.375 Peterson Brass - bad service

[macmeyer]

I use Peterson Brass for ELR in my .375 Cheytac. Now I bought a batch of brass with number
C149 - After the first relaod with anealing the brass was not able to get out of the chamber. See
pictures.

Never had that at the lots before - after an email conversation with peterson company they will not answer
anymore, and I am not able to contact them. This Customerservice is definitly a nightmare.

May anybody can give a hand, was it a fault in relaoding or have you any experience in the same way?

 

[Fuj]

Looks like a severe head space problem if the brass is new ??

 

[linebaugh]

What Fuj said. That ring and seperation point is very indicative of headspace issues. It's possibly a brass defect but would not be my first guess.

 

[Old Navy]

Were these the first rounds through your rifle?

 

[kyotekiller25]

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.

 

[Mike TackleBerry]

That's definitely a headspace issue, Peterson 375 brass is around .010 shorter than most Cheytac reamers and go gauges. But for it to tear after the first firing tells me that your headspace is much longer than the brass. Get a 375 go/no-go gauge and do some measuring. Is the rifle custom-built or a factory offering? Since Peterson brass is far and away the best available brass for the cheytacs, when I have a barrel made I use the brass as my go gauge and add .003.

 

[Fire Dog]

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.

Interesting to hear this and I have used Peterson brass for years in multiple calibres and have never had any issues that required contact with them so it is a bit disheartening to hear that if you do have a problem they are not very concerned….
It would be interesting to have the company make a response on this platform as certainly the best advertising is “Word of Mouth” and this is not doing them any favours!
BTW: I do think your problem is some sort of Head Space problem…
Checking with a Go/No Go gauge is definitely worth doing before shooting any more rounds.

 

[macmeyer]

Were these the first rounds through your rifle?

I fired more than 800 rounds with several lots, but all peterson brass

 

[macmeyer]

That's definitely a headspace issue, Peterson 375 brass is around .010 shorter than most Cheytac reamers and go gauges. But for it to tear after the first firing tells me that your headspace is much longer than the brass. Get a 375 go/no-go gauge and do some measuring. Is the rifle custom-built or a factory offering? Since Peterson brass is far and away the best available brass for the cheytacs, when I have a barrel made I use the brass as my go gauge and add .003.

Thanks, the chamber was made with a ready loaded peterson brass with a cutting Edge 400gr. Lazer tipped hollow point bullet. I will check the measurements too. But I have fired more than 800 rounds with only petterson brass of different lots. Thanks for this post.

 

[Evan]

What does the shoulder to base measure (with a comparator) on an unfired case? What does it measure on a fired case that is still in one piece? They should measure within 0.005” (0.1mm or so if you prefer) of each other.

 

[SKWERLZ]

Looks like a severe head space problem if the brass is new ??

I concur
I’d be checking virgin vs fired headspace dimensions on brass

 

[SKWERLZ]

That's definitely a headspace issue, Peterson 375 brass is around .010 shorter than most Cheytac reamers and go gauges. But for it to tear after the first firing tells me that your headspace is much longer than the brass. Get a 375 go/no-go gauge and do some measuring. Is the rifle custom-built or a factory offering? Since Peterson brass is far and away the best available brass for the cheytacs, when I have a barrel made I use the brass as my go gauge and add .003.

Or do a false shoulder for initial fire form.

This is a common problem with 300 and 338NM with older Norma brass that was quite short compared to reamer and go gauge specs.

 

[Kimber.204]

Full Disclosure: I was sponsored by Peterson Cartridge Co. when they made loaded ammunition for a short while.

C149 - After the first relaod with anealing the brass was not able to get out of the chamber. See
pictures.

Can you clarify this for us?

1. Did you load the brass, fire it, anneal it, then load and fire it again, and have it difficult to remove from the chamber?

Or

2. Did you anneal it before loading and firing it the first time and then have it be difficult to remove from the chamber?

So, how many times was this brass fired in this gun?
When during the process was it annealed?


I'm really sorry to hear about your experience (and some of the other negative comments above). I've met Derek when I was at Peterson to pick up ammo, and he's a good guy and he is legitimately concerned about the quality of his products. I've seen him in the lab several times testing brass himself. I have reloaded many thousands of their brass in 6XC, 6BR, 243 and 308 and I haven't had any issues.

 

[ShaunBrady]

Thanks, the chamber was made with a ready loaded peterson brass with a cutting Edge 400gr. Lazer tipped hollow point bullet. I will check the measurements too. But I have fired more than 800 rounds with only petterson brass of different lots. Thanks for this post.

Everybody I know lives by their headspace comparators, so when I see that type of problem I think pressure.

I'm mentoring a new reloader who wants to shoot her dad's rifle in semi obsolete cartridges. The why can't we just follow the instructions that came with the die demo couldn't have gone any better. Fired brass was about 0.006" longer than new Hornady brass. Sizing the new Hornady brass with the die touching the shell holder left it 0.012" shorter for a total first firing bump of 0.018". Even with today's brass at yesterday's pressures, they'd likely be coming apart by the third firing.

Starting with headspace, if that was your first time annealing and the sizer wasn't reset, it likely bumped it significantly more than cases that had been fired several times and not annealed. If you sized the cases before the first firing, same issue but not as severe. Did you measure the shoulder on the new cases and compare them to your fired brass? Same question for the annealed cases before and after sizing?

On pressure, a 375CT barrel with 800 rounds is long in the tooth. Generally, pressure goes up with age and loads developed in the first 100 rounds of barrel life will be up in pressure significantly. If you have any unfired brass from that lot, compare the case head measurements just above the extractor groove. Another quick check is comparing current velocities for the load with those early in the barrel life. If you're not going to reduce loads for new components, checking the case capacity of new lots of brass is a good idea.

I've had good luck with Peterson brass. The 375CT was a paper tiger before they introduced brass for it. Their 300 Norma brass is 0.016" shorter than my headspace gauge. Necked it up to 338 then back down and left a false shoulder. I also have a set of hand me down 300 Norma dies that didn't work for their original owner. A certain amount of this is to be expected when working with pre or newly SAAMI cartridges. Their 33XC and 6XC brass has been excellent for me.

I'm in the brass is like dogs camp. There are no bad ones, just bad owners. All brass doesn't have the same price, consistency, or ability to handle pressure, but they all have their uses. I don't think Peterson owes anybody reloading lessons with every purchase. With a barrel that had 800 rounds on it, you had all the tools you needed to prevent this problem. I'm not trying to be condescending or nasty, but it is what it is. You started down that road by laying it at Peterson's feet.

 

[ELR LVR]

Looks like a severe head space problem if the brass is new ??

Agreed, Looks like the brass had too much headspace/ Shoulder bumped too far back
Compare the new brass to one of your fired cases

 

[Mike TackleBerry]

Or do a false shoulder for initial fire form.

This is a common problem with 300 and 338NM with older Norma brass that was quite short compared to reamer and go gauge specs

Thanks, the chamber was made with a ready loaded peterson brass with a cutting Edge 400gr. Lazer tipped hollow point bullet. I will check the measurements too. But I have fired more than 800 rounds with only petterson brass of different lots. Thanks for this post.

Yeah, they used a throat reamer to remove material from the bore so your optimal bullet seating depth would fit, and then they used a standard 375 Cheytac go gauge for the headspace, which would be my guess. Even with .010 headspace, I can't see the case splitting from one firing. That usually happens with .025-.030 of case stretch.

 

[NorCalMikie]

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.

That's when you let EVERYBODY know they didn't give a CARE about their customers!!!
Might keep the next guy from suffering the same issues as you!!

 

[macmeyer]

Just to keep you updated: I will answer your questions during the next days, many thanks for your advice. I have measured brass from my old lot and the new one I told about. They have the same sizes all over the brass. The only different thing was the bullet, Cutting Edge and TPM, but all in the lands. I have fired them on saturday, the old lot was perfect, no problems, nothing on the brass. Then I shoot lot C149 with overall 8 shoots. It was one the bolt opended a little bit difficult. After des last one the chamber was not able to open without violence. You can see the brass after this, I have not demaged the brass with a cleaning rod f.e. It came right out the chamber as you see it.

 

[macmeyer]

Full Disclosure: I was sponsored by Peterson Cartridge Co. when they made loaded ammunition for a short while.




Can you clarify this for us?

1. Did you load the brass, fire it, anneal it, then load and fire it again, and have it difficult to remove from the chamber?

Or

2. Did you anneal it before loading and firing it the first time and then have it be difficult to remove from the chamber?

So, how many times was this brass fired in this gun?
When during the process was it annealed?


I'm really sorry to hear about your experience (and some of the other negative comments above). I've met Derek when I was at Peterson to pick up ammo, and he's a good guy and he is legitimately concerned about the quality of his products. I've seen him in the lab several times testing brass himself. I have reloaded many thousands of their brass in 6XC, 6BR, 243 and 308 and I haven't had any issues.

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.

 

[macmeyer]

I'm in the brass is like dogs camp. There are no bad ones, just bad owners. All brass doesn't have the same price, consistency, or ability to handle pressure, but they all have their uses. I don't think Peterson owes anybody reloading lessons with every purchase. With a barrel that had 800 rounds on it, you had all the tools you needed to prevent this problem. I'm not trying to be condescending or nasty, but it is what it is. You started down that road by laying it at Peterson's feet.

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!