Q RE .338 Win Mag Neck Tension

[Ben H]

Good Luck!

I shot a nice 6x6 with a guides 7 SAUM he loaded with 190 Hornady A Tips. All I can say without doing into detail is DO NOT shoot elk with a target bullet…….

 

[Ben H]

WTF? Where’s The Friction?

Why The Fuss!

 

[searcher]

Assuming you had the die screwed down pretty close to the shell holder, a minor misadjustment in die height wouldn't cause that. I'd be looking at the position of the expander ball on your die. It might be just opening your neck back up when you withdraw the case from the die on the upstroke a bit too much. This can be checked by simply sizing another case without the de-cap assembly and comparing the neck measurements of the prior case sized with the de-cap assembly in. You can reposition the ball - or chuck the de-cap assembly in a drill and take the ball down in size with a diamond file if need be. I'd take off around .003" if that can't be adjusted and it shows to be the problem. You could de-cap separately and size without the de-cap assembly (and ball), though you might end up with too much tension. Sometimes, you can get enough (.001" or so) tension on the neck and all seems fine with no bullet movement after seating. The brass does relax after sizing - which can continue for a day or two enough to loosen things up a bit too much. As another noted - that condition, combined with a compressed load, is almost certain to result in a bullet working its way back out. Once worked out to the boat tail, it gets worse. Good luck - likely a minor fix.

 

[ELR LVR]

I shot a nice 6x6 with a guides 7 SAUM he loaded with 190 Hornady A Tips. All I can say without doing into detail is DO NOT shoot elk with a target bullet…….

So overcompensating with more than enough bullet didn't help huh?

 

[Fire Dog]

I shot a nice 6x6 with a guides 7 SAUM he loaded with 190 Hornady A Tips. All I can say without doing into detail is DO NOT shoot elk with a target bullet…….

Yea, rather like using “Ball” ammo… it is not designed to open up and usually drills a small hole from one side to the other unless hitting something really solid.

 

[Ben H]

So overcompensating with more than enough bullet didn't help huh?

The A tip blew massive entry holes and sucked at penetration. Jacket and core separation happened. I’ve always preferred Barnes TTSX for elk, not target bullets.

 

[max evans]

did you re-size the new cases, you have to re-size new cases!

 

[Ben H]

So overcompensating with more than enough bullet didn't help huh?

The A tip blew massive entry holes and sucked at penetration. Jacket and core separation happened. I’ve always preferred Barnes TTSX for elk, not target bullets.

 

[Fire Dog]

The A tip blew massive entry holes and sucked at penetration. Jacket and core separation happened. I’ve always preferred Barnes TTSX for elk, not target bullets.

I can imagine the the “A” of the A-Tip acted like a wedge to force the destruction of the bullet and associated shallow damage. I was thinking of the generally very small hollow point on most “Target” bullets. They act much like FMJ and don’t usually expand much or at all.

 

[Ben H]

did you re-size the new cases, you have to re-size new cases!

Yes

 

[piie]

Did you try to put a crimp on the bullets into one of the pressure bands/grooves? I know it doesn't necessarily line up well with where you would typically see the canelure on some bullets , but I've managed to do at least put a "slight" crimp on my 458 Lott when using Barnes?

You could also maybe look at other types of crimping dies - I think the Lee dies crimp different than for instance a RCBS or Redding (if I recall correctly, they tend to do the roll crimp if you start lowering them just a tad).