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Bolt Resistance w/ Annealed Brass

Dennis, Thanks for the page. I forgot what a great resource that book is.

Dalej, Thanks for the advice. I've worked this load up to 46.8gr w/o any problem. I did happen to have brass from unfired through 4x fired (all un-annealed) and I measured the extraction groove. on unfired brass, the groove is .4065"-.407". On 4x fired brass, it is .4075". I do occasionally get primer pockets that are easier to prime than others but nothing dramatic.

Bayou Shooter, I trim brass as part of the reloading process after resizing, every time. Unfired brass was trimmed at 2.005". 4x fired brass was trimmed to 2.011". Chamber length is 2.035"

Webster, I realize that my charge is higher than book recommendations but I worked it up carefully to 46.8 w/o pressure signs. Also, see my reply to Dalej re extractor groove dimensions.

I have fired hundreds of rounds of this and higher loads with 3x-4x fired brass without any problem. I really think that the problem is related to the annealing. One other consideration, prior to annealing, I used SS tumbling for the first time. Case mouths were slightly "belled" (more of a burr really). I resized and demurred them. not sure if that is a possible issue.

Also, check out the attached photo of the annealed brass. Does this indicate over annealing?

Thanks for all of the replies.
 

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If you clean with SS media and do too long of a clean cycle or have too many pieces of brass in there at the same time, the impact of the cases against the case mouth will cause peening. This can be a pretty significant effect. That peening/belling is not that easy to get rid of. For example, if you use the de-burr tool, that will not do it with regular amount of cutting – I would check them. The best way is to run your finger nail down the neck towards the opening. If you still have significant peening, it will catch on the lip.

I don’t know how you are sizing the neck but with the lip present, it could get sized in (i.e. with a bushing die) or out (i.e. with a mandrel) and it will give you unequal neck tension. If you are using a tight chamber gun, it could cause pressure problems.

It’s hard to tell if that “bluing” of the primer pocket is due to annealing of the case head but really your best method to figure this out was to put Tempilaq on your case when you were setting the annealer up. Generally speaking from experience, if you anneal with a time that is very slightly less than what it takes your case neck to start to turn a slight red, you should not end up annealing the case head.
 
Brass definitely had the peening. I was wondering if maybe the peening acted like a burr and did not let the neck expand fully, causing excess pressure. I knew better than to try 2 new things at once (annealing and tumbling) but I had new toys to play with.

Is measuring the extractor groove the best way to measure case head expansion? How much expansion is too much?
 

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