I had a 4 time loaded rem brass seperate just above the belt in my 7mm rem mag the other day while busting a yote. Bullet hit the intended target but exctration of the case was difficult, it ended up seperating leaving the remaining portion in the chamber but when I removed the bolt and tipped it up the case fell out. At the shoulder it has crimple marks and powder burn where I assume the seperation took place. A scope shows no effects to chamber or bore according to my gunsmith. Test fires at the range proved everything is normal and where it should be. Load has shot fine for a couple of years, no pressure signs and this is the first time such a thing has happened to me.(have seen it on the range before just not personally). Powder is RL22 same lot number as previous.

Got me thinking about brass and sizing technique. I was taught and still FL size my brass. I inspect the brass prior to reloading and always work up with different components even though a load may be proven previously. I rarily tumble anymore, just wipe them down and reload. Think I am being particular about my reloading techniques but when something like this happens you wonder just a tad??

4x loaded brass does seem like a short life expectancy for that round however finding one bad casing in a lot shouldnt worry you, especially with Rem Now if all of them start doing it I would change brass and see if it happens again, then I would doubt something in my reloading process.

Stop FL re-sizing, too much working of the brass. i do not load 7mm Mag. But i getseven or eight loadings from my .300 Win Mag and moderate loads. Heavy loads are another story.

Since this is a one time occurence,it sounds like a bad case rather than a problem with your loading procedure.I full length all of my hunting loads,and have not experienced this although I use fairly hot loads.

Crimple marks at the shoulder? How far are you bumping the shoulder back, when you are resizing? Tom.

I wouldn't worry too much about a single occurance. I've always felt that Remington brass is a little more brittle than that of others, such as Winchester, etc, and can cause cracking in the head/web area earlier on.

The generally accepted norm for belted magnum cases is to only trust them for hunting up to the second reload. After that, they are subject to case seperation at any time. There is a lot of history on how this case design came into being and why it is still with us today; but the bottom line is that it was considered, at least from an initialdesign standpoint, to be a non-reloadable case.

FYI, a pic of the Rem case in question.

Not my rule.I often hunt with cases loaded five times or more.

I know some belted magnum loads incertain guns can have fair brass life, if you have a fairly tight chamber and only resizethe case justenough just to touch the shoulder. But overall, belted magnums are not a very reloadable design. I'm personallywouldn't considergoing to Alaska or Africa with belted magnum loads based on brass that has been shot four or five times. I'll save those cases for load development and target practice, and trust my once-in-a-lifetime hunt to new or once fired brass.