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Old June 11, 2010, 12:14 PM   #1
slowr1der
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Should I throw this brass away?

So I bought a bag of Winchester never fired brass from Bass Pro. I re sized them, and tumbled them. I looked them over after pulling them out of the tumbler and noticed that about 4 pieces had the flash hole in the primer pocket that was out of round. It was like it was a hole cut normally, but then it looked like it had been filed or something so that it was opened up more than normal and made out of round. The edge of the flash hole seemed slanted also like something had almost filed it or something. Is this safe to shoot or should I throw these pieces away?
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Old June 11, 2010, 12:22 PM   #2
briandg
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Unless I'm missing something here, there is no problem. a flash hole that is a LOT larger will cause problems, but stretched a bit isn't going to.
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Old June 11, 2010, 12:27 PM   #3
TXJohn
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I have seen this several times never had a problem.
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Old June 11, 2010, 01:19 PM   #4
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Thanks guys. One other thing I noticed is some of the pieces have a piece of metal inside the case that I can't get out. It's like when they drilled the flash hole the metal they drilled away just got bent down inside of the case. It's hard to explain. I can't get it to come off. Is this going to cause pressure issues? Or is it safe too?
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Old June 11, 2010, 01:53 PM   #5
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They aren't really drilled, they are punched out. That piece of material should have popped off.

that shell should have been rejected

If you can remove it somehow, I suggest that. There is a tool called a primer pocket uniformer that would do it, maybe.

You should be able to fire them with the plug hanging in there safely, but maybe you should just recycle them.

I'd never be comfortable using them. that could harm accuracy somewhat. I would personally try to mill it off with my primer hole tool, and if that fails, recycle them.
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Old June 11, 2010, 02:05 PM   #6
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You need to get yourself a flash hole uniformer . It's a one time process and I do it to all my brass .
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Old June 11, 2010, 02:06 PM   #7
slowr1der
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Yeah I'm disappointed with the quality of this Winchester brass. This is the first time I've bought never fried brass, so I'm not sure if other brands are like this or not.
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Old June 11, 2010, 02:22 PM   #8
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Winchester is not too bad for brass, I try to stick to Remington Brass, just personal taste and seems a bit better. Take a drill bit the size of the flash hole and just with your fingers holding the drill bit use it like a file in the flash hole to get any excess metal out.


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Old June 11, 2010, 07:05 PM   #9
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All flash holes are punched except Lapua and maybe Norma . I use Win.brass a lot and I like it , I find my loads a little more consistent with it . As opposed to R-P and Federal is junk as far as I'm concerned ! By uniforming the flash hole you ensure a perfectly round flame from the primer and even ignition . Attention to detail is where accuracy and reliability come from !
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Old June 11, 2010, 07:06 PM   #10
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Oops
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Old June 11, 2010, 07:17 PM   #11
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If that kind of stuff bothers you, get a flashhole deburring tool. I use one for loading precision rifle ammo, but wouldn't bother with pistol cases.
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Old June 11, 2010, 08:20 PM   #12
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What kind of brass? If you intend to use it for benchrest or high-power rifle matches maybe it should not be used. If it's handgun brass for plinking and informal target work it's probably fine.
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Old June 11, 2010, 09:22 PM   #13
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It’s INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS and you CAN’T just THROW IT AWAY ! … I’ll send you a PM with my address and I’ll dispose of it properly for you .

Kidding, of course … It’s fine, you’re "anal". … which means you’ll probably make great handloads.

Ditto to the flashhole tool … even though I got ribbed over this exact question years ago.
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Old June 11, 2010, 10:00 PM   #14
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Flash hole deburring takes only seconds and lasts for the life of the case. And I'm not anal. I weigh powder charges, cases and bullets but at least I don't weigh primers...yet.
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Old June 11, 2010, 10:23 PM   #15
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psssst .. there are also people in denial about being anal … they don’t realize it’s a compliment as far as handloading goes… reloading pistol, not so much , imho…
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Old June 12, 2010, 12:05 AM   #16
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So is it fine without the flash hole deburring tool? Or do I need to do that?
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Old June 12, 2010, 12:37 AM   #17
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There bad, please send them to me for disposal


Just load them up bud. They will be fine...
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Old June 12, 2010, 07:24 AM   #18
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One consideration: If the flash holes are too far from center, you could break your die's spent primer removing pin when you hand load the next time.
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Old June 12, 2010, 09:55 AM   #19
animal
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Often the hole is centered, but when it was punched, the brass was deformed next to the hole making it look egg shaped or off center. You can check this by using a piece of white typing paper on the bench lit with a desk lamp and the main light to the room off. The object is to get the light conditions where you can’t see the bottom of the primer pocket clearly but can see the outer border of the pocket and flash hole clearly.

Also keep in mind that you are "sighting" down the primer pocket and slight deviations are going to look magnified because your eye is incredibly good at picking up slight off-center deviations this way.

You could make a tool that has a shaft passing through the flash hole and different sized tubes that can be put on the shaft (for different sized primer pockets) to act as a feeler gauge against the wall of the pocket while the shaft keeps them centered in relation to the flash hole. (I will neither confirm nor deny that I made such a tool, nor will I consent to a search of my reloading bench without a warrant)

A primer pocket deburring tool is cheap, cleans the hole nicely, and your buds won’t laugh at you much for having it.
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Old June 12, 2010, 10:46 AM   #20
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You don't need a flash hole deburing tool. Just get a drill bit a little larger than the flash hole and knock that stuff off. As said, it's just from the primer pocket being PUNCHED out. Nosler, Norma, and Lapua DRILL their flash holes. They also weight sort and chamfer the necks. I bought 100 Norma 22-250Rem brass a while back and they were all perfect. High dollar for sure, but perfect brass.
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Old June 12, 2010, 01:31 PM   #21
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Quote:
So is it fine without the flash hole deburring tool? Or do I need to do that?
Not deburring your flash holes will increase you group size by .002"... j/k. They're fine to shoot w/o deburring.
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Old June 12, 2010, 03:50 PM   #22
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The primer will stay in place and will fire without a doubt
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Old June 12, 2010, 04:23 PM   #23
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Case prep is a series of procedures that help make handloads better than factory loads. I doubt any individual step makes a significant impact on accuracy but as a system of making the case as close to perfect as we're willing to make it will likely have an influence.
All kidding aside, we could all learn something from the benchrest guys. They elevate case prep to an art form. Doing everything they do won't make my groups tighter but I do a few things I've learned from them. Anything inside the case affects the way powder burns, that burr has no place in my cases and it's easy enough to remove and the tool is cheap and easy to use.
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Old June 12, 2010, 05:56 PM   #24
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It won't hurt a thing. No need to uniform the flash holes. You will never see the difference on target.

It's a short fat case and all the flash hole needs to be is open.

If it was a rifle caliber with a long thin case and you were loading match ammo, uniforming would be worthwhile.
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Old June 12, 2010, 06:14 PM   #25
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I'm not sure we've properly addressed OP's question. Just realized we don't know the caliber or what he intends to do with the cartridges he's wanting to load. I just assumed he was trying to load accurate rifle loads.
OP?
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