What is that??

[bow shot]

Fed my barnd new Savage 6.5-284 a hand load, it wouldn't chamber. I made the decision (yes it was the wrong one...) to bring the bolt handle down to get the extractor to grab, and thank God it did. It also extracted easily.

Anyone ever see this? Venture a guess what the heck happened? The "vitals" of the round are below the pic.


Laupua 1x fired brass, VLD chamfer
Ancient (paper box) Sierra 85 gn 6.5 Varminter
Hornady FL sized
Wilson seated (at COAL)
BR2 primed
50gn IMR 4350
Neck slightly RCBS lubed

The bullets are ancient, and have a gritty texture..not sure what it is. Seating was difficult and I'll blame that on the die rather than the bullets, because I've seated these same bullets (same package) in my 6.5x55 (which uses lee collet neck die) easily, and I had a very, very hard time seating 123 AMAXs also in the 284 cases. I REALLY REALLY REALLY dont' think I peeled the jacket, but sure, I might have missed one?

5 rounds fired before this one, barrel was warm but not hot. 20 rounds later, no similar problems.

 

[Shynloco]

My guess is that one was an out of round bullet when manufacturerd. I use mostly sierra bullets and have found an occasional either "goofy or even one actually slides through the mouth of a sized neck of brass into the powder charge. Upon measuring the bullet, I found it was actially .001 smallwe in roundness than all the rest in the box. My take is you have a fluke.

Alex

 

[TheSnake]

I would pull the bullet and see if it was a high spot on the bullet or a ding on the lip of the case mouth that caused this.

 

[bow shot]

Ok, I shal... I think this one will take quite a few whacks!!!

 

[22BRGUY]

Also seems the body shoulder junction area must have been binding as it looks shiny/rubbed. As you said, it may need a shoulder bump. Great to hear you extracted it instead of firing. That bullet is a weird one though.

 

[M-61]

It may be a reaction between the old gritty bullet and the brass.....I'm guessing....how long did they sit LOADED? Because of the cartridge I'd say time was not a problem, but I have to ask.
I had some old (1960's early) 52gr Sierra HPBT's that were not looking to good after 40 -50 years.(funny texture and some discolored) I put them in my vibrating tumbler and they came out like new except for one granule of media lodged in the hollow point. After a lot of effort to clean the granule out (unsuccessful) I said the heck with and they shot just fine.
A word of caution: If you do this count the bullets going in the tumbler and take the same number out. I found a 52gr (.224) lodged nicely in a .308 case that I tumbled a few days later. I guess it's only stupid if you don't catch the error.

 

[bow shot]

Ok, I pulled the bullet and found out that somewhere along the way I peened over a tiny spot on the case neck, and that peeled the jacket back.

I reckon I was careless somewhere along the way, and perhaps dropped the case after sizing.

I'll blame the shiny spot on the Hornady die.. perhaps unjustly... but these cases seem to take a LOT of force to size... and as mentioned before, the necks seem quite tight. I got the die set from John Hoover here on the site...

Yup, those bullets were ancient. I picked them up at a local shop a few years ago, probably 500 of them and this was the last of the bunch to be loaded. I think he got them from an estate auction or something, the box was actully paper, not plastic.

I wish I saved the box, but I didn't so I don't know the actual age of the bullets, but they only sat loaded for 4 days.

Thanks kindly for the intel, folks.

 

[Shrek]

I would be quick to blame the Hornady die. Hornady is the only die brand I have used that was unacceptable. Rough , poor polish , and rust in a heartbeat. I have had three sets and they were all junk. The camlock trimmer is absolute trash also.

 

[22BRGUY]

I agree with Dave but have polished the inside of some of those dies with Flitz metal polish and made them acceptable. Look around for some Redding Type S when you can and you'll be happier.

 

[Shrek]

My solution was to sell the Hornady and buy Forster seaters and Lee collet neck dies. I have the full lenght sizers from the Forster set but never use them.

 

[jonbearman]

I have a set of 7-08 dies from honady and they look as good or better than some of my reddings.I cant believe you could 3 sets in a row that were brand new and rough however I got a redding that wasnt even finished and as rough as a rough piece of snad paper inside which redding replaced.I wouldnt slam anything till you call the company and file your complaint so that they could fix the problem.As far as trimmers,we all know wilson is one of the most accurate on the market.My buddy has a hornady trimmer and does a decent job.We alll should let the company know so things will get better.Not trying to pick a fight but not everyone has these problems and hornady is a standup company in my eyes.

 

[bow shot]

I wish Lee made the collet die for this, but unfortunately they do not..

I have a wilson, but no busing. Hate to shoot out another $20 plush shipping for a bushing, but...

 

[chuckshoots]

This happened to me and I believe it was because of too much neck tansion and/or not chamfering/deburring. A bur or too much neck tension cause the neck to catch a piece of brass and it took off some of the jacket and then bumped into the case when run through the die.

This happened to me twice in quick succession and after improving my chamfering/deburring practices I haven't had it happen again.

 

[Clod-NC]

Hi Bowshot hi all

Bowshot I think that Lee will make a custom collet die for your cartridge provided that you send 2 or 3 empty fired cases with your order and are ready to pay the special fee for it. At least that's their offer for custom die orders...Give 'em a call and check...

 

[bow shot]

Clod-NC: Yes, I went to their site to get 'r done, but they have ceased all such special orders for the time being.

I'm in too much of a hurry, LOL! But when they clear their air over there, I'm on it!

chuckshoots: yup, I really think the die sizes too tight... As I recall, the ID of the cases after F/L sizing with the Hornady die is .259 - .260. I hear that I can order a larger expander, but haven't gone there yet. 'Heard of that for the 1st time just a day or two ago...