50 BMG brass processing

[montana_native]

Doea anyone know of a reliable source that could prep 200 pieces of Lake City brass for reloading?

This brass was fired in a machine gun with a huge chamber. It exceeds the capability of my Lee press and won’t chamber.

Thanks for any leads.

 

[mr45man]

Doea anyone know of a reliable source that could prep 200 pieces of Lake City brass for reloading?

This brass was fired in a machine gun with a huge chamber. It exceeds the capability of my Lee press and won’t chamber.

Thanks for any leads.

You might look at the FCSA web sight.
There has to be a 50 cal shooter near you.

 

[mr45man]

You might look at the FCSA web sight.
There has to be a 50 cal shooter near you.

Site lol

 

[rmr]

I've been down this path before. re-sizing these cases requires a hefty press, and some strength. Like any other case that's been fired in a MG, (half the time with the headspace on the M2 set incorrectly) the post-resized case is going to suffer from a shortened service life due to the work hardening at the web.

super clean dies and cases + imperial sizing die wax is the key.

I shot FCSA competition for several years, (98' to 06') and did fairly well with it. I always used virgin imi brass for match use, but re-sized LC for rock busting. If your willing to send some cases my way, I might be able to help. Pm me.

 

[Tucker65]

If rmr can't help I might be able to. I built a hydraulic press for mine and it seems to work pretty good. I haven't done much with it lately but I could figure it out if needed.

John

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Doea anyone know of a reliable source that could prep 200 pieces of Lake City brass for reloading?

This brass was fired in a machine gun with a huge chamber. It exceeds the capability of my Lee press and won’t chamber.

Thanks for any leads.

I also have been down the road that your headed. - One thing I would do it check the dimensions on a few case that were fired in the chamber of Your 50 caliber rifle. - You'll need to see how the F/L sized brass comes back after whom ever sizes it & see how it measures out. - A few years ago I purchase some LC Fifty cal. brass that was fired in the M2 and I was never able to get it down enough in size to chamber very well & I tried 2 different F/L sizer dies & even tried sizing it more than one time. - The spring-back of the brass was just too much after being sized. - I was able to get a sized case into the chamber of the rifle but it still didn't feel right. - When I lifted the bolt handle during extraction. - I loaded & tried 10 pieces & the accuracy just wasn't there in comparison to new brass (WCC head-stamp that was new). A lot of it will depend on your particular rifles chamber dimensions and what the F/L sizer die is able to produce after spring-back of the brass. - There happens to be quite a bit of variation in chambers among the 50's out there. - I hope you are able to do better than I did with this machine-gun fired brass.

Regards, Ron

 

[montana_native]

I am pretty sure that this brass came from an M2. My die won't squeeze it down enough. I have 200 pieces so it would be great if I could get it to work. Thanks for the thoughts so far everyone. RMR and Tucker; PMs inbound.

 

[rmr]

this is spot on:

The spring-back of the brass was just too much after being sized. -

you'll also find that if you are really pushing the pressure limits on the BMG, (heavy bolt lift, flat primers...the usual stuff) that the cases will take a "set" After an overpressure event (or an M2 with excessive headspace) the cases never really are the same after that. you'll always have difficulty with extraction, and resizing even with mild loads. If you look at old FCSA pics, it isn't unusual to see a mallet or dead-blow hammer on the bench. one of the reasons it was there was to help with opening the bolt in the days when new 50bmg brass wasn't available.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

this is spot on:

The spring-back of the brass was just too much after being sized. -

you'll also find that if you are really pushing the pressure limits on the BMG, (heavy bolt lift, flat primers...the usual stuff) that the cases will take a "set" After an overpressure event (or an M2 with excessive headspace) the cases never really are the same after that. you'll always have difficulty with extraction, and resizing even with mild loads. If you look at old FCSA pics, it isn't unusual to see a mallet or dead-blow hammer on the bench. one of the reasons it was there was to help with opening the bolt in the days when new 50bmg brass wasn't available.

Montana Sir, - I understand your desire to try & use the 200 pieces of brass that you purchased. - I've been down the road you are on and I'm going to tell you that your Not going to be satisfied at all if it turns out like it did when I purchased the similar brass from Bartlett's G.I. Brass back 10 years ago.

- You can do whatever you want, I'm not trying to stand in your way. -

A question that I want you to think about is: IF you are not able to size this brass correctly with the Die you have, what makes you believe that it's going to get sized to a correct / usable state by someone else's dies - unless you know of someone that has dies that are capable of doing just that ? - What I'm saying is, If your "factory" Lee / RCBS / Hornady / C & H (or whatever you have) didn't get it down to where it is correct, then do you think someone else's dies are going to produce a usable solution / result ??

And then what are you planning on doing after you've fired the brass one time to get it where it needs to be for the next loading ?

I'd like to offer a little "cost effective" advice if I may.

- The 200 rounds of M2 machine-gun brass you have - Sell it for scrap or "Bin It" and chalk that up to a "Learning Experience" (that you will not repeat). - Get yourself some NEW brass. - Not Fired brass. The Winchester (WCC Head-stamp)stuff is suitable but not the top of the line. There are a few places on-line that it can be had (Powder Valley Inc. - Under Brass, Winchester). Or if you want to spend more & get some good brass possibly the RUAG (RWS) brass or LAPUA brass would be a couple that I'd recommend.

Shooting a 50 BMG rifle and achieving good accuracy is not a cheap endeavor and running poor quality brass will be a road-block that will never be circumvented through any other steps or measures that you take in the handloading process.

Good Luck - Ron

 

[montana_native]

The problem with this site is that people think too rationally.

I just ordered some RUAG brass off of Midway. It is on sale.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Mo

The problem with this site is that people think too rationally.

I just ordered some RUAG brass off of Midway. It is on sale.

Montana Sir,
I've thought that a time or two myself - depending on the circumstances.
- For the most part I believe that there's some good information and some knowledgeable folks on here. - Like any internet forum, there's opinions and there is also disagreement from varying points of views. - I've been corrected when I've misspoken and it wasn't with spite that the other person brought a point forth and did so. (So far). - I don't know if you are a FCSA member (that's your decision & business) , But there are a lot of knowledgeable folks in that organization. - The big 50 has came a long way over the years & the records prove it.

I applaud your decision to move ahead on the new brass. - I think you'll be much more successful with your reloading & shooting endeavors this way.

All The Best - Ron

 

[Zero333]

I know someone who had the same problem with 50bmg brass.
He told me when sizing the brass he has to hold it in the die for a while before retracting the ram.
Ended up being able to chamber the brass after doing that.

I don't remember exactly how long "a while" he said was.

 

[rmr]

the follow up to this story is that be careful loading for the 50. there isn't any point trying to drive for maximum velocity. the 50 has plenty of energy as it is.

super slow powders, namely 20n29 have a significant amount of burn rate variability, lot to lot. H50bmg is better in this respect. start slow, and chronograph all of your load development. I always tried to hit around 2700fps with a 800 solid. pay attention to the bolt lift. after loading the same case 2 or 3 times, the bolt should open easily without assistance (no mallet). if you are getting any pressure signs at all, back off. your cases will thank you for it. your new cases should last 10 reloads at least, if not 15.

 

[Just Dave]

Too far for me to be any assistance,, I would look into the FCSA as suggested. The yearly membership is worth it, to comb the archives of the members only forum.
MANY issues just like this have been analyzed and solved, or at least some very sharp minds have provided solid data to compare against.
.
1x fired LC brass is all I have used,, only ran across a few that wouldn't go back within spec to chamber.

 

[Archimedes]

Yeah I’m having the same issue except I have 1300 cases.
Can I make my own hydraulic reloading press with a harbor freight hydraulic press?