284 Shehane "Clicker" Problem

[One Eye Pete]

My latest F-OPEN gun is a 284 Shehane. I have about 200 cases each of Peterson and Lapua brass. Unsorted the Peterson cases seem to give me a lower ES/SD and it shows on the target. The problem I am having is that after about 3 firings I am starting to get “clickers” with the Peterson cases. I do not seem to be having the problem with the Lapua cases. My reamer is a JGS and the print shows a dimension of 0.5 in at the 0.2 line and my full length sizing die is a Whidden. I spoke to some of the guys I shoot with that shoot Shehanes or straight 284s and they seem to be having the same problem with the Peterson cases. I do not think there is a problem with the Peterson brass itself but there may be a mismatch between my chamber and sizing die that is showing up with the Peterson brass. One of my buddies who shoots a straight 284 WIN said he solved the problem with a small base die. Unfortunately I don’t think anyone makes a small base die for a 284 Shehane. My question is do you think it would be feasible for me to take a 284 Win or 6.5-284 small base die and bore out the top portion of the die so that it only sizes the very bottom of the Shehane case? Also if I do bore out a small base die from the top down how far from the base of the die should I stop?
Any help with this problem will be much appreciated.

 

[WSnyder]

Why not open up the back of the chamber itself .002-.003"? IMO way easier than trying to open up a die.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Its hard to beat lapua brass

 

[Alex Wheeler]

If your getting clickers with one brand of brass and not another, then one of them is harder or has a larger diameter case head. The fix if its harder is to squeeze it more, if the case head is bigger then the fix is to make the chamber bigger.

 

[SeabeeKen]

Had a similar issue in a different cartridge with ADG brass and I just needed to back off my load a bit. Slight expansion at the head made extraction difficult.YMMV

 

[Ringostar]

You have several options. As others have said, open your chamber slightly so that your sizing dies can actually reduce the cases. Get a custom sizing die to work with your reamer. Get a different reamer that works with your sizing die. Or get a ring die that will just reduce the base of your cases.

 

[Sandstorm]

I quit using Peteson brass in my 284 Shehane for this same problem.
Using the new 284 Lapua and Norma brass without any issues...Its been talked about
before on the forum.

 

[Rook 6]

I quit using Peteson brass in my 284 Shehane for this same problem.
Using the new 284 Lapua and Norma brass without any issues...Its been talked about
before on the forum.

I quit using Peterson brass in my .284 Win. for this same reason. Brass was very consistent but just did not fit while Lapua did.

 

[LC Tikka]

Is Peterson brass larger than Saami max spec?
I set my reamer to .499" for old Win brass .495" at the 200 line, so no chance of using these new 284w brass.

 

[KMart]

I quit using Peterson brass for everything. 260, 6 Dasher, 243 gave me the same results indicated above.
Tried some early Alpha brass in 6 dasher with similar results.
I have some of the new Alpha OCD brass for a Dasher and will see how this works. Trying the different Peterson and Alpha brass has gotten a bit pricy.

 

[Sandstorm]

I dont blame the brass. Think its more of a mismatch between your chamber dim.s and your die
and the the Brass may be more robust in the base and not sizing back down enough.
Its the tight chamber in my application that was giving me fits and my die did not sizing back down quite enough as far as I could tell.
New brass and new die to reamer specs fixed it.

 

[One Eye Pete]

Thanks for the help!!!
I got out the old Mitutoyo blade mike and measured the base diameter of both the Lapua and Peterson virgin brass.
Lapua 0.4985
Peterson 0.4988
In either case the new brass fits the 0.500 chamber fine.
For the first few firings the Peterson was OK. Therefore I suspect the problem is due to the metallurgy. Seems like the Peterson is harder and may spring back more. This would also account for why others were getting clickers with other calibers of Peterson brass.
Like Alex said above if it's due to harder brass squeeze it more.
Therefore I'm going to try to make a ring die to squeeze down the base of the fired Peterson brass.
I have more than one barrel for this gun and as long as the Lapua brass is not giving me clickers I would rather not mess with the chamber.
I just hope I don't have too much trouble cutting down and opening up the top of a small based die. I plan to use carbide tooling and lots of cutting oil.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Id open up the base to .502 for the Peterson.

 

[SeabeeKen]

Emailed peterson about this. Here is their reply, just recieved.
Ken,



I have not heard anything about “clickers” with Peterson brass. We have some of the hardest heads in the industry. Are brass is QC’d for hardness several times thru production. You should buy with confidence. Have a great day!



Regards,



Zack Moran

Peterson Cartridge

Customer Support Manager

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Its not the case its the die and or chamber

 

[LVLAaron]

Id open up the base to .502 for the Peterson.

How would one do this? Different reamer? boring bar?

 

[Alex Wheeler]

New reamer or 400 grit emery

 

[Rocketvapor]

Make the ring die.
Cut off the neck and shoulder of a cheap die, bevel and smooth the cut.

I reamed out a small base die (different caliber) that would size down the neck a lot.
I small base without a stem then into a collet neck die.

 

[Tarmacshooter]

I’ve been using .284 brass for years with great results. I was getting clickers on a new gun and I found the reason was because i made a mistake turning necks. My neck was to thick by .0005 or .001. I reverified, recut more necks to my original spec, no clicks.

are you guys who are suffering from clicks, not turning necks? What is your reamer dimension. The only Peterson brass I found that was thinner than Lapua was some 308 brass. their 6 dasher brass was marginally thicker but the .284 brass is quite a bit thicker than Lapua.

 

[Ryan M.]

Common problem with Peterson brass. Switch to Lapua.