Question about reloading.

[newcastle]

Just thought of this. I've saved all my cases fired over the last 5 years. all are marked to a rifle and woudl be refired in the same rifle. about half of them are S&B cases which I have heard are not so tough for reloading. so with this i mind here is the question.
IF a case separates bursts or splits at the neck during firing, will it make that round completely inaccurate to the point of it's not worth firing it at ranges of 200 yards or less or would it at these ranges still be in a similar group size? I'm wondering if it's worth reloading the S&B stuff or just leaving it.

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[harry mac]

Any kind of case rupture, even something as "minor" as a split neck will result in a flyer. The first deer I ever lost was due to a separated 303 case sending the bullet low at a range of just 30 or so metres. Unfortunately it wasn't low enough to miss the deer all together and I left a wounded deer somewhere on the ground because the dog lost the trail.
Recently I was shooting with my 308 and I was getting a split group. It left me puzzled and frustrated, and at first I thought something had come loose in my scope. I had a nice 3 round group near the bull of my target and then a loose collection of shots about 8" lower. It wasn't until I got home and noticed that some of the cases had split necks that I realised it was the ammo causing the inconsistency.
Personally, I'd weigh the S&B brass in for scrap. Current price is £2.30/kg (well, as of about 3 months ago when I weighed mine in.)

[Buntlineguy]

I reloaded some s&b once. Had several case separations after first reload. Pitch it. Use S&B when you don't want to collect spent brass.
Good luck,
B

[newcastle]

So should I reload teh S&B stuff one time only and then bin it? is it not even worth reloading once?

[Buntlineguy]

Case separations can cause problems in the chamber plus you may have trouble removing the case stuck in the chamber. You have a nice rifle - don't take the chance.
B

[villiers]

I´ve now done about 10 neck sized re-loads with batches containing mainly S&B ... and they´re still as good as new. You can tell when .303 cases are no longer fit for use by the ring that forms at the breaking point, just above the base. Of course, case rupture, denting or any other damage would warrant the case to be discarded. My main gripe is that manufacturers of .303 cases all seem to make different size rims so that the case holder on my press has to be continually re-set.

[Brian Dick]

ALL reloaders of the .303 British cartridge should buy a military broken case extractor and have it handy in their tool box. They make a hard job easy and will not damage the chamber extracting the front part of the case.

[Alan de Enfield]

ALL reloaders of the .303 British cartridge should buy a military broken case extractor and have it handy in their tool box. They make a hard job easy and will not damage the chamber extracting the front part of the case.

You dont need to keep one in your toolbox - keep it in your Butt along with an extractor, extractor spring and extractor screw - they all fit into an oiler bottle.

[gunner]

I don´t like the S6B cases because i had lots of splitted ones with my .357 mag. But since a few months i´m testing 10 S&B cases in my two MK4´s and i have to admit that they are now reloaded for the 6th. time and are working good with no braking marks and so on. And for the guys that aren´t the lucky owners of a case extractor, The cleaning rod with a fitting brass brush works good too! But i think i´ll buy that broken case extractor too. One thing that i can say is, that the best cases for .303 reloads are the PRVI cases. I use the same Lot for 4 years now and had only 5 cases with split signs.

[Brian Dick]

Hey Alan, you just gave me a great idea for what to do with the many plastic oil bottles i have here that have a broken spoon. Lee-Enfield survival kits!! Brian