GT wrote on Jan 2
nd, 2023 at 10:32am:
I'm going to whole-heartedly agree with Bent Ramrod, I went through all the steps to make these different pieces of brass - the 25-20SS can be and usually is a very accurate cartridge and not terrible to make. The 25-21SS is worth 100 gray hairs harder to make - yet I've found in the right action - just as accurate. But the 25-25SS was a logarithmic function harder to make (caused loss of the gray hairs by pulling) and I never found its accuracy approaching either of the previous cartridges.
Split cases became prevalent when I approached the 25-21 loads in the 25-25. Just as accuracy looked like it might improve. Attached a photo of a 25-21 that split along with a 25-25 that split. My notes say it had 18 loadings with the 21 before this incident. The one next to it on the right - the 25-25 had 3 loadings which became the norm for case splitting.
Steve, I dabbled in soldering tubing to Hornet cases in the beginning but loads and pressure advice was keep it low - my results were always dismal accuracy - black, duplex, smokeless- nearly a dozen bullet configurations.
I had some armchair cartridge advisors along with some very knowledgeable experts tell me all about chamber specs, annealing, and processes that would improve results, but you have to be in the mix to fully understand. I have a couple of rifle builds that I tabled until I have more time for this.
I may have shared these photos in another post once upon a time. There's one with a real small sampling of the the carnage, another of the nibbing process I've found that works the best.
I'm hoping maybe you'll go down this path and shed some light? I'm giving you a nudge...
Greg
Annealing would certainly help.
The starline basic 223 is like a lot of the Bertram brass, not annealed. It needs to be annealed much farther down the case than just the neck.
What I do with Bertram 28-30 brass is anneal when casting. Temp control is within a few degrees, how ever!off your thermometer is. Time is the trial and error.
I put in a spent primer and coat the outside of the case with Beeswax. It doesn’t hurt to coat the inside, but with the primer in the lead will not enter the case.
Hold the case in the lead for 12-15 seconds at 750* and dip it down to 1/2” from the base. The air in the case will splash a bit but never had more than say dropping in a cold ladle
Haven’t lost a Bertram case since