damaged brass

[K Train]

Where would you stop sizing and throw away?

Me, i would throw away 4+ where they start bending in on top of the neck.

from the left

1-3 just have sort of a 'flattened neck'

4-5 have flattened necks w/ sort of a bent in on top

6-7 are flattened and bent in on both sides

 

[lx1x]

i throw them when i see dent on the shoulder or major gouges(sp?).. been hearing some brass can only take 5 reloads unless they are the best of the line (lapua's).

 

[JSW]

Lapua's not as great as you think for multiple reloads

 

[lx1x]

Lapua's not as great as you think for multiple reloads

haven't used them (im too too cheap..lol).. but i guess depending on the firearm also.. automatic rifles takes a lot of beating on the brass.

 

[guthook]

I have a nail punch upside down in a vise next to my reloading gear. When thet get a little out of round, I just press them down on the punch until they are back in round and continue to sizing.

If it is real bad and looks like the case mouth is weakened/cracked in any way, I smash the mouth closed with a hammer so I don't try to use it again, then chuck it into the scrap bin.

 

[E.Shell]

I have a nail punch upside down in a vise next to my reloading gear. When thet get a little out of round, I just press them down on the punch until they are back in round and continue to sizing.

If it is real bad and looks like the case mouth is weakened/cracked in any way, I smash the mouth closed with a hammer so I don't try to use it again, then chuck it into the scrap bin.

Agreed.

None of those cases look that bad and they'd probably straighten out during routine resizing if care is taken not to hit the edge of the case mouth full speed with the decapping stem.

Two things kill brass:
1) Sizing die set by "generic" instructions, which invariably produces too much sizing and excessive (for brass longevity) headspace.
2) Hot loads.

With a sizing die set to produce no more than about .001" to .002" shoulder bump for the individual rifle, and loads kept to 1 grain below any pressure indications, 10 reloads is not impossible, even from FGMM brass.

 

[alucard0822]

Agreed.

None of those cases look that bad and they'd probably straighten out during routine resizing if care is taken not to hit the edge of the case mouth full speed with the decapping stem.

Two things kill brass:
1) Sizing die set by "generic" instructions, which invariably produces too much sizing and excessive (for brass longevity) headspace.
2) Hot loads.

With a sizing die set to produce no more than about .001" to .002" shoulder bump for the individual rifle, and loads kept to 1 grain below any pressure indications, 10 reloads is not impossible, even from FGMM brass.

well said, I throw away any cases that are beginning to crack, but bent up case mouths are common with semi's and straighten right out in the sizing die. I neck size where possible(bolt actions) and bump the shoulders for autos, never had a problem, and have gotten upwards of 10 loads through bolt action rifles, and at least 5 through semis

 

[duke308]

I have a Sinclair expanding die that uses mandrels to round out the dents, and I shoot 'em until they crack.

 

[jjboxman]

I have a Sinclair expanding die that uses mandrels to round out the dents, and I shoot 'em until they crack.

+1 for shooting till they crack.

 

[E.Shell]

As far as shooting them until they crack, we will see large differences in neck tension before that point. These neck tension variations don't cause us a lot of trouble at short range, but will give us FEET of vertical variation at 1,000 yards.

The answer to keeping neck tension uniform and to eliminate cracking is to periodically anneal case necks, which relieves the tendency of the metal to work harden and become brittle.

 

[Winged Pig]

So what is the best way to anneal them and what should one watch out for when doing this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[alucard0822]

So what is the best way to anneal them and what should one watch out for when doing this?

Thanks in advance.

I only anneal 308 brass, and do it every 5 loads for one partiular bolt action rifle. For the rest, it doesn't make a difference, or I have enough mixed brass that losing a few every so often doesn't make a difference.
The key is to not overheat the brass, I use an IR thermometer, and get them to about 750 degrees, or you can turn the lights out, and stop when they just barely begin to glow a dull red. I use a wide and shallow tupperware dish filled with about 1" of water to protect the case heads, set about 10 peices of brass in the water necks up in a circular pattern, while on a lazy susan (spinning kitchen thing), and use a propane torch to slowly and evenly heat them while spinning the dish on the lazy susan, switching the flame from inside to outside every few rotations, and pulling the flame away every now and then to allow for the thermometer sitting on the table next to the bowl to measure the temp, once the cases are an even grey color down to about 1/2" below the shoulder, and the temp is 750, I knock them all over into the water with a stick. Let them cool quickly, then I dry them on a paper towel with a hair dryer, and tumble them in corncob media for 1/2 hour to make them shiny again.

 

[Fustercluck]

Let them cool quickly, then I dry them on a paper towel with a hair dryer, and tumble them in corncob media for 1/2 hour to make them shiny again.

I have never been able to get the necks and shoulders shiny again after annealing. It makes for easy brass identification and pickup for me, when shooting AR and there are multiple shooters about. All my annealed brass keeps that dull silver look on the neck and shoulder. Maybe I have been torching them for too long.....

 

[alucard0822]

I have never been able to get the necks and shoulders shiny again after annealing. It makes for easy brass identification and pickup for me, when shooting AR and there are multiple shooters about. All my annealed brass keeps that dull silver look on the neck and shoulder. Maybe I have been torching them for too long.....

Most likely, the hotter they get, the harder it is to polish out, I clean and deprime the brass before I do anything, after annealing, all of the grey is gone in about a half hour with only Midway brass polish and lyman treated corncob. Most books and articles I have read on aannealing basically say better too cool than too hot, and whatever you do, never ever anneal within an inch of the base. Military annealed brass (mostly M193 and M80) can be polished even quicker, and looks just like any commercial brass, which is simply polished after annealing and forming, military brass is left discolored.

 

[E.Shell]

Looks like we're tag-teaming them Alucard0822.

Fustercluck, it does sound like you're using too much heat, and for too long. If you can deform the brass neck with a thumbnail, it's been cooked too long.

Another thing that will cause permanent discoloration is to anneal with carbon fouling on the necks.

I anneal cases using a propane torch and a Lee shellholder system to spin the cases in the torch flame. I start the case spinning and hit the neck with 0000 steel wool to remove any excess fouling. I then insert it into the flame, count to 6 (NOT 6 seconds) and remove, dip the neck/shoulder into cold water while still spinning. If desired, the steel wool can be applied again to remove much of the discoloration. The cases are then dried and tumbled.

 

[Maryland Hunter]

I check for cracks when cleaning out the primer hole of media. Other than that, no minor dents or flats pots will keep me from sizing. Shooting the round will remove dents from too much case lube, and dents, if not real severe, will be straightened out during resizing. I don't shoot max loads, so my brass last quite sometime.

MH

 

[anil]

wow, this is a great thread. I was going to ask similar questions; since i have a bunch of 308 i am planning to reload (... some day, when i have time). I've only reloaded for a revolver, thus far, so I've never had to deal with any denting issues.

a few follow-up questions:
1) do you need to re-round the bent necks (as suggested by guthook), or will the sizing die manage to re-round them on its own? or is this only required if the neck is rolled down on itself?

2) what about side-wall denting/pinching (from bad ejects, etc)? just throw then into the sizing die?

3) small gouges in the brass ( i guess from dirt or grit or some sort ) ?

wow... now i feel like i may have thrown out too much of my brass as 'not-reloadable' after i finally sorted and tumbled a few hundered rounds.

 

[DZ]

anil- all of the brass shown in K train's image I would send directly through the sizing die. When resizing a deformed peice of brass as shown I run the ram up slowly to make sure the mouth doesnt get caught on the depriming pin.

 

[JRSpicer426]

I just got 100 rounds of 6.5x55 Winchester brass and ALL of them looked like that. I ran them through the neck only die 1st and then rotated them 90 degrees and ran them a 2nd time, then fireformed. No problems so far, but i guess you get what you pay for