Dasher shoulders splitting when hydroforming

[D2x shooter]

Purchased the Hornady Dasher Hydro Forming system. I am using new, unfired Lapua 6BR brass and hitting the plunger three times with a 3 lb hammer. I am running ten percent split shoulders.
What am I doing wrong?
Thank you, Dale

 

[Phil]

Try hitting it progressively harder,not beating the tar out of it three times in a row....

A dead blow hammer also helps......No idea why...

 

[ridgeway]

Try annealing the new brass before working with it.

 

[LRPV]

Like was mentioned already, soft hit first then increase. I just started on box last night of a different lot number than I've used before and have split two shoulders out so far and found one with the fold in the shoulder out of the box. I'm only half way done with the box. I'm thinking I might try annealing them first next time but in the past I've annealed only after hydro forming. I think its really just the nature of the beast to lose some in the process whether its fire forming or hydro forming.
Jason

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I use a dead blow and hit it pretty good. I made a video a while back and posted it on youtube.com. I have tried annealing first. Didnt seem to matter. I loose about 2 out of 100.

 

[D2x shooter]

Thanks guys.
I guess the bottom line is - they split. I have not split any fire-forming. I am concerned about the ones that did not split but are ready to do so when fired.

Some times I think I should have stayed with the 6br.

Thank again,
Dale

 

[LRPV]

I finished the box I was working on. Ended up with 3 splits and two pieces that probably will on the first firing. This is the same lot of brass that I used in a 6br last year and I had about the same failure rate using it as straight BR brass as well. If you look at the brass closely you can pretty much pick out which ones are gonna let go before you try to blow them out. The way I look at it, I'd rather have alcohol spew all over the inside of my die than I would hot gases burning into my expensive new chamber. I guess that may be what fireform barrels are for.
Jason

 

[johnmyers]

Like some others said, make first blow light and harder on 2nd and 3rd. I agree a deadblow hammer works better. The last 100 I formed there 0 splits but most boxes I split 3-5 most of the time and always split on 1st blow. Makes me think the splitters are not perfect as the ones that don't.

 

[LRPV]

Like some others said, make first blow light and harder on 2nd and 3rd. I agree a deadblow hammer works better. The last 100 I formed there 0 splits but most boxes I split 3-5 most of the time and always split on 1st blow. Makes me think the splitters are not perfect as the ones that don't.

John

Mine split on the first hit too. I did have two out of this box that held up the whole time but you can feel the split with a fingernail. I got 94 usable pcs. One had the fold in the shoulder, 3 split and two are gonna split if I shoot them. Like I said above, I had about the same amount go bad when used in a 6BR last year.

 

[swed6.5]

Strange to here of any problems with this system, myself it was a 2 case loss in 100 an a friend also just did 400 cases and had identicle results, I agree with zfastmalibu is right on. remember were forming soft brass not trying to split a log with a wedge. ALSO zfastmalibu said before to use rubbing alcohol insead of water it drys faster,
PS I love the good old BR but once your dasher brass is done its as good in a different way because you save time, by almost never needing to trim them, or at least in my experience, Goodluck

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I better go look at mine. I just did 250 and didn't have any split. I'll inspect them again.

 

[ShootDots]

I use the "false-shoulder" method of blowing out the shoulders on my Dasher. I lost 2 pieces in 200 rounds.. That is not a bad deal>>> I think they were probably not PROPERLY annealed OR flawed in one way or another to begin with. Next time I blow out some shoulders, I will ANNEAL the NEW brass first, I bet I won't lose one piece..

 

[D2x shooter]

Doesn't the false shoulder method require shooting a loaded round? I am trying to form some cases without having to shoot them. I will try the alcohol method with a lighter first hit.
As it stands my 6br just keep shooting. I wish Lapua made Dasher brass. I wonder how much I would have to buy to get it factory made?
I hope the rubbing alcohol works otherwise I am going to try additional alcohols - Crown Royal Black comes to mind!
Thanks guys for all your experience.
Dale

 

[ShootDots]

Yes Dale, it does require you to fire the rifle.. However, the next time I fireform some brass, I am going to shoot a match (F-Open) and fireform the brass where I would need to fire the rifle anyway.. I found that it shoots VERY well even in "fireform mode"... That way you are not just "using up barrel life" without a purpose..

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Thanks guys!

I found hairline cracks in 7% of my cases. I couldn't see most of them with the naked eye. They showed up under magnification.

 

[LRPV]

I did my third box of the same lot number today without any failures. I didn't change my process at all. Maybe it's just the luck of the draw.
Jason

 

[D2x shooter]

We just finished do a few where we re-annealed the case neck and shoulder for 7 seconds. We hydro-fromed them with water and did not split a case for 20 cases. Whew, this takes a long time but we may just have the formula for success.

 

[johnmyers]

Shouldn't take that long. Last 100 I did used alcohol 0 splits 1hr 15 min. No need to make this a long difficult project

 

[Old Navy]

Why alcohol? Later! Frank

 

[Phil]

Frank,

It dries quicker.