.375 Peterson Brass - bad service

[JB10]

Peterson was less than helpful when I had an issue with their 6 Creed brass also. They basically told me tough crap your SOL. They wanted absolutely no part in trying to help, or make things right. On top of that, I felt like I was just overall mistreated by his tone, and some of his remarks made it seem like I was new at handloading. Pretty shit service honestly. I was less than impressed, and very surprised that's how they treat and talk to their customers.

Can you explain what issues you had with the 6mm creedmoor brass? I got a rifle on the way and was thinking about ordering some of this brass. That or necking down lapua from 6.5cm to 6mm.

 

[kyotekiller25]

I popped 2 primers, and had 2 bad gas leaks around the primers at 41g H4350 and a 108 ELDM. So essentially I ruined 4 new cases with a load that is well under book max and known 6 creed shooters with H4350/108s. I ended up having to back off all way down to 40g of H4350 at 3000fps from a 27" BRUX to be safe. Pretty anemic from a 27" 6 Creed if you ask me... Might as well have built a little 6 GT if all I was going to get is 3K from a 27" 6 Creed/108s.

Not exactly sure if it's the brass or primers. I used those WLR primers in other cartridges with no issues, mainly a 25-06 at very warm loads and never had any issues.

Peterson said our brass isn't the problem. All our info regarding case specs is on the site, and they said it's all within specs, otherwise it wouldnt have been shipped out. So they said its your problem and youre hot loading it. I said ok sure, whatever you say. 41g of H4350 and a 108g is surely not hot loading a 6 CM, but if that's what you're set on than fine.

Most companies have some type of empathy or will ask you to send things back so they can take a look at it, and possibly replace it. They wanted no part of either and I just found that very off putting. Hell I've had better luck with Winchester customer service and getting issues resolved. Come to think of it, I've had better customer service from literally every company I've ever had an issue or problem with the last 28 years, besides Peterson

 

[JB10]

I popped 2 primers, and had 2 bad gas leaks around the primers at 41g H4350 and a 108 ELDM. So essentially I ruined 4 new cases with a load that is well under book max and known 6 creed shooters with H4350/108s. I ended up having to back off all way down to 40g of H4350 at 3000fps from a 27" BRUX to be safe. Pretty anemic from a 27" 6 Creed if you ask me... Might as well have built a little 6 GT if all I was going to get is 3K from a 27" 6 Creed/108s.

Not exactly sure if it's the brass or primers. I used those WLR primers in other cartridges with no issues, mainly a 25-06 at very warm loads and never had any issues.

Peterson said our brass isn't the problem. All our info regarding case specs is on the site, and they said it's all within specs, otherwise it wouldnt have been shipped out. So they said its your problem and youre hot loading it. I said ok sure, whatever you say. 41g of H4350 and a 108g is surely not hot loading a 6 CM, but if that's what you're set on than fine.

Most companies have some type of empathy or will ask you to send things back so they can take a look at it, and possibly replace it. They wanted no part of either and I just found that very off putting. Hell I've had better luck with Winchester customer service and getting issues resolved. Come to think of it, I've had better customer service from literally every company I've ever had an issue or problem with the last 28 years, besides Peterson

Id have to look at my data but im pretty sure im at 41.0gr of H4350 with 108 eldm in a ruger preditor using ADG brass that i have. That brass has been MIA for several years now. Ive had good luch with it but i rarely shoot that rifle. I have another 6mm creedmoor rifle on the way and was debating on brass. ADG states possible production again December/January for the 6cm. I hope so.
Correction 40.8gr powder charge

 

[Kimber.204]

Hello Kimber .204 - my process is close to number 1, accept cleaning, length trimming before annealing f.e. - Until now I was very happy with the service, we had also good experience at the IWA in nueremberg, I´am only dissapointed with asking questions from peterson and then never heard anything else again.

Thanks for the update.

So you fired the brass once in this same gun (I'm assuming).
Then you cleaned it and trimmed it. I'm assuming that you sized it before you trimmed it.

I haven't loaded for 375 Cheytac, but I don't typically need to trim after the first firing, especially with Peterson brass. Was this done just for consistency, or was the brass out of spec (too long)?

If the brass was so long that it NEEDED to be trimmed I would think excessive headspace is the problem.
If the brass didn't really grow after the first firing (I don't know why you trimmed it) I might suspect the brass itself.

The other thing you mentioned was two different bullets. I'm familiar with Cutting Edge, but not the other bullet you mentioned. I've heard of guys having pressure issues switching between solid and traditional bullets, but I've never experienced it myself.

Also, I would just send a few pieces of the new lot back to Peterson and ask them to test the brass, check the dimensions, wall thickness, case head hardness etc. I know and have shot with the Lead Ballistician at Peterson, and they run a pretty tight ship. But like anything, your product can only be as good as the materials you put into it.

I think you said the only things different were bullet brands and brass lots - have you tried both bullets/loads in the "good" lot of brass?

Good Luck, keep us posted.

 

[Kimber.204]

I popped 2 primers, and had 2 bad gas leaks around the primers at 41g H4350 and a 108 ELDM. So essentially I ruined 4 new cases with a load that is well under book max and known 6 creed shooters with H4350/108s. I ended up having to back off all way down to 40g of H4350 at 3000fps from a 27" BRUX to be safe. Pretty anemic from a 27" 6 Creed if you ask me... Might as well have built a little 6 GT if all I was going to get is 3K from a 27" 6 Creed/108s.

Not exactly sure if it's the brass or primers. I used those WLR primers in other cartridges with no issues, mainly a 25-06 at very warm loads and never had any issues.

Peterson said our brass isn't the problem. All our info regarding case specs is on the site, and they said it's all within specs, otherwise it wouldnt have been shipped out. So they said its your problem and youre hot loading it. I said ok sure, whatever you say. 41g of H4350 and a 108g is surely not hot loading a 6 CM, but if that's what you're set on than fine.

Most companies have some type of empathy or will ask you to send things back so they can take a look at it, and possibly replace it. They wanted no part of either and I just found that very off putting. Hell I've had better luck with Winchester customer service and getting issues resolved. Come to think of it, I've had better customer service from literally every company I've ever had an issue or problem with the last 28 years, besides Peterson

41g of H4350 is only 0.6gr shy of book max. And book max is only 3000 - 3050fps, so I'd say 3000fps with only 40gr isn't too bad. Maybe you just got a slow barrel from Brux - I'll bet it still shoots lights out.

I wasn't on the phone call so I can't speak to how customer service at Peterson treated you.
But it sounds like you didn't work up to 41gr to see if there was pressure along the way, and then you didn't stop after you blew the first primer, or the second, or the third that had gas cutting.....soooooo why were #2,3, and 4 because of faulty brass and bad customer service?

 

[kyotekiller25]

Well I did load work up, a pressure/velocity ladder test like I've done every other new rifle and bullet/powder I get. I actually went up to 42g with no issues, that day. For whatever reason when I loaded up the next batch of 10 rounds at 41g where it shot the best previously, is when I had issues. The 1st time primer popped was more of a surprise, so I just kept shooting until it happened again. Than I thought ok, there's definitely an issue the 2nd time. The 2 gas leaks were pinholes on the outer edges of the primers.

I'll tell you my main reason why I think its the brass. I've never had a rifle pop primers at .7g below a manuals book max in almost 30 years. I've popped primers before yes, when I was purposely trying to see just how high i could push things. NOT what I was doing here with a new rifle that took over a year to get back to me. Also, if you've noticed most guys are running around 31-3150 with 105-108s from 24"-26". I figured from literally everyone else getting 31-3150 from 24-26" tubes, that I shouldn't have any issues reaching at least 3100 with a 27" tube. I mean I've even seen guys using up to 42.5g H4350 and getting 3200fps with 105-108s and a 26" So for me to be topping out at 40g of H4350 at 3000fps with a 27" is not only pretty dismal, but also very disappointing. Of course it shoots decent, but why so damn slow? If I would've known it was gonna shoot that slow, I would've scrapped the 27" barrel and just put a 24" on it, or built a smaller cartridge that gets the same velocities and burns 5-8g less powder. Like like a GT or x47 apparently...

I'm even been seeing a lot of these little 6 GTs and 6x47L's shoot faster than my 6 creed. I don't know exactly what the deal is there, but again it's pretty irritating. Everybody's using premium brass these days to get those velocities. So again, why is my 6 creed so slow with this Peterson brass? It must be just that special!!! I thought premium brass was a little tougher than that...The whole thing just doesn't make much sense to me, and it's been an isolated case for me. Never experienced anything like this, except this 1 time with using Peterson brass for the 1st time. I mean if I was stuffing 43g+ in there than sure I could see where you guys would have a valid point in saying I'm hot loading them, but I wasn't, and you don't. I was well under a book max load and popping primers in Peterson brass at that. Nothing astromical or out of the ordinary velocity wise, so it just seems real funny to me.

Some of you guys think it's a combination of the brass and a new brux barrel that has undersized bore (which I didn't know anything about when I bought it) and not being broke in yet. Which very well all could be true. However it still doesn't explain why I'm the only one popping primers at 3150fps with a 27" tube using premium brass.

 

[Kimber.204]

@kyotekiller25 thanks for the additional clarifications.

I just re-read my response and I really didn't mean to sound like a jerk, sorry.

Anyway, I think you found a perfect storm of potential issues.
Just curious, have you tried any factory ammo to see how it responds - that might rule out some things.

Good Luck.

 

[kyotekiller25]

I bought a box of Hornady Match 108 ELDMs as a controlled test for the first 200 rounds of the barrel. Figured I'd do 5 shot groups at 0, 100, 150, and 200 rounds to see how accuracy/velocity changes during the first 200 rounds. I put the first 5 shots through this barrel when it was new. They averaged 2980 FPS with an ES of 13 and put shots #2-5 into 3/8" at 100. Then I started my ladder with H4350 and 108 ELDMs.

I just finished fire forming the 100 pieces of brass. So now I'll scrub the barrel, and shoot another 5 of the factory Hornadys to see what they do. I've already loaded all them back up at 40.2g H4350 with 108 ELDM at 15 off. Average velocity thus far has been 3000fps with that load and 1/3-1/2 MOA depending on the day and range.

 

[ShaunBrady]

Hello Shaun, just to finish the session. It is not the knowledge of reloading, it is the behavior of petereson to start a discussion, and then never answer again. If it is headspace and could be prevent, why other brass is working fine? - Thanks for your advice!

It sounds like the Peterson help line triaged you into the nothing to see here can't be helped bin. We only have one side of the conversation so it's tough to take sides.

On the why, we don't have any actual dimensions from you, specifically the bump for each case you've given so one of the subtexts in this thread is the assumption it wasn't measured. I'm sure many of us are struggling with the idea that the bump for the last lot of brass when new, as fired, sized, the new brass as received, fired, and sized after annealing are the same? Actual load, gun, and velocity data might also yield more focused suggestions. What was your annealing process? You might not like all the answers, but there will be things for you to check next time.

The flip side to your question is why haven't there been report of similar problems with that lot of brass?

I was given these as a trophy at a URSA match by the shooter that produced them.



Experienced reloaders won't blame the brass. 3 firings if it's not obvious. This is why I suggested checking pressure.

 

[thatguyshm]

I hate to say it but I think Peterson is going downhill. This all sounds like major issues but even minor ones are popping up. They use the ammo box as a sales pitch, but the latest brass I bought for my 6GT comes in an ammo case that only allows a 2.500" oal. Can't even fit a loaded round in the ammo box. Zero response to email.

 

[J_idaho]

I hate to say it but I think Peterson is going downhill. This all sounds like major issues but even minor ones are popping up. They use the ammo box as a sales pitch, but the latest brass I bought for my 6GT comes in an ammo case that only allows a 2.500" oal. Can't even fit a loaded round in the ammo box. Zero response to email.

Well that sucks. I guess they are saving money on styrofoam.