Cracked 243 necks

[MHWASH]

I’ve loaded for this 243 for several years, but haven’t shot it a lot. Last year I shot it quite a bit after having it threaded for my suppressor. I’ve always had trouble with split necks, but I just assumed it was old brass. Last year I bought some Win brass that was supposedly once fired. I believe this is true because it was in the factory ammo boxes. After shooting several rounds today, I noticed 2/3 of the brass has split necks. Could this be a rifle issue? Using RCBS dies.

 

[WeiserBucks]

That's a junk brass issue.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Winchester brass is worn out before it leaves the factory. I've seen a pile of it with split necks new out of the bag.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

That does not look like once fired brass.

 

[MHWASH]

Whats it do with factory ammo?

Good question, I don’t shoot factory, but may have to try.

That does not look like once fired brass.

Technically it’s now twice fired.

 

[freddyG]

That’s Winchester brass for ya. Junk like stated above. Get some Lapua, and you will wear out your barrel before the brass.

 

[ihookem]

I have to second the bad Winchester brass. I have just a few rounds through some of mine and half are already junk.

 

[JMundy84]

Another vote for Winchester brass being garbage I had the same problem plenty of times with it.

 

[gman82001]

I’ve got 4th fired federal brass that looks better than that and I think federal brass sucks lol

 

[Ramem7mm]

Has the brass ever been annealed? I have a 243 as well and Winchester brass with 2-3 firings and zero split necks. still seems odd to have that many split necks in such a small batch.

 

[sniper20]

I have never been a fan of Winchester brass... I would highly recommend annealing the brass as soon as you get it. That should help. I have had factory loaded stuff come out with split necks before... so sometimes its just the luck of the draw.

 

[MHWASH]

I bought a box of Federal 100gr ammo. Shot all 20 rounds with no issues. I then loaded up 5 pieces and shot them again. Still no issues. This weekend I’ll load those same 5 and shoot them again.

 

[ihookem]

MHwash, I got a box of .243 Win. cases for free. They have about 5 rounds through them and not one bad one. Perhaps , they use their best cases for factory ammo. I imagine there would be some upset factory ammo buyers if they saw a split neck straight out of the box.

 

[coop2564]

Win brass is very uninformed in neck. Thin spots and it will split. I have a 250 sav I reload for and all I can find usually is win brass. I just go thru them a look. You can see the ones that our really thin in a spot. I throw them out. The rest will usually work okay for 10 reloads or so. Out of 50 usually I have to throw 8-10 away.