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Hi Kaj,
I just got in from the shop. I did some sizing and measuring and this is what I found. First I sized the Magtech brass in my Lee carbide sizer, then I checked it with a .451 cast boolit. There was plenty of neck tension and no problems. Then I dug into my stash of range brass and got out the calipers to measure the actual thickness of the brass at the necks. This is what I found:
Military case .014"
Fed +P case .014"
Fed case .012"
Magtech case .012"
R/P case .012"
Rem/UMC case .011"
Rather than discovering answers, I only found questions. :confused: So, I sized one of each and checked them all with the .451 boolit. There was no problem with any, including the thinnest Rem/UMC case. While I do not personally own a set, I have never heard of anyone with a complaint about Hornady dies, presses, or other tools. (I am not and never have been a big fan of their bullets, but the issue there is one of accuracy relative to Sierra's in my rifles). I don't know if your problem is the dies, or if you just got a bad lot of brass. See if your thickness figure agrees with mine. If it does, I think you're going to have to try another set of dies to be sure. Is there another reloader near you so you can borrow his set? I'd say come on over, but it would be a hell of a long drive for you, and some of it would be pretty wet going...:mrgreen:
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Thanks again,Versifier.
I measured some Magtech case necks and they came 0.007"-0.008" :(.
Looks like my brass is bad.I´m going to check some other brands of sizer dies,and if that won´t help,I will make my own small base sizer die.One way or the other,I will load these cases :twisted: .I did visit US in -97,but it was just two weeks.I came to US with one small suitcase,and I left with two BIG suitcases full of reloading stuff :mrgreen: .
Kaj
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KTN,
I've got to add to Dale's post...
My dies are from LEE and they have successfully reloaded even the very thin HP (Hirtenberger) brass as well as CBC and S&B; sorry I am without a calliper at the time and cannot measure much.
However, with several combinations of components and OAL, it was obvious that the neck tension wasn't enough to keep the bullet in place when the cartridge hit the feed ramp.
It is very easy to extract a cartridge which cycled normally through the gun at the range, and check its OAL. Sometimes you just need your eyes to see the bullet was kicked back in the case...
This hasn't stopped me from shooting 452 lead bullets in thin brass, as long as accuracy doesn't suffer, but only with target loads... the bullets would bottom in the expanded part of the case at worse.
Keep heavy loads for brass which can keep a firm hold on their bullets. I know you are caught between the brass problem and a very tight Norinco (mine is...).
I ditched Remington and IMI brass in 44 because it was too thin for my dies; it seems that your Magtech was picked at the range so don't loose sleep over it... (I know it hurts more when the stuff was free... :mrgreen:)
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