Are 300 WSM brasses to stressed to reload more than four times?

[Yellow11]

Mike, the action is a Barnard...

 

[mikecr]

Which Barnard?
Is it a magnum diameter action(1 1/8 barrel thread)?

Just checkin

 

[Cameron SS]

My 300 WSM brass is on its 9th firing, and it is just the point where it needs to be annealed.

I use a redding competition die set with neck sizer and body sizer. I body size every three firings or so. Sometimes if I go a bit one too many firings without body sizing then I get a difficult to chamber round, and get scratch marks on the case when pulling it out. Body sizing in my redding die solves this problem. My chamber is factory.

I think your chamber is either a bit tight, or your die is a bit loose.

 

[Steve Blair]

Which Barnard?
Is it a magnum diameter action(1 1/8 barrel thread)?

Just checkin

Mike,

Although the Barnard PL uses a 1.125" tenon and is intended for large magnums (.416 Rigby), the P is also available with a .534" bolt face. Are you suggesting that the P is marginal as a .300 WSM platform?

 

[mikecr]

Yes
I wouldn't use it, and most factories and finished barrel makers wouldn't provide it.
It's why Savage uses a large shank for them. They know what they're doing.

Awhile back I went to building a 6.5WSSM, and ordered an action from BAT. Bruce Thom resisted and strongly suggested that I up the size to a larger tenon. He knew that I could not reach the potential of a magnum diameter case without enough barrel steel around the chamber. I would pressure out too early..
I went with his suggestion and all was fine. But over the years I've seen a few here & there who didn't recieve that advice, and they were directly paying the prices of it.

The SAAMI max for the WSM/WSSMs is 65Kpsi(pretty stiff), and they shoot well there.

 

[lynn]

Yellow11
My father and I both shoot 300WSM heavy bench guns and use Norma brass without any problems.
The advice you have been given is good but its not all tied together so you can see the whole picture.
When Eric Cortina asked you about the shoulder being set back he wanted you to check it so you can shorten your die or shorten your shellholder.If it isn't being setback too much already run your shellholder over some 80 grit sandpaper in a figure "8" pattern to grind down some of the top surface.
Doing that will allow you to push the brass further into the die sizing the base down more without wrecking the headspace on your brass.You want firm contact with the die and the shellholder.If it feels better but is still tight sand the shellholder some more and reset the die again for firm contact.
Shellholders are soft and you will instantly know if it fixes your problem.
If your shoulders are being setback too much you have no choice but to buy a small base die which will size the base down more or spin your barrel on a lathe while running some crocu cloth on a dowel into the chamber to polish it out slightly.I hate dies that don't fit your gun.
Lynn

 

[Erik Cortina]

You are correct Lynn, sometimes it's as easy as that.

 

[Yellow11]

Sorry for the hang-fire in responding... I'm on a different time scale, here in the UK.

The Barnard action is P

 

[scott_at_vortex]

I know this is a slim chance, but thought I would throw it out there. Is there any chance that your die is miss marked as a FL and is actually a NS?

Scott

 

[Yellow11]

Scott,

Wish it was so simple... I have both Redding FL die and Body die, the both give the same result.

 

[mikecr]

Yellow11, all the bizaare suggestions about WSM cartridges, are not helping you. You should drop that source..

Now we need to know how wrong your chamber is.
What does your brass measure at the webline, before firing, after firing, and after sizing?

 

[Yellow11]

Mike,

Current game plan is to take a series of measurements, starting with virgin brass, firing and then reloading and measuring as I go.

Hopefully, the postman will have the nw brass for me in the morning

 

[Erik Cortina]

Is the shoulder being bumped back at all when you FL size your brass?

 

[Yellow11]

Erik,

I previously had started with the shell holder kissing the FL die, but this time around I am looking to start with no shoulder pump and see what measurements appear and then adjust accordingly.

 

[Steve Blair]

Make sure that you size enough to just touch the shoulder. Otherwise, the FL die will size the body diameter and bulge the shoulder slightly. If you do not touch the shoulder, the base to datum measurement can actually increase.

 

[Yellow11]

understood...

 

[Cameron SS]

I have both Redding FL die and Body die, the both give the same result.

Sounds like we ruled out the die. Waiting to hear the results of dimenions before/after firing/sizing.

 

[lynn]

WBM
What is happening to your brass at 5 loadings that makes it unuseable?
Lynn

 

[spclark]

With factory brass - for any cartridge - I'm beginning to formulate a theory that full-power loads may not be the best way to start out if you want to get maximum case life. Think about it a little: brass work-hardens with use.

Production of new cases entails annealing brass cases during the forming process. Many of us anneal case necks (sometimes shoulders too) to reduce variations in neck tension after firing.

Is it plausible that new cases, subjected to full-pressure loads early in their life, may be deforming in ways cases used with somewhat reduced loads may not?

The operative theory here is that not only are the shoulders and necks getting work-hardened thru firing, but the case heads and webs also.

When neck (and maybe shoulder) annealing is worthwhile, we take pains NOT to anneal farther down. To my way of thinking - based on what I see on cases I use, and information from forum threads like this one - if factory-new cases are indeed softer than fired cases, starting out (at least the first load, maybe two or three) with reduced loads will serve to work-harden them, thus improving their useful lifetime.

 

[mikecr]

There is a price for everything, and no reason to notion that excess pressure loads are free.
There is no reason to believe excess FL sizing is free either.
Both represent evil energy IMO.

I'm confident I could make WSM reloading brass last my lifetime.