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Poor Brass problem?

I am seeing some case problems that I think are defects but want to get your opinions. I am only seeing this on about 5% of the brass.

This is .257 Weatherby brass was obtained by purchasing Weatherby factory loaded ammunition. This brass has been shot 3 times (1st being factory) and is about to hand-loaded for the 4th firing. I did have 3 cases in this batch with a very small crack in the neck after the first firing and discarded them. I now have a BenchSource annealing machine and will be annealing this brass after each firing but they have not been annealed before now.

I enhanced this picture so you could see it better and the enhancement makes it look worse in the photo than it really is. I would best describe this as the brass looking rippled or flaky in this small area. Kind of like a hammered Damascus knife blade. This picture is the worst of the few.

Questions:
Any idea what causes this or do I just chalk it up to bad brass?
Should I anneal these few cases and load them up for another round or toss them out?

Thanks.
 

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I think it's bad brass.

Go to Walmart, pick any box of Remington ammo and look at it close. Same thing, and you'll likely pick out a cracked neck or shoulder within a box.
I can imagine Weatherby ammo isn't cheap, but it isn't made with Norma, or Lapua brass either.
So is 5% really a problem?
 
'I can imagine Weatherby ammo isn't cheap, but it's not made with Norma or Lapua brass either'. Um.. well..... actually it is. Weatherby factory ammo is made by Norma. Vic
 
I may be out in left field, but it looks like some type of contamination, perhaps with an ammonia-based cleaning product?

Your camera should have a macro setting; it would also help the picture if your background was not the one you are using now. Try using a sheet of paper or a light color towel.
 
I had a similar problem...dont know if its the same as yours but mine was due to gun cleaning liquids left in the chamber area..in your case maybe right around the neck area...If you havent already done so you might be sure to clean out the chamber and neck area and then be sure its dry before you fire next round..I personaly use cheap wal mart carb cleaner to do this..it evaporates quickly and then i be sure to dry it out with a patch down the bore then followed by a chamber mop. hope it helps
p.s. i have personaly seen bore cleaners that have been left in the chamber area too long turn kind of a gummy state and stick to the metal
 
Weatherby loaded ammo is expensive so I was very disappointed when some necks split after one firing. Yes Weatherby ammo is made by Norma with Norma brass. After I had the split necks on the first firing, I looked at the necks very closely and didn't see this type of rippling so this is happening as I go. I do see very faint evidence of this happening on the body of a few other cases but it is not nearly as bad as it is on the two necks. I have some Hornady brass I purchased to try next but don't want to dig into it until after I use the factory cases up first. This is my wife's rifle using 115Gr Berger's loaded down to only 3000fps.

I use a bore guide for all my cleaning and I run a dry bore cleaner down the chamber after each cleaning. I guess there is a chance I could be missing some so I will pay careful attention to this the next time I clean this rifle. I would like to note that I clean all my rifles exactly the same using a bore guide on all of them and I have never seen this with any other rifle but this one.

Thanks so far guys. Any chance this has something to do with them not being full loads?
 
+1 to the reduced load theory...something i would def. look into also. BTW boreguides do nothing really but help guide the rod...i personaly use them also but often find cleaner has made it out past the o-ring and into the chamber

WoW just read that article that 243Winxb posted on the reduced load problems...it would be worth you reading...amazed me...ive been reloading for 20yrs. and im still learning..thanks 243winxb...you just taught me something.
 
I am using 54.0 grains of H380 so I don't feel it is too slow. QuickLoad shows this load burns 100% of the powder. I am also not getting burn marks on the outside of the case body at all. I do get slight burn smudges at the last 1/2 of the case neck but that is common on many rounds. I use Mag primers for all my belted hand loads. The bullets are seated deeply to standard COAL because I couldn't reach the rifling if I had to. I FL resize every time and the bullets seat hard. I annealed all the cases this go round and will see if that makes a different.
 
Lyman #45 (very old data) shows a starting load of H380-56 gr to maximum of 61 gr. with a 117gr bullet. 54 gr = Light load. Having used H380 many years ago, i feel it should follow H450 (discontinued). See Steve's pages for data also. http://stevespages.com/page8a.htm QuackLoad. ;D Sorry. :) Use this data at your own risk, as the powder may have been changed/modified by Hodgdon over the years.
 
Never used Steve's data but he does show 54.0gr as the starting point with H380 for the 117gr bullet. I got my 54.0 starting point from the Sierra loading manual. I still don't know that this light Load is the problem because to me, if it was, I would be getting solid powder burns on the outside of the cases and I am not. I would also think I would be getting the problem on most or all the cases and not just a few. I will take this advice though and load them a little hotter and work up to 56.0gr and see if how it goes. My wife had rotator cup surgery in her shooting shoulder 2 year ago and I want to go easy on her so she can enjoy it.

I know one thing, at $1.25 to $2.00 bucks a pop, I want my brass to last. If my BenchSource gets me 2-4 additional reloads on this brass alone, it will pay for itself in no time.
 
It may not be a pressure problem?? Let us know if you find out what is causing the strange markings. Different brass may give different results with the same powder charge.
 

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