Brass Talks

[Jackie Graham]

I have been wanting to post this for a while. For those that don't know me, I do a lot of brass prep work for a couple of commercial reloaders. Up to 100k in a month when things are going good. Lately I have been prepping a ton of 223s. I hand inspect them and find numerous issues where I have to scrap the brass as it is no longer usable.
Some of the most common issues are ballooned brass, dents, flattened primers, missing primers, extractor issues and split or ruptured brass.
The point of this thread is to alert you to inspect your fired brass for these issues as they will cause problems down the road if they are not already doing so.
Following are some pictures of the issues that I find.
Feel free to post your own comments or pictures of issues that you have come across.

 

[Jackie Graham]

These are pictures of some ballooned brass. I suspect that this is caused due to the chamber being worn and out of spec. As you can see in the first picture, they didn't make it through the sizing die.

 

[Jackie Graham]

This is a picture of some ruptured brass. Most would suspect that this was caused by excessive pressure due to an over charge. However, 2 of them looked to be factory loads and the primers showed no signs of flattening. I suspect that those were fired from a grossly out of spec chamber.

 

[Jackie Graham]

Here are some with huge dents in the sides. I am not sure what caused this but I see this a lot.

 

[Jackie Graham]

Here is a picture of some with primer issues. Some are flattened and some are missing. I suspect that these were hot loads. One looks like the primer was nearly punctured.

 

[Jackie Graham]

If you look closely, you can't see the marks on the rims of the brass. This appears to me that the extractor is hitting the rims and causing this issue. I am not sure that this is actually an issue but I don't see this on very many pieces.

 

[atscott]

Great examples. I'm teaching my son reloading and this is really useful. Thanks.

 

[Jackie Graham]

There are quite a few people running guns with issues and they don't realize it. By checking their brass they can see if there might be an issue that needs to be addressed

 

[owen58]

I have been wanting to post this for a while. For those that don't know me, I do a lot of brass prep work for a couple of commercial reloaders. Up to 100k in a month when things are going good. Lately I have been prepping a ton of 223s. I hand inspect them and find numerous issues where I have to scrap the brass as it is no longer usable.
Some of the most common issues are ballooned brass, dents, flattened primers, missing primers, extractor issues and split or ruptured brass.
The point of this thread is to alert you to inspect your fired brass for these issues as they will cause problems down the road if they are not already doing so.
Following are some pictures of the issues that I find.
Feel free to post your own comments or pictures of issues that you have come across.

Great info. Thanks for looking out for our community.

 

[medium187mph]

Yes sir! I usually use a universal deprimer and pop all the primers out as I inspect them, then they get wet tumbled, then they get inspected once again prior to getting on the towel to be dried. This is on rifle brass, pistol brass is a little different for me as use a progressive press but only one round at a time. It’s soothing as well as easier to inspect when I’m about to seat a primer. I’ve found a few out of spec this way as I’m handling a lot and can feel/tell a difference when something is off.