The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - What Happens To Brass Cases Past Their Servicable Life?

dahermit · July 5, 2011, 04:06 PM

You should specify if you are asking about rifle or handgun brass. They have two different failure modes. The handgun brass case will usually get a mouth split that eventually all in the lot of cases that have been fired the same number of times will soon get.
Rifle brass however, usually does not get mouth splits but thins at place adjacent to where the walls of the case meet the solid head (inside the case). The popular practice of finding those "incipient head separations" is to bend the end of a paper clip 90 degrees use it to feel for a groove around the inside circumference of the case where the side walls meet that solid head.

July 5, 2011, 04:06 PM	#3
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	You should specify if you are asking about rifle or handgun brass. They have two different failure modes. The handgun brass case will usually get a mouth split that eventually all in the lot of cases that have been fired the same number of times will soon get. Rifle brass however, usually does not get mouth splits but thins at place adjacent to where the walls of the case meet the solid head (inside the case). The popular practice of finding those "incipient head separations" is to bend the end of a paper clip 90 degrees use it to feel for a groove around the inside circumference of the case where the side walls meet that solid head.