OOPS!

[ELR LVR]

Goofing around in the shop yesterday I wanted to see what would happen if too small a neck sizing bushing was used on a freshly annealed Lapua .223 case and the run in a mandrel. Not too surprised, but a bit of a chuckle on what came out. I normally try to use a bushing that will size to just under where I want to be and then run the mandrel. Lapua has thicker neck walls than Starline so a larger bushing needs to be used. Whatta Hobby!
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I found out at one time, when wilcatting a cartridge, a person may NOT want to anneal the brass before forming for the same reason
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Better to try forming (squeezing down brass first) before anealing it
one would think it will squeeze down easier if annealed but it softens the shoulder too much
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I've had that happen with new brass a time or two also though

 

[Fire Dog]

Also accomplished by not having any movement on the bushing in a bushing die, being too quick running a piece of brass into the die and collecting the neck on the edge for a fold-over… Over annealing can also result in the case necks collapse.
Seating a bullet in a neck that is too tight, that is especially painful when it is an expensive piece of brass… that is the reason I have taken to brushing the inside of case necks these days…
Nothing worse than to have a catastrophic failure at the end of the process of loading rounds for a match the following day…

 

[NF1E]

As said, I was goofing around in the shop and put a .244 bushing instead of the normal .247 I use with the Lapua. Usually after the .247, the carbide mandrel slides easily into the neck. With the .244 not so much.

 

[NF1E]

Thanks for all the replies. Nice to see such a great spirited group of folks with senses of humor. Whatta

Hobby!

 

[jimmymac]

Gumby amd Pokey!

 

[ebb]

You can get a milder version of this by missing the neck chamfer and trying to seat a flat based bullet. The one I had issue with was bulged just slightly and was almost unnoticed.