What happened....

Some time ago I bought a Dutch Beaumont rifle.
I reloaded some new cases last week using the following components.

40 gn of WANO PP (German BP)
Federal Large Pistol primers
345 gn cal .457 casted bullet.
As a filler I used Couscous.
On top of the Couscous I placed a cardboard wad.

I went to the range last Sunday and I noticed nothing about the cases after shooting.
I was happy with the results.
I cleaned the cases as I came home and still noticed nothing.
When they came out of the tumbler however I saw that they all were somewhat deformed.

What I mean is that around the middle of the case they start to get a bit thicker or maybe the case got a bit thinner just above the bottom…..I don’t know.
It seems like where the powder was in the case it is thinner.

What happened ???????
I do not reload BP that much, but I followed the same procedure as with the Vetterli cases.
Never had any problems reloading these cases.
Can it be that I seated the bullet with too much pressure???
Maybe I had to fire form them first and the 40gn BP were to little to form the entire case
I sure could use some info here.
The cases still fit the chamber and as far as I can see they are not damaged besides the thicker part of the case.

It's not easy to see, but here's a picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/10...t/IMG_2362.jpg

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

they are not deformed.. your cases swelled to fit your oversized chamber.
the part that didn't swell is the web area [ it is stronger and thicker brass]
this area is where you have case head separation.
you donot want to resize these cases very much or you will work them to death.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by runfiverun

they are not deformed.. your cases swelled to fit your oversized chamber.
the part that didn't swell is the web area [ it is stronger and thicker brass]
this area is where you have case head separation.
you donot want to resize these cases very much or you will work them to death.

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Thanks very much for the info runfiverun. :-D
I guess one is never too old to learn.
About resizing the cases the following.
For both my Vetterli and my Beaumont I never resize the cases.
I set the boolits by hand not using a die set.
The cases last longer this way.

Thanks again....I will sleep a bit better tonight knowing this. [smilie=w:

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

Think of it like this: you now have cases perfectly fireformed to your chamber. Neck sizing would be fine - you have to have sufficient neck tension to keep the bullet in place, but if the neck holds without any sizing, that's great. It's not very often you can get away with that, you're lucky. As r5r says, full length sizing will kill those cases quickly, either by head separation just above the web, or splits in the shoulder area. It's exactly the same situation you see in some .303Brit SMLE chambers - they are so oversize that you have to treat them like wildcats - custom fireform the cases to the chamber and size just the necks enough to hold the bullets.

Please translate for curious but language-challenged American: "Met vriendelijke groet". I won't even ask how it's pronounced. :-D

i think every gun is a wild cat no matter the caliber.
there has only one time i have had to re-load to suit the ammo not the gun.

Thanks for your replies.
I appreciate it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by versifier

Please translate for curious but language-challenged American: "Met vriendelijke groet". I won't even ask how it's pronounced. :-D

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No problem versifier.
When you translate "Met vriendelijke groet" literally, it means "with friendly greetings".
It is often used as a last sentence in a letter.
I believe the English equivalent is "Yours sincerely".
All my writing is in English, but I always finish every post in Dutch. :-D
Thanks for asking versifier.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin