dimension appears to be OK. (tape thickness = .002" +or-)
What say ye of vast knowledge of the Savage Thunder Stick?

[Eric in NC]

I always FL size new brass to square everything up, then trim the case mouths square and chamfer - THEN load.

[Balljoint]

Don't forget to put that BAD brass in a bucket and take it to the recycle/metal reclaimer BRASS is getting a good price now

[bythebook]

I always FL size new brass to square everything up, then trim the case mouths square and chamfer - THEN load.

+1 The same way I do it.

[Blue Avenger]

at the very least hit them with the neck die to make them round again!

[airaddict]

Since ive been playing with these ackley chamberings lately i dont bother processimg new brass with the exception of running the necks over the expender ball to make sire they are nice and round. I chamfer the inside a touch and load and fireform. Then i fully process them.

Now in reg chamberings i run the necks over the expander ball and set my trimmer to the mid point on the case length and run all rounds thru to trim them up and then chamfer inside and out and load. Then i usually neck size for the next 3-4 loadings and moniter case length and when its time to bump the shoulder ill trim them all again.

Brian

[gotcha]

+1 on above comments. If your previous brass is showing signs of seperation @ 2 to 4 firings you may be setting the shoulder back too far. Try for .002" set back from fired case to keep stretch @ web to a minimum. .02 cents

[trappst]

gotcha hit the nail on the head here.....obviously a safety issue going on that needs to be addressed before anything else is loaded.

You're over sizing your brass. Take brass that chambers with some resistance and size it just enough so it chambers freely. As gotcha said, if you have the tools to measure the setback .002" or so is normally all you'll need.

[fgw_in_fla]

Wow!!....
A whole bunch a real good answers !
Ok... I kinda wonder if there wasn't something going on with the Winchester brass. Every piece of Rem or Fed, even the Hornady brass I have - They've all been reloaded between 2 & some are even on their 10th firing with NO indication of head sep. All of the brass I'm using was FL sized up to their 4th to 5th firing, then neck sized. Only the Winchester cases had the "bright line of disaster" near the head. Out of a batch of 40 to 50 cases I would find 10 to 15 with the crack line indication. The rest of that particular batch I didn't want to take a chance so, they went in the bucket also.

Just the same, I'll heed everyone's advise & check my rifle chamber. It only takes a few minutes & better safe than sorry.... very sorry.

As for new brass prep - I did run them thru the neck sizer as a few had square holes. I guess QC is a dying art. They all measured around 2.532" to 2.5335" (max) but the neck openings were anything but round. the edge had a nasty burr, the flash holes (all of them) had burrs, chips & fuzzies hanging on.

Just the same, it keeps me outta the lil' woman's hair & off the streets. Thanks for all the really good advice / info. I believe this is my first batch of .270 brass I've had to buy in 9 to 10 months. I started out with about 800 - .270 cases & over 1500- 30.06 cases. I had been saving them for quite a while knowing someday in the immediate future I'd be advancing my Savage addiction & taking it to the next level.

Thanks again to all

Oh, and YES, I do have a scrap brass bucket right next to the bench. It's about 3/4ths full now. How much did you say scrap brass is going for?

[Blue Avenger]

Had some .220 swift win brass and some .25-06 rem brass that only lasted 2x
Most of the time I get 8-10 out of them. Sometimes there is some stuff that is not so well made.

[barrel-nut]

I've had Remington factory loads show the "bright ring" after the first firing. Definitely something to watch for. Using the RCBS Precision Mic helps tremendously with headspace measurements on your cases. Also useful for correctly setting your full length dies for minimal case stretching.

[fgw_in_fla]

Yo... Barrel Nut - how goes it?

I checked the headspace in my .270. Looks A - OK to me.
With new FS case + .002" film on head - tight closing bolt- can be closed but leaves impression on the tape.

With a fired case NS only + tape - see above. Bolt gets tight about half way thru cycle but can be closed with enough pressure.
A second piece of film on either one & the bolt handle won't come down very far before it comes to an abrupt stop.

I believe the Winchester cases I've been using were from a batch of .270 & 30.06 loaded ammo I got from Walmart a while back. Back in the day when I didn't reload my own & had extra cash from a prospering business. It seems odd that it happened in both calibers & a percentage of each (approx. 10-15%).

Oh well... I'm not gonna lose sleep over it. I still have many Fed & Rem cases. Discarding all those .270 winchester cases put my stash in the red so, I bought a bunch of new Rem cases. This should put me back in the black with brass. Besides, there's always someone at the range throwing once fired brass in the bucket. That's how I got a bunch of Hornady cases. Real nice brass, too. I make it a point to always check the 55 gal cans at the rifle range storage area.
Thanks for all the good info, folks.

[barrel-nut]

From what you describe with the tape, it sounds like you're set up correctly.