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Old September 25, 2012, 03:39 PM   #1
Tom68
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What to do with pressured brass?

Just checking with the group here... when working near max loads and brass starts showing signs of overpressure, do you toss the case or keep it?

Now, I'm not talking about split cases which automatically ruins the case, or any painfully obvious overpressure signs which would significantly compromise the integrity of the case: Think about cases which show ejector marks, or flattened primers, and the like.

I'm thinking that, for instance, a case with ejector marks would probably be safe to reuse, but then how would you know for sure next time whether it was a new, or old, ejector mark? unless you keep records much more extensive than I...
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Old September 25, 2012, 03:54 PM   #2
tkglazie
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I use range brass so pretty much anything in question gets tossed into the recycle bucket. Easy come, easy go. The flattened primer wouldnt concern me though, that would probably stay. I only load low- and mid-range loads though.
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Old September 25, 2012, 04:04 PM   #3
sidewindr
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I'd just inspect them carefully and reload them if they are not all bulged up. I would keep track of those as a batch and if one gives up after 2 or three "hot" loads(rifle), I'd probably toss the whole batch. In pistol, hopefully the mouth will split to let you know they are worn out, rather than a rupture.
For hard to come by stuff, then I would download them and just keep a close eye on them.
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Old September 25, 2012, 04:18 PM   #4
F. Guffey
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Tom68, what effect did the pressure load have on the case, I have had pressure loads render the case scrap in one firing, forget the “a case is not fully grown until it has been fired 5 times”. No one measures the case head diameter, no one measure the case head thickness, then there are a couple of others measurements that would be a waste of time to mention.

Pressure loads? there is PSI, there is CUP and strain gages, if only there was something in the chamber when the trigger was pulled, something like a case.

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Old September 25, 2012, 04:48 PM   #5
Tom68
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I did fail to mention that i'm talking about bottleneck rifle cases here.

Guffey, the signs I read were smeared headstamps: marks on the case head left by the ejector. I have not yet measured the cases to check for stretch or bulging (although I did not detect any), but when I get back to the bench I plan to do that.

I asked the question primarily to solicit responses whether there might be other, hidden defects in the case in addition to the ejector marks which may render the case as suspect for future use.

As for myself, i'll probably toss them if a tumbler doesn't freshen up the looks of the headstamps, otherwise I might misread the case on a subsequent firing. After all, we're not talking about a great deal here...I stopped shooting when I got to that point and did not fire the max loads that i had assembled. I'll pull them and re-use the components.
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Old September 25, 2012, 07:18 PM   #6
jepp2
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Quote:
I did fail to mention that i'm talking about bottleneck rifle cases here.
Do you properly size your brass? Making sure you are not setting the shoulder back too far?

Have you ever given your cases the paper clip test?

I would be more concerned about case head separation and if your cases are properly sized for the chamber, the high pressure shouldn't cause the cases to be rejected.
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Old September 25, 2012, 08:21 PM   #7
F. Guffey
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"the signs I read were smeared head stamps: marks on the case head left by the ejector"

It is about more than one thought at a time, there are slide and glide shooters/benchresters, they are exempt, but for the rest of us when shooting heavy type loads the case locks onto the chamber 'THEN' the case hits the face of the bolt, the part about keeping up with two thoughts at the same time, when the case body locks onto the chamber and the head of the case is crushed against the bolt face there is no choice, the case stretches between the case head and case body, that is if the case was not lubed.

I have nothing to prove and nothing to gain by upsetting case heads, when I have a case head that is crushed to the point the head stamp is 'smeared' with an ejector/extractor mark O retire the case.

Crushed case heads, I have rifles I built from receivers that were sold as suspect, 4 for $25.00 each, they are no longer suspect.

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Old September 27, 2012, 09:41 PM   #8
jmorris
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If it case gauges it gets shot again, if not its scrap.
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