Shiny ring at the base of the brass???

skeetlee

New member
Ok i will try to explain this the best i can. I will post some pics when my wife gets home from work. She has the camera in her purse. Ok i have a rem 700 22-250. the chamber has always felt a little tight. Bolt closes with a little resistance even on new brass/ factory loads. I have been working some loads for the rifle, as i have never found that perfect load yet. The rifle will shoot moa and sometimes better. The loads i am loading are all under the max loading and my chrono proves that the loads are with in specs. However every piece of brass i pull out of the chamber after firing has a shiny ring at the base of the brass. Only thing i can think of is case separation? The bolt doesnt lift hard, and there are no other signs of pressure problems. The rifle is fairly new with around 200 rounds fired. Another thing i am getting a bunch of is group separation. Out of a five shot string I will have 3 touching on the left of point of aim, and two about 1/2" over. I cant seem to keep them in the same group. Its more like two seperated groups. Like i said i will post some pics after bit. This is really frustrating so i thought i would post it now before i take some pics to get some advanced advise or thoughts!! Thanks Lee
 
I've never seen seperation start after one or two loadings. Before you see seperation outside the case you can feel it with a pick from the inside. Is it a shiny ring or is the whole bottom of the brass shiny?
 
It's possible that the shoulder is getting bumped back too far in your dies. If the case is driven forward by the firing pin it will do most of the stretching in the area you mention. If you have a small pic or thin wire you can feel inside the case in that area to see if there is a ring forming inside from the case stretching. I had a friend that was reloading for another friend's gun and that is what was happening to them and they would get head seperation after about the third firing.
 
Here is a pic I hope you can see what i am seeing. Also you will notice that the groups are seperating into 2 groups. Anything you can think of would be great!! Lee

22-250001.jpg
 
doesnt look like its creating a shiny spot just leaving that spot shiny and dulling the rest of it.It looks to me like your chamber is a little rough and is dulling the brass when its fired the shiny spot is the counterbore area of your barrel and is not in the chamber therefore stays shiny. Shouldnt be a problem. Usually a walking group is caused by either something loose in or around the scope or a bedding problem. If you dont like the scuffed brass you can polish the chamber or have someone else do it for you.
 
Can you measure the shiny spots diameter and then measure a piece of new unfired brass in the same area, not a resized piece?

Also if you have a comparator, can you measure the sholder length for a piece of fired brass, compared to a piece of new brass?

My 17 FB was factory chambered too long. I had my gunsmith set it back .011" and it headspaces fine now, but it was stretching the brass before.

Here is how I will make a rough measurement. I do this for resizing too, so I will only move the sholder back a few thousands.

casesizing003.jpg


casesizing005.jpg
 
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I just got a Savage Model 14 Classic from the Custom Shop and noticed the same thing. I've only fired five shots using brand new brass. I'll be watching this thread with great interest.
 
I was shooting for safety. Haven't starting shooting groups yet. Checked 15 rounds I have ready for powder and bullets to shoot groups with. No rings on them. Checked the inside of the fired rounds, no rings starting to form. Unfired cases are 1.907 long, fired cases are 1.909-1.911 long. The new brass I am using is Remington, in .250 Savage. Same bolt dia as .22-250. Could it be the brass?
 
Sometimes brass comes from the factory on the small side of spec.When you fire it in a normal or oversize chamber the body of the case expands but the base of the case don't because of the web aound the primer is more solid. When you resize the case the die resizes the the body of the case but not the base or web area.I have some new unfired winchester 243 brass that is .464 dia. at the base just above the extractor grove but new unfired Lapua brass is .468".
 
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I was thinking the same thing. I'm not too worried about it. I don't believe there's any correlation between the shiny ring and the original posters gun shooting separate groups. I do think my gun will group well. Time will tell.
 
Thanks fellas i just wanted to be sure. I still do not know why my rifle is shooting separate groups? I should have shown the rest of the target and it is very clear. the target on the lower left was a 200 yard 223 target so dont pay any attention to that one. Tomorrow i will take another pic, Thanks Lee
 
That's normal. It's where the thicker brass of the web thins down to the case body thickness. You can see the "radius" inside the case with a borescope. Where the radius ends, the shiny ring appears.

Mike
 
Lots of my reloads look like that and you have received some good tips and info.

What Ridge Runner said about seating depth made a huge difference in accuracy with my 77/Hornet. I did it by mistake. I reloaded 50 rounds and found that they would not work in the magazine. However they would load in the chamber if I loaded them single shot. That batch shoots under 1/2 inch at 100 yards where as my normal reloads are just at MOA. They shoot to same POA but are the most accurate reloads I have ever shot through that rifle. I save them for "special" shots. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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