Is "clicker" brass junk...?

[Jimbee]

I bought a used 7rsaum McGowan tikka prefit and some used Remington brass and put it together and shot it. Got some clickers. Is the brass junk? I did not use a headspace guage.

 

[BBob]

In general if brass from another rifle ends up being “clicker’s” there’s no fixing it. It’s usually time for new brass or better yet use new brass from the start. You can try a small base die but again in general fixing used brass from another chamber is futile. If you get clickers on new brass in that barrel then the back end of the chamber is too small.

 

[Jimbee]

In general if brass from another rifle ends up being “clicker’s” there’s no fixing it. It’s usually time for new brass or better yet use new brass from the start. You can try a small base die but again in general fixing used brass from another chamber is futile. If you get clickers on new brass in that barrel then the back end of the chamber is too small.

The brass was said to be twice fired from another gun.

 

[BBob]

It’s fairly obvious that the rifle that brass came from has a larger chamber at the back end than yours. Once the base of brass has been expanded to a certain point there’s usually no going back to get it small again. You could try to find a smaller die or a small base die but now you’re spending $$$ on dies instead of brass. There are specialty ring dies used with a shortened shell holder to size just the base of brass but there again you’re spending $$$ on dies.

 

[Jimbee]

It’s fairly obvious that the rifle that brass came from has a larger chamber at the back end than yours. Once the base of brass has been expanded to a certain point there’s usually no going back to get it small again. You could try to find a smaller die or a small base die but now you’re spending $$$ on dies instead of brass. There are specialty ring dies used with a shortened shell holder to size just the base of brass but there again you’re spending $$$ on dies.

Yeah, thanks for the info. I'm not going to throw money at it, maybe buy some new brass if it's ever available.

 

[BBob]

Yeah that’s is the issue with those. I tend to forget. I have a batch of Remington for mine and awhile back sold off 500 pcs of 6.5 GAP I was never going to use so others could. F class guys have been developing improved cases on the PRC case to duplicate the SAUM’s velocity because they can’t get cases.

 

[seand]

Put some scotch tape on the case head and see how many layers of tape until you feel resistance on bolt close. Will give you approx idea much headspace you have

 

[Jimbee]

Put some scotch tape on the case head and see how many layers of tape until you feel resistance on bolt close. Will give you approx idea much headspace you have

I actually full length sized the brass and the bolt closed hard, so I sanded the shell holder down until the brass chambered easily.

 

[seand]

Oops My bad - i misunderstood “clickers”.

 

[Wrench]

Smoke a case with a candle and see where it's scrubbing. Under .2" from the head is a problem.

 

[Harvey_NW]

I actually full length sized the brass and the bolt closed hard, so I sanded the shell holder down until the brass chambered easily.

How far did that end up bumping the shoulders? The more that case stretches each firing the more likely you are to have case head separation. Ask me how I know

 

[Jimbee]

How far did that end up bumping the shoulders? The more that case stretches each firing the more likely you are to have case head separation. Ask me how I know

I didn't measure, just took a piece of brass, lubed and full length sized, tried chambering, sanded shell holder, repeat. Did this 3 or 4 times before the used brass chambered easily.

 

[WesternMDShooter]

One suggestion is you need a body die for your gun. Ive fixed a lot of clicker issues with the proper body die. Don’t throw your brass away.