Thread: Federal brass primer pockets??

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

They are honking
2850 from 18” barrel 145gn yes I did have a crony

And yes they are warm loads
But the cases look awesome to the eye
Exactly the same as a factory round fired in this rifle

I really don’t think it’s pressure related or if it is it’s because the brass isn’t good enough quality to handle the jandel

I normally use lapuas or norma and ive never seen that with ether of those brands and ive had some bloody hot loads over the years Obviously you back off Considerably from these once you start getting signs of pressure but I have never ever loosened a primer pocket on the 1st fireing even with very high pressure

The signs I mainly look for is ejector burr or swipe
And tight bolt lift if I get ether of those i back off
I don’t trust primers as a Indicator as I have found major inconsistencies of how primers show
Obviously if there’s gas leaking arround the primer that’s a hole Different story
But that generally comes well after ejector swipe and bolt lift which would have already been backed off


None if these loads had any of that apart from the 3 ive already chucked out which showed some light ejector marks

Greetings Again,
I think I may have spotted the problem. Your barrel is 6 inches shorter than the test barrels so 25 to 30 fps loss per inch works out to 150 to 180 fps. Add this to your 2,850 feet per second yo are getting and we have 3,000 to 3,030 fps velocity in a 24 inch barrel. I couldn't find any data for 145 grain projectiles but a quick look for 140 grain projectiles showed no velocity above a little over 2,900 fps. The .270 Win (I am assuming it is not a WSM) is loaded pretty hot and you are hotter than that by a fair bit. Perhaps your chronograph is telling you something that you are not hearing.
Rick Jamison tested brass hardness in a recent issue of Handloader. He found that the Federal brass was about middle of the pack for hardness in both cartridges he tested. This does not mean you don't have a dud batch but there is the velocity.
A couple of other things occurred to me regarding the stretching. First are you full length sizing your new brass before the first load. If so please stop. If the case mouths are a little out of round all that is needed is is to run the expander button in and out of the neck to true it up. If the cases go in the chamber they don't need sizing which just increases the slop and stretching. Last do you full length your fired cases with the die hard down on the shell holder. If so you may wish to back the die of enough so there is the slightest resistance to chambering. This reduces case stretching and reduces the chance of head separations.
A friend had really good velocity from his 6.5 - 06 with no pressure signs. That is until he tried to reload his once fired cases. Not one would hold a primer. His velocity was approaching some .264 Rem Mag Loads. His velocity was above 3,000 fps with the 140 grain projectile. Sound familiar?
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings Again,
I think I may have spotted the problem. Your barrel is 6 inches shorter than the test barrels so 25 to 30 fps loss per inch works out to 150 to 180 fps. Add this to your 2,850 feet per second yo are getting and we have 3,000 to 3,030 fps velocity in a 24 inch barrel. I couldn't find any data for 145 grain projectiles but a quick look for 140 grain projectiles showed no velocity above a little over 2,900 fps. The .270 Win (I am assuming it is not a WSM) is loaded pretty hot and you are hotter than that by a fair bit. Perhaps your chronograph is telling you something that you are not hearing.
Rick Jamison tested brass hardness in a recent issue of Handloader. He found that the Federal brass was about middle of the pack for hardness in both cartridges he tested. This does not mean you don't have a dud batch but there is the velocity.
A couple of other things occurred to me regarding the stretching. First are you full length sizing your new brass before the first load. If so please stop. If the case mouths are a little out of round all that is needed is is to run the expander button in and out of the neck to true it up. If the cases go in the chamber they don't need sizing which just increases the slop and stretching. Last do you full length your fired cases with the die hard down on the shell holder. If so you may wish to back the die of enough so there is the slightest resistance to chambering. This reduces case stretching and reduces the chance of head separations.
A friend had really good velocity from his 6.5 - 06 with no pressure signs. That is until he tried to reload his once fired cases. Not one would hold a primer. His velocity was approaching some .264 Rem Mag Loads. His velocity was above 3,000 fps with the 140 grain projectile. Sound familiar?
Regards Grandpamac.

Apologies for this armed hijack, I have a question related to the above: When laddering up to see what velocity a new powder ( superformance) will do, should I only use previously fired and neck sized cases or will using new un-fired Norma cases for load development when getting 'up there' to pressure loads be ok - accepting that they will stretch and need a trim ??

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Apologies for this armed hijack, I have a question related to the above: When laddering up to see what velocity a new powder ( superformance) will do, should I only use previously fired and neck sized cases or will using new un-fired Norma cases for load development when getting 'up there' to pressure loads be ok - accepting that they will stretch and need a trim ??

Greetings Moa Hunter,
I think the important thing is to have cases that are all the same, not a mixture of new and fired brass. If you are neck sizing then once fired neck sized brass would be preferable when, as you suggest, you are getting to your top loads as these will be closest in capacity to what you are likely to be using in the field. One thing I suggest, and don't see mentioned often, is a robust search through the available manufacturers load data to get an understanding of what should be possible. With respect to Superformance Hodgdon states that the powder does not work with all cartridges but where it does it works very well. They offer load data for a number of cartridges on their web site but by no means all. Something to consider. Perhaps the cartridges they don't offer data for are not well suited for the powder.
Regards Grandpamac.