Thread: Brass Bastards I know - 260 Nosler

So being a cheap bastard myself I bought some Nosler 260 brass off TM. It was multiple fired but looked ok (it had been cleaned and annealed) and I asked a couple of questions - but not the right ones as it turned out.

Luckily I only paid $30 and got a good ammo box with the 90 or so pieces because the bloody stuff has "donuts" - a question I didn't ask although you might think would have been disclosed.

The brass looks like it can be saved if anybody has the tooling and expertise to properly neck turn it (again, I think its already been done once but not far enough or properly i.e. with the "donut" pushed right to the outside, which according to the interweb is the "right way).

Unless someone wants to supply me with 50 or so pieces of good brass I 'll just harden up like anyone else and buy some new stuff . . . . unless another someone is able to help me with neck turning my existing mess.

Cheers

PS - I'm still pissy about missing out on the box of Lapua 260 brass that was sold on the forum a week or so ago - I don't recall who got it but feel free to have a good gloat now - ha ha

Originally Posted by Tentman

So being a cheap bastard myself I bought some Nosler 260 brass off TM. It was multiple fired but looked ok (it had been cleaned and annealed) and I asked a couple of questions - but not the right ones as it turned out.

Luckily I only paid $30 and got a good ammo box with the 90 or so pieces because the bloody stuff has "donuts" - a question I didn't ask although you might think would have been disclosed.

The brass looks like it can be saved if anybody has the tooling and expertise to properly neck turn it (again, I think its already been done once but not far enough or properly i.e. with the "donut" pushed right to the outside, which according to the interweb is the "right way).

Unless someone wants to supply me with 50 or so pieces of good brass I 'll just harden up like anyone else and buy some new stuff . . . . unless another someone is able to help me with neck turning my existing mess.

Cheers

PS - I'm still pissy about missing out on the box of Lapua 260 brass that was sold on the forum a week or so ago - I don't recall who got it but feel free to have a good gloat now - ha ha

Hopefully @sneeze will see this.
He just dealt with a donut issue and can explain how he dealt with it using turning gear.

Happy to lend the turning gear I gave him to sort it if you think it is worth it.


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Originally Posted by Tentman

PS - I'm still pissy about missing out on the box of Lapua 260 brass that was sold on the forum a week or so ago - I don't recall who got it but feel free to have a good gloat now - ha ha

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

I get donuts in my 7 saum after 3 firings. It's a cu$t. My 260 never gets them. Who knows why...

Buying second hand brass from an unknown source is a raffle ticket.Giving benifit of the doubt the seller may not have any idea what a donnut is, many don't and when it throws accuracy out the window the rifle /barrel gets the blame. Youve picked it up and so saved yourself some frustration and extra cost.
You have some options, my first pick would be bin it and start with some new brass, along with the donut issue you have no idea how the annealing job was done so that could have negative effects and even if it doesn't you are always going to have it in your head when things dont go right.
If you want to salvage it you could choose a bullet that seats with the bearing surface/boat tail junction short of donut. You can inside ream but thats my least favoured option, its not easy to get right and theres no way of stopping the donut growing again, or you can use an over sized expander mandrel and then neck turn making sure you cut into the shoulder enough to prevent the brass flow.Its better done when the brass is new though can be ok with fired cases if the right sizing die is used, some, like bushing dies ,wont size the neck all the way to the neck shoulder junction and you can end up with differences in the wall thickness. If you are desperate to use it then you can send them and Ill turn them for you.
This is a new 6.5x284 case Iv turned because of donut issues, I use a 40 deg cutter

Thanks @sneeze - I knew it was a punt, at least I got an MTM ammo box out of it. The seller just replied (surprisingly) that he didn't know it had donuts. No use over analyzing it, but if he's a target shooter neck turning and annealing you'd sorta think he might have noticed.

My dies are not bushed but they are also not good at getting down to the shoulder, and its not worth investing in turning gear for (or bugging someone else to put the time in to set up their gear).

Its a Remmy Model 7 I'm reloading for with a short throat and with the 120 Sierra's I want to use they need to be set below the donut or they're right up into the lands - "everything is agin me". So I'll just write it off.

Cheers

@sneeze are you using that brass in a 6.5-284 or a 284Win?

I can understand getting donuts when you are sizing brass to another calibre (say 308-260) but hadn't heard of getting them when using say 260 brass in a 260 as in Tentmans case? Can someone explain how/why this would happen?

Its a very hard thing to get your head around. I'd never experienced them in 25+ years of reloading, then started getting them in new 6.5x47 Lapua brass after the first firing - couldn't believe it. After a bit of study I stopped using the Redding die I had and adapted a Lee collet die to 6.5x47 and nary a problem since in that rifle/cartridge.

Brass has gotten way better than it used to be, but I wonder if the softer necks that are preferred these days has something to do with it.

Standard 6.5x284. Donut appeared on the first firing with both lapua and norma brass. Iv read a few theories but the only way I can see it happening is brass flow converging at the neck shoulder juction casing it to swell internally. Iv had it in a few cartridges but it seems more common with improved cases with 35-40 deg shoulder. Nosler brass in my 280ai was a consistent donut issue with with the first batch but a latter batch in the same chamber with the same dies etc was fine so Im guessing a slightly different composition in the brass resisted the flow maybe?
Sizing down necks is generally ok but when sizing up you are using the thicker brass from the shoulder to form the extra neck so will be a likely candidate for the bulge when sized if you dont turn them.

I turn all my SAUM Brass and then find I end up reaming the inside necks after the second firing. all good after that.
More shooting I do the more I don't like case prep if I can avoid it

Have they been weight-sorted ?

I've only ever struck the issue with one of my rifles, a tight necked 284win using 6.5x284 Lapua brass. I've got it sorted now but had to turn it after necking up and again after firing to get it fully right.