Belted magnum case bulging???

M

MOJO67

New member
Hello all,

Have any of you belted magnum shooters experienced issues with case bulge just above the belt? I've read this is a real issue with belted cartridges becuase after 2-3 loadings, the case will no longer fit in the chamber. This is supposedley a problem that a conventional FL resizing die won't take care of.

I just started reloading for my 270 Wby and have thus far not experienced any problems, however, I've only got 2 firings on my new brass. As expensive as Weatherby brass is, I sure hope to get more than 3 loadings from a case.

There is a company in Florida named Innovative Technoligies that sells a special collet resizing die specifically made for belted magnum cartridges. They claim it re-sizes the brass all the way to the top of the belt, elliminating the case bulge. In addition it will supposedley extend case life by many loading's. They want $89.00 for that darn thing. Does this sound like a gimmick or is case bulging really that big of an issue with belted cases?

Thanks everyone.

MOJO
 
If you work the brass more it will fail quicker. If a small shoulder bump
will allow the cases to chamber, that is all you want to size them. Why take
the dia. down and then let it blow back out again.
 

Ive been loading belted cases (7mm Rem Mag and .264 Win Mag) with regular RCBS dies since 1970 and have never seen this problem. I shot out 2 barrels on my first 7mag and was working on the third bbl when I traded it for a horse. Just point this out as evidence Ive loaded a few. Ive got brass now with at least 8 loadings of full length resizing, and that still looks good enough to load again.

Id say just load and enjoy...if you come across the problem then start looking for a solution.

Silvertp
 
I can only offer opinions so for whats they are worth

common non problem with magnum brass

a slight bulge above the belt about 1/8" or so...slight being the operative word

if you haven't yet sized brass then you won't know whether it will fit back in your chamber or not

full length size 'em and try 'em

does this company in FL claim that this small bulge is a problem or are they helping you solve a non problem

save your $90
 
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Thanks for all the input guy's. All I've done thus far is neck-size and so far haven't had any issue, but have only 2 firings on my cases.

One thing I've learned thus far about reloading is there's not a short supply of gimmicks on the market. It's almost as bad as golf.

MOJO
 
MOJO67, the bulge can be a problem, but it is rare. The bulge come from an oversize chamber. When the brass expands out to meet the case walls, it retains a "memory". You size the brass and it may expand from the memory of being bulged out.

This problem does exist, just not in all rifles. I have sized once fired 7 Mag brass, let the loaded rounds sit for 2 years, and some of them will not chamber in the rifle.

When ever you size there will be some "spring back". Your chamber will tell you if it is too much "spring back" or not.

What happens with a lot of rifles is that you have to run the Full Lenght sizer all the way to the bottom and have the press "cam over" to size the last little bit of the bulge to where the brass feels if it has been full length sized. The problem is that you have pushed the shoulder on the case way back. When the case is fired again, the shoulder stretches forward. Fire this case a couple of times and you get head seperations.

Chamber lengths will fluctuate and make this Sizing issue problem Less/Worse.
 
Originally Posted By: bigwheeler Why would you size them? Put them in the chamber before you even de-cap.
If the bolt closes normal they are good. Neck size only.

If the OP were interested in determining whether or not the belted body sizing die were needed to eliminate the "bulge" he would need to size them to see.

"This is supposedley a problem that a conventional FL resizing die won't take care of."

His words.

Personally I neck size all my brass regardless right up to the point I need to bump the shoulder.
 
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