22 Hornet case problems

[xcalibor67]

Started loading a few 22 hornets and found that several + of the cases are bulging on one side of the neck where the bullet is seated. Im using brand new WW brass, FL sized. Have read that some older rifles may have a bore dia. of .223 or less, haven't did a cast to see what mine is, the rifle is a mid
70's to early 80's Ruger N0.3 falling block. The bullets im using are .224 which still should shoot fine, but may be causing problems during loading due to expander button size?.. Seems that one side of the brass being weaker is causing this? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[stringnut]

Bore diameter is 224. Expander button diameter should not make a difference. After all .001 is a very small amount. Hornet brass is very thin and easily damaged. Believe me I proved it many times. If the bullet is not started straight it will damgage the case. Also, look at your dies carefully. Post pics if possible.

 

[GooseGestapo]

It's your sizer and seater dies.
Easiest fix is to get a Lyman M-die.

I FOUND THIS BY ACCIDENT. I had prepped some brass to load cast bullets. Decided to load some 35gr V-max instead. My groups shrank significantly.

I use the m die always, after resizing with Lee collet dies.

Your sizer is over sizing and expander ball is too small.
A custom set of dies are much more expensive than an M-die.
The Lee Universal die lacks the neck expander shank of the m-die so isn't the same...

 

[xcalibor67]

I plan on getting a neck sizer die, so prefer the "Collet" style over the RCBS/Forster standard neck sizer? I think Lee and possibly others offer the collet style with mandril, would I still need the M-2 die? Im also getting the Forster bench seater.. Here is a couple of pics showing how the bullets set to one side, making the brass bulge on that side only, lol quite funny looking critter up close.

 

[xcalibor67]

1st thought was that the brass was weaker/softer on the side that flexed, but after so many did this, I found it hard to be the case.

 

[FROGO207]

If you can figure out a way to slightly flare the mouth so that the bullet will start evenly that will stop this. The VLD taper expander will work if you practice and get it opened up just so. Also when loading flat base bullets you NEED to chamfer the inside of the case mouth-----even on factory new brass.

 

[xcalibor67]

The orange tipped bullet is a Nosler BT, and it has plenty of a boat tail to start evenly...so I don't think any neck belling would help, as it does this on these as well as the Nosler Varm's. I think others are right on the neck sizing with a larger expander/ M-2 die, and or a More precise bench style PA seater..

 

[FROGO207]

The inside of your seating die may have a small cavity and the tip may slide to the side rather than centering the bullet. A seating stem made for that bullet would be ideal. Also if it is not a Hornet specific bullet it may not expand at the velocity it runs at.

The older .223 diameter Hornet rifles were mostly pre 50's .22 caliber rifles that were converted to the Hornet.

 

[Doug b]

The Lee dead length seater die solved this problem for me.