The batch of 20 pieces of .30-40 Krag brass I have been shooting in my Krag just hit 8 times fired. No cracked necks or any other damage that I can see. Always mild to medium loads, only fired in one individual Krag and always neck sized only. At what point should I toss this batch?

I have one batch of brass from the early '70s that has been fired 30x times.  I annealed the brass periodically and trim as needed.  No loose primer pockets so far (wouldn't expect that anyway).  Just a few cases have failed.

I have some brass that I've loaded and fired 10+ times...  I have over 600 rounds of viable brass, and I don't shoot nearly as much as I would like... so my brass turnaround is relatively low. 

I have never annealed my brass and I'm not sure how...  Maybe I should start doing this...  What is the process?  I have annealed steel before, so I am familiar with the basic theory, but just not with brass!

Thanks in advance!

Paul

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When brass looks "cherry red", it's way too hot - grain structure is damaged. Direct flame at shoulder and stop when color change extends 1/4 to 3/8" aft. No water is needed. Air-cooling spread out on a metal pan is safe, effective and quick.

I think I annealed the cases after each 10 firings. 

By neck size, I mean that I screw the die in until it is about .1" above the shell holder.  I lube the case (trimmed), leaving a small dab of lube at the jucture of the shoulder & neck.  I then size the case, progressively screwing the die in until the dab of lube shows signs of being squeezed.  I then clean the case & chamber it.  If the case shows any resistance at all when the bolt is closed, I turn in the sizer die a half turn (a 7/8" x 14 tpi thread advances .07" per turn so a half turn is .035") and check again until the bolt closes with no resistence.  I then lock the die in place.  A die so adjusted does not set the shoulder back but completely sizes the neck - as long as the case is always shot in the same rifle. 

Another rifle may require a different adjustment.  When doing this for a Garand & M1903, I adjust the die for the ahortest chamber; the case should will show some expansion on the longest chamber.

Paul:  Anneal your cases slated for annealing before the next resizing.

Hi Marcus,

If you are neck sizing, you should be able to 'feel' how hard the brass is by the force needed to run the die over the neck, and especially dragging the expander plug back out.

The looser the chamber neck size, then the more the brass gets worked. Check how sloppy a projectile fits in the fired brass neck, those old military chambers were made pretty loose !

Generally, I full length size & anneal about every 5-6 mild reloads when the bolt is starting to close with a bit of 'drag' which will upset a single bolt lug accuracy.

More importantly for safety is checking the inside near the case head to see if separation is starting. Thinning and cracking happens inside there long before you see any hint on the outside. This happens faster with full length sizing and with hot loads for the action.

I attached a photo of a small tool made from a piece of car aerial, bent and ground to chisel edge to act as a 'stylus'. A mere pointed end tends to rotate sideways and loose any 'feel'.

Run this up the inside of the case about 1/4 inch infront of the rim feeling for cracks (which catch the tip) or inside grooves (which you can feel as 'dips') indicating that the case is going to separate soon. Rotate the case a 1/4 turn each time because separation does not occur symmetrically.

Out of a batch of 20 cases, typically I will throw a couple away after several shots, whilst the rest can last into the dozens of reloads depending on the load and the action.

At my military rifle club shoots, there is always a cheapskate using brass which you can see from the outside as 'stretched and granular' just where the case head thins to the wall. He often gets case head separations, fortunately he uses a K98 Mauser so a bad on just blew the magazine floor plate out and scattered brass fragments over the concrete. I don't think a Krag would handle that too well. I make sure I shoot in a different detail to him.

Cheers,

Rob

There is a beauty in rimmed cartridge cases like the .30-40 Krag and .303 British.  They Head-Space on the rim thickness (not from the bolt face to the chamber shoulder).  In the event of a case separation, the case head and rim still keep most of the hot gases in the chamber and barrel.  In a rimless cartridge, there is not this 'extra seal' and a large volume of hot expanding gas comes harmfully into the Action.  I do not take head separations lightly.  The .30-40 and .303 British should be viewed as 'Head-Spacing' both on the rim and on the chamber shoulder.  Every time these cartridges are fired, the case shoulder and body move, if necessary, to make contact with the the chamber walls and shoulder.  This is why it is desirable to neck-size only, when possible.  From my experience, the U.S Springfield Armory seems to have held pretty tight tolerances on Krag chambers.  All of my 1898 Krags will accept, or almost accept, cases fired in one of their 'brothers'.  The front locking lug and metallurgy of the Krag are not as "springy and elastic" as I have found (rear-locking) Lee-Enfields to be.  I believe the British also utilized greater tolerances in their chamber dimensions.  This is maybe good for service in the field but bad for re-loaders!  I once had a Short Magazine Lee-Enfield that was re-built in 1953 and had a brand new B.S.A. barrel on it.  I reloaded for it with new commercial brass and a Lee Loader that neck sized only.  By the third loading, I was getting complete head separations.  Not a whiff of gas to the rear and good accuracy on paper, but that darn rifle destroyed my 303 Brass base!  I have not encountered head separations in my Krags.  I have had an occasional case split near the shoulder in Remington Factory Ammo (probably 1 time in every 75 rounds).  I feel confident with Krag safety but annealing case necks, neck sizing only, and "feeling case interiors" for incipient case separations is good practice.