What kind of case life are you getting with your belted magnums?

[BoydAllen]

Once you have fired the case the first time, which will probably blow your cases' shoulders forward about .021 (Measure before and after and let me know.) you treat die setup just like a rimless case. On a once fired case, I generally set the die to position the shoulder in the exact same place as it was after firing, making sure to remove the primer before measuring the case. After that you can keep an eye on your shoulder to head measurement and when you see the fired case measurement stabilize at its longest value, you can bump back from that. Be sure to check the bump on all of your cases, since the factory anneal will give you variation in bump, and you want to have all your cases function smoothly, or your groups will enlarge, with tight and easier bolt closures in the same target group. When I was helping a friend work up loads for his magnums, with Winchester and Lapua brass, we ran into this, and since he had the budget, he got an annealing machine, which we set to do just enough "stress relieving" to uniform the bump, without taking down neck tension very much.

 

[searcher]

I have a BAT Magnum action 7 MM Rem. Mag and got 12 firings on Winchester brass (full-length sizing) using 140 Barnes TTSX at 3,150 f.p.s. before the tell-tale ring with a slight crack formed in a few of the cases. I have since switched to neck only sizing and a different brand of brass and have not yet reached that number of firings yet - but anticipate brass will last longer for sure. If I kept full-length sizing, I'd retire the brass after 7 or 8 firings using that same load. If using heavier bullets at max published loads, probably 6 to 7 firings. In my 7 MM Rem Mag Browning BAR, (again full-length sizing) I'd retire the brass after 6 or seven firings. No doubt, some brands would probably not last as long - and some longer. It would have to be pretty crappy brass, I think, to last only a couple of firings with "published" load data, but then, there are a few brands which won't hold a primer well after three or four.

 

[searcher]

I was using Redding full-length sizing die and bumping shoulder back .003" I am now using Redding Type "s" bushing neck die. I anneal the brass every four loadings or so.

 

[rudysts]

I get about ten firings 7 rem mag nosler brass 180 berger hybrid 3000 fps been wanting to order a die from innovative technologies (Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die) so I can get more out of my brass.

 

[wnc-coyote]

Boyd.
Thank you for your response. I think what you are getting at is that people bummed there shoulders way to far back. I think your were saying not to bump the shoulder any until my measurement stabilizes and quit growing? Is this correct.

Thank you.

Hope you guys have a very merry CHRISTMAS

 

[BoydAllen]

You may need to do a little testing for fit on the bump, but yes, that is what I meant. That is what I do with any case, belted or not. Once you have observed what takes place with one caliber, you kind of know what to expect with others. Since I do my load workups loading at the range, a lot of times I will back off of the die till it only sizes the end of the neck enough to keep a bullet in place, and then I will fire a couple of warm loads, , reloading the same case, and keep track of what the shoulder is doing. Let us know how your shoulder to head numbers progress starting with the measurement of a fired case, and how many firings it takes to reach maximum. Also, be aware that you should measure all of your sized cases, particularly if you are not annealing, because if you use one of the softer cases to set your die, the harder ones will not be bumped, and if you use one of the harder ones, your softer ones will be bumped more than you want.

 

[nastynatesfish]

I had a case of federal ammo that my dad bought be for Christmas in 2006. I had to switch brass in 2011. I reloaded it constant. I started getting some case head separation in the brass. I was loading 162s at 3010+\- and that was inn3 different barrels. I always neck sized until to tight to chamber then fl sized. I switched to just bumping the shoulder back enough to chamber on my 3rd barrel. I'd say I had 25 loads on them. I had Remington brass that didn't last near as long. I think brass life is dependent on. Prep and chamber. I've now had the same Winchester brass since 2012 and going strong. Now I load Dow to the 2975-3k mark and not an issue

 

[savagedasher]

All my belted Mag dies size off the belt not the shoulder. If you want good case life have a die made for your chamber. Then you can adjust off the shoulder. Merry Xmas Larry

 

[BoydAllen]

At my suggestion, a friend made a specialty die to cover the space between where a properly adjusted FL die reaches in front of the belt, and the belt. He found a cheap FL die, that was missing some parts, and cut it off below the shoulder, leaving it just long enough for a lock ring to fit above the top of the press, with the die set to touch the shell holder. The shoulder of the die was cut off. Some seem to get by quite nicely without worrying about this gap, but the solution to repeated hot loads was what I was after. It worked.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I have both standard belted mag dies, RCBS and Redding and custom dies for my target rifles.
I have found very little difference in how they bump the shoulder, but the body dimension is very different between them. If set up correctly, my brass has and does last a long time, in excess of a dozen loads, particularly Winchester brass and near on as many loads on Norma brass if the loads aren't too hot.
Not once, ever, have I had an issue with the so-called bulge in front of the belt, and I load for 264WM, 270Weatherby, 300WM, 300Weatherby, 338WM, 340Weatherby, 375Weatherby and 458 Lott.

I size all my brass the same, bump .002" every time and anneal after every third sizing.

Cheers.

 

[gumbo333]

In Ruger 77 300 Win Mag, I started with 2 boxes of new Rem 180 gr shells. I reloaded those 40 cases at least 10 to 12 times neck sizing only with the cheapo Lee dies. I have never annealed, don't know how. I don't load hot, primer pockets were still OK. First thing to happen is neck splits. Same with non-belted cases, some may go 20 or more if you don't hot rod them. I never bought any new shells, all gone now, got old , wrecked shoulder, sold off big kickers. Had lots of fun though. Had lots of sub 3/4 inch groups even with using the cheap Lee dies. Have some other brands also. Merry Christmas to all.