Asymmetric bulge in 22 Hornet brass.

[lpreddick]

A friend has noted an asymmetric bulge in his Hornet cases when seating 35 VMax bullets. We seated bullets tonight, marking the cases such that they were placed in the shell holder with the same orientation. The bulge appeared at different locations. Seating half then rotating the case 180° then complete the seating and the bulge was in the same location. I annealed some cases but not much improvement. I suspect the brass is the problem. If this was any other case, I would consider turning the necks. We appreciate any observations and suggestions.

 

[bozo699]

Looks like it was necked down to much, what kind of sizing die are you using and did you remove the expander button?
Wayne

 

[ronemus]

+1

 

[bozo699]

I’m not judging you because I don’t know your experience level just pointing out be very careful annealing the hornet there so thin is easy to get to much heat down the case making them dangerous to shoot and I definitely wouldn’t turn there necks there already very thin.
Wayne

 

[Uncle Ed]

Try expanding the necks with a Lyman type "M" expander that aids in straight inline seating. This allows the bullets to be started with just your fingers. I see the same thing on pistol rounds when the bullet is tilted when seating. Normally this means the bullet is not held and centered in the seater plug and allows the bullet to tilt.

When the case neck is bumped onto the second step of the expander it ends up after brass spring back .001 larger than bullet diameter. And this allows the bullet to be placed "straight" into the neck and makes more concentric loaded ammo.

My second WAG would be the case neck thickness variations is allowing the thin side of the neck to expand more during seating. "BUT" not likely unless the cases were very poorly made with a large thickness variation in the neck.

What type resizing die is being used to size these Hornet cases, and is a expander being used with this die. The reason I ask is because I'm wondering if the necks are being expanded enough closer to .001 under bullet diameter.

 

[lpreddick]

Looks like it was necked down to much, what kind of sizing die are you using and did you remove the expander button?
Wayne

His dies are RCBS and unaltered and the expander was used. If he removes it, the neck diameter will be even smaller. We can run a 22 cal neck expander into them.

 

[bozo699]

His dies are RCBS and unaltered and the expander was used. If he removes it, the neck diameter will be even smaller. We can run a 22 cal neck expander into them.

What do your bullets measure?... .223 or .224 I assume
Wayne

 

[bozo699]

Because there such a long thin neck I’ve seen this in my hornets before but not near so profound
Wayne

 

[Park ranger]

I’m betting the bullet isn’t square when seated. The shape of the Hornady bullet base isn’t very forgiving.

 

[BULLET 05]

What do your bullets measure?... .223 or .224 I assume
Wayne

I am the owner of the problem .22 Hornet.
.224 sir

 

[BULLET 05]

I’m betting the bullet isn’t square when seated. The shape of the Hornady bullet base isn’t very forgiving.

I have had this problem from day one. I understand that if your not careful this could easily happen. But I have tried seating just a small amount rotating and still a bulge. Lp Reddick is a very advanced reloader. He tried several rounds and still the bulge. I am not betting on Bullet alignment being the problem

 

[El Matador]

I'd measure the bullets and expander button just to make sure there aren't any issues there. If you can reload other bullets with no problems it must be either the bullets themselves or the way they're interacting with the die. My bet is that Park Ranger is correct and the bullets aren't aligned properly. With such a short ogive on the Vmax it may not be self-aligning with the bullet seating stem. You could remove the stem and see if the bullet is held straight or if it can wobble around a bit. If the fit isn't good you won't solve anything by seating half way, rotating, and fully seating. If this is the case I'd call RCBS and see if they'll send you the correct seating stem.

 

[dellet]

What happens if you seat the bullet upside down? Or other bullets with a boat tail?

Uncle Ed has a good solution for fat fingers and short, stubby, flat base bullets.

For the K Hornet, 218 Bee and 2R Lovell, I hone the sizing die to minimum size the neck and use a fairly aggressive chamfer. They are single shots tho.

It’s possible that the expander in the die is a diameter more suitable for a .223 bullet. You might check it against any other die you might have available and if there is one larger swap it and try.

 

[bozo699]

I am the owner of the problem .22 Hornet.
.224 sir

That is strange, Hope you fellas get it figured out, when ya do let us know please.
Wayne

 

[JSH]

The m die may fix it.
The picture at the top, bullet on the left looks good. The blunt hornet style bullet I imagine is off center. I would point you towards a seating issue. Try a Hornady style or one of the micrometer seaters with the window and floating button.

I have tinkered with a half dozen different hornets, they all were very different chambers in different ways. I don’t know if you could find two alike.

 

[243winxb]

Bushing die https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!l=RE&i=78102

Or 1 Redding type S fl sizing bushing die.

Control the cases neck sized diameter with the bushing.

 

[Drop Port]

Looks like it was necked down to much, what kind of sizing die are you using and did you remove the expander button?
Wayne

+1
Troubleshooting is a process of elimination, start with one thing at a time until you find it. Start with simple measurements and cross them off the list if they check out. (or don't check out) Pick the most obvious and move on from there.
-What is the OD / ID of the necks on Fired brass?
-What is the OD / ID of the necks on sized brass?

 

[TheOtherZilla]

My Hornet does that using 35's .. I just shot it and moved on. I have since used 40 Vmax's.. They don't bulge.. I attributed it to a short bullet with a flat base.... That's my 2 cents..

 

[jds holler]

My Hornet does that using 35's .. I just shot it and moved on. I have since used 40 Vmax's.. They don't bulge.. I attributed it to a short bullet with a flat base.... That's my 2 cents..

I'm in this camp. Short flat-base bullet, AND a smidge too tight neck. Also -- is there a problem on target? jd

 

[fatelvis]

Try expanding the necks with a Lyman type "M" expander that aids in straight inline seating. This allows the bullets to be started with just your fingers. I see the same thing on pistol rounds when the bullet is tilted when seating. Normally this means the bullet is not held and centered in the seater plug and allows the bullet to tilt.

When the case neck is bumped onto the second step of the expander it ends up after brass spring back .001 larger than bullet diameter. And this allows the bullet to be placed "straight" into the neck and makes more concentric loaded ammo.

My second WAG would be the case neck thickness variations is allowing the thin side of the neck to expand more during seating. "BUT" not likely unless the cases were very poorly made with a large thickness variation in the neck.

What type resizing die is being used to size these Hornet cases, and is a expander being used with this die. The reason I ask is because I'm wondering if the necks are being expanded enough closer to .001 under bullet diameter.

I'm with Uncle Ed, I think this is your best bet. The extremely thin necks make crooked seating very obvious.