View Full Version : Neck splitting question
I had my first split neck today. The case has 4 reloads using medium loads, no where near maximum. I am wondering if there are any signs to look for before reloading the rest of the cases.
Leaveammoforme
12-30-14, 03:16
I've had neck splits on twice fired brass at modest loads (45 acp). What caliber you loading and what brand brass? You annealing any?
I'm loading 5.56 with LC brass. I haven't annealed yet.
joedirt199
12-30-14, 07:18
I bought some of the wideners 1000 223 brass for $50 as they were commercial and free of primer crimp. Found several winchester cases that had split necks. No idea of how many times these were reloaded before me, just thought it was weird that all the split cases were winchester. Haven't had any split necks with our department brass and they are mostly federal and lake city. I do neck size with a lee collet first then body size with a redding body die.
I'm loading 5.56 with LC brass. I haven't annealed yet.
What's your sizing die setup? A neck split is likely just an isolated bad piece of brass. I never anneal 223 brass. The primer pockets become loose way before the neck split 99.99% of the time.
Unless you're doing something unusual to work the necks excessively, I wouldn't worry. Neck splits are not a sign of over pressure.
What's your sizing die setup? A neck split is likely just an isolated bad piece of brass. I never anneal 223 brass. The primer pockets become loose way before the neck split 99.99% of the time.
Unless you're doing something unusual to work the necks excessively, I wouldn't worry. Neck splits are not a sign of over pressure.
+1
Case necks will split, it is usually just a bad piece of brass, don't sweat it. You can cut down on the amount you work the brass by removing the expander ball from your FL sizing die and sizing your necks separately (bushing die). A little more work but worth it in my opinion.
I FL size (with expander ball) and use a Lee FCD. I'll look at the bushing dies.
I won't sweat it for now.
Thanks!
I FL size (with expander ball) and use a Lee FCD. I'll look at the bushing dies.
I won't sweat it for now.
Thanks!
I never tried a bushing die in .223, but I hated them in .308 because of the varying neck thickness on .308 brass.
What I do is a little extra work, but it's been really good for me. I run a Dillon Carbide sizing die with the ball removed. (so the brass comes out with the neck squeezed down a little too much). Then I run the brass through an RCBS neck expander die to open the neck up with a down stroke.. instead of the ball pulling through on an upstroke... which causes case stretch quite often.
Thats a good point about varying neck thickness. I should have mentioned that I keep all of my rifle brass segregated by lot# to try and minimize that issue. The neck expander die would almost certainly be a better choice if you shoot mixed brass.
Thats a good point about varying neck thickness. I should have mentioned that I keep all of my rifle brass segregated by lot# to try and minimize that issue. The neck expander die would almost certainly be a better choice if you shoot mixed brass.
Yep. There's no magic solution. Every option has its trade offs. Since I shoot with a guy completely incapable of keeping brass sorted, I don't even try anymore.
OP, to answer your original question, I've never seen a sign to indicate impending neck split. The good news is that it's not a catastrophic failure.
Yeah. Neck splits and case separations will just happen every so often. Neither are anything to get worried about.
(regular separations would be an indication of oversizing/bumping the shoulder too far back on your rifle brass)
MikeDawg46L
01-08-15, 10:00
I've had some once-fired LC split when decapping and resizing for the first time. It just happens.
Tapatalk'd
Recently bought my first AR (might not be the last!) and started shooting some ammo I reloaded a while ago. Some was from 1983, some from '09. All brass was a mixture of commercial and surplus. I reload for a Rem 700 and 2 Mini-14's as well. The rounds were 55gr and 60 gr, same lot of H335, moderate loads. I always resize as little as possible, just enough to cycle through the tightest chamber. I'm getting 50% neck splits. I have brass that was fired years ago from the same bunch of brass without splits. Both the AR and the Ruger resulted in splits. The AR chamber is tight enough that manually recycling the bolt to dechamber was difficult. I'll start annealing all the rest of my brass, but why would it start splitting now? I store everything in a steel cabinet, no A/C. It shoots well but I hate to lose so much brass. Ideas?
The neck diameter of the AR15 chamber is at least .001 larger in diameter than a standard SAAMI .223 chamber. On top of this resizing dies vary in diameter and shoulder location and can over work the brass. Lake City cases have thicker necks and will be made smaller in diameter than needed when sized compared to thinner cases like Winchester. Then the expander makes the necks larger in diameter and you end up over working the brass making it harder and brittle.
I just bought a new Forster full length die to have the neck honed for thicker neck cases. And with a bushing die and the AR15 chamber it will induce neck runout when sizing the neck .005 or more smaller. Meaning bushing dies work best with tight neck chambers and not larger military chambers. I get the least neck runout with Forster full length dies and their high mounter floating expander, and the worst runout with a bushing die.
FL Bushing Dies vs. Honed FL Dies
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/fl-bushing-dies-vs-honed-fl-dies/
Thanks. I'm aware of the difference in chamber sizes. I have been careful to not resize the brass more than absolutely necessary. But the splits are occurring as often with the Mini-14 SAAMI chamber as well, commercial or military brass. That is the mystery. Possible hardening due to temperature cycling. Time to anneal.
Simple fix for splitting necks............
Once fired .223/5.56 - Cleaned, Deprimed & Swaged - LC Only - 1000 Pieces $97.00 Free Shipping!!
http://brassbombers.com/223-556-Cleaned-Deprimed-Swaged-LC-Only-1000-Pieces-5LC-S0100.htm
NOTE, as you can see below it is only $15.00 more to have the cases cleaned and the primer pockets swaged above. (above is all I buy) ;)
.223/5.56 - AS-IS - LC Only - 1,000 Pieces $82.00 Free Shipping!!
http://brassbombers.com/223-556-AS-IS-LC-Only-1000-Pieces-5LC-A0100.htm
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