Case Head Separation--Curious

[Skip]

The only rimmed shells I reload are .303 British and 7.62X54R. So why does the .303 have head separations more frequently than 54R? I have more than one rifles so I don't neck size.

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[Patrick Chadwick]

The only rimmed shells I reload are .303 British and 7.62X54R. So why does the .303 have head separations more frequently than 54R? I have more than one rifles so I don't neck size.

I suggest you read through previous contributions on this theme, of which there have been many over the years. You can spend a long, wet weekend reading and there is truly nothing that has not been said many times before.

It is a very touchy topic with regard to Enfields, and people have ended up getting banned from the forums in the past for heated rhetoric, forgetting that the rifles were designed so that ANY rifle would fire ANY round of service ammo, even after the shooter had dropped it in the mud of Flanders or the sand of North Africa, picked it up, wiped it on his trousers, and stuck it back in the magazine. And the cases were only intended to be used once, not again and again and again ... So please everybody, do not start up another thread on this topic.

Skip, just necksize your cases and keep the sets separate for each rifle. That will usually produce the best accuracy AND the cases will last much longer. Fully sizing cases for a mix of old service rifles, even if they have the same nominal caliber, is not a recipe for success.

To understand why, just take a fired case from each rifle and try loading it in the others, without any resizing. The results may surprise you!

[browningautorifle]

Well put Patrick, I gave up on reloading them myself for that reason...

[Parashooter]

If you haven't seen it already, the article at Milsurps Knowledge Library - Headspace 101 for .303's may help with some of your concerns.

The principal operative difference is that the Lee-Enfield locks at the rear of the bolt and the Mosin at the front.

[Bindi2]

The only rimmed shells I reload are .303 British and 7.62X54R. So why does the .303 have head separations more frequently than 54R? I have more than one rifles so I don't neck size.

SAAMI sized cases are smaller than the British Military cases. Also the quality of the metel used by some makers is worse than bad combine those two factors and headspace gets the blame.

[jimb16]

Aside from the oversized chambers, .303s also headspace on the rim. If the bolt head fit is too loose, the base of the case moves to the rear when fired while the case walls adher to the chamber. This is another cause of the stretching that leads to separation. I use to have several enfields and got tired of having to keep the cases separate for each rifle to avoid that problem. I no longer have any even though they were fun to shoot. To maximize case life, make sure your bolt head provides proper support (Headspace) and neck size only. Keep your cases segregated by rifle. You can get a decent number of reloads that way without case head separations.

[WarPig1976]

Hello, my SMLE would eat brass up. After the first firing I would have the dreaded shiny ring of death. Being new to reloading I would reload the brass and have case head separation. Long story short after figuring out the cause ( excessive headspace ). I use the rubber O ring trick. With UNFIRED brass roll a small O ring down against the head. The O ring keeps the head against the bolt face. Now when you fire the round it expands at the neck and not the web. Now you have a fire formed case.Than just neck size only and your good to go. Doing this saved my old war horse from being a wall hanger.