Wierd Handgun Brass

[tomcatfan]

So I was shooting this afternoon and a buddy of mine pointed out that all of my brass had a weird carbon deposit on one side of the brass. I am shooting 45 acp hand loads out of my 1911 with remington large pistol primers, mixed head stamp brass, 230 grain round nose bullets, and around 6.0 grains of clays universal powder. The 1911 did not have any function problems, and it was shooting ok. I'm just wondering if this is a sign of something wrong hand gun reloads. The primers look fine, there didn't seem to be excessive recoil. I've never seen this on any of my other brass (9mm, 40) before. Anyone with any input?

 

[Mordamer]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

I have this on some factory 9mm rounds that I shoot. Sellier and Bellot 115 grain 9mm look just like this on every round out of my glock. Never had any problems with them though. I shoot all kinds of other ammunition and the brass from the other ammo comes out clean.

 

[luvtolean]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

Did they feel light?

 

[TenZero]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

I show the same thing out of my recent .45 loads. 5 gr of titegroup behind 185gr plated flatnose. And yes, mine felt a little light. Cycled fine in one of my HKs, intermittent Fail to Feeds in my other HK.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

My 45 brass ALWAYS does that...for as long as I can remember. Does it in my Sig 1911 and tge Glocks.

I load ~5.5-5.75gr Titegroup and 200gr Montana Gold. Always worked great. At least 15k of them downrange.

That sooty stain polishes right off.

I *believe* this is an artifact of the really fast powders (like clays and titegroup).

 

[luvtolean]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TenZero</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I show the same thing out of my recent .45 loads. 5 gr of titegroup behind 185gr plated flatnose. And yes, mine felt a little light. Cycled fine in one of my HKs, intermittent Fail to Feeds in my other HK. </div></div>

I seem to notice more soot in lighter loads which I ASSume is due to the case not expanding in the chamber as well, but I dunno...

 

[excaliber]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

Think of how the case is laying in chamber because of gravity. Front tip is laying lower than rear, extractor holds rear of cartridge.

 

[tomcatfan]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

I didn't notice the loads as light, but I don't have very calibrated wrists. They are the middle of the range load in the hornady manual. But I know that manual goes on the very conservative side. The gun functioned fine I didn't have any ftfs but I have had ftfs out of my 92 by reloading to the minimum load in the hornady manual. It wouldn't eject due to lack of power. I increased my powder and it has worked fine ever since. I was just wondering if any one else has seen this. The brass does clean up just fine in my tumbler though.

 

[aloreman]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

luvtolean nailed it on the head

 

[Cancon]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

Not that I have a clue...

From the picture it looks some gas seeped around the case mouth. Just had some Win Mag loads with Retumbo yesterday soot up the neck (the light ones). What made me think of the above is how you could clearly see the point on the shoulder where the case/chamber seal didn't let any more gas by. I think excaliber may have the right idea. When I first looked at I remembered of my neck sooting and thought maybe the seal around the case mouth isn't 100%, or as others have already said a light load.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

I disagree with the light load theory.

I used to use 5.0 - 5.25gr Titegroup with 200gr Monrana Gold in my Glock 30, and got that same soot mark.

When I got my G21C, that comp was venting too much pressure and my standard load didn't cycle, so I bumped up to 5.75gr, which runs the 21C great.

However, I still get the soot in my 30 with this hotter load- and this is NOT a light load. It is well over book max, and flattens primers pretty good.

I'm more prone to believe it's a burn speed thing, as I only see it with the very fast powders.

 

[adam3999]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mordamer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have this on some factory 9mm rounds that I shoot. Sellier and Bellot 115 grain 9mm look just like this on every round out of my glock. Never had any problems with them though. I shoot all kinds of other ammunition and the brass from the other ammo comes out clean. </div></div>

I get this same uneven scorching out of my XD 9mm all day long. I've seen it with S&B 115gr 9mm and to a lesser extent on my reloads as well. I figured the gun may have a "generous" chamber.

 

[pdice]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My 45 brass ALWAYS does that...for as long as I can remember. Does it in my Sig 1911 and tge Glocks.

I load ~5.5-5.75gr Titegroup and 200gr Montana Gold. Always worked great. At least 15k of them downrange.

That sooty stain polishes right off.

I *believe* this is an artifact of the really fast powders (like clays and titegroup).</div></div>

Same here, I use titegroup and clays in 9mm and 45 respectively. I've never seen one of my cases that didn't come out like that.

 

[pdice]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Same here, I use titegroup and clays in 9mm and 45 respectively. I've never seen one of my cases that didn't come out like that.</div></div>

I should also point out that I'm running superlight loads too that just barely make power factor for uspsa and idpa

 

[TonyD]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

I see the same thing from my STI .45 shooting light loads. My opinion is that the lighter loads do create more soot, in my experience. I have been shooting light loads with Bullseye, which is very dirty and get the same pattern. Not as bad with WST but can still see the pattern.

Additionally, I believe that some of that pattern on the case comes from the case shape it took on when it was first fired. Many of the new autos have unsupported chambers, especially Glocks. Upon firing the case is left with a slight bulge, called the Glock bulge, we are talking thousandths. The chambers are designed this way to induce good feeding. Love Glocks, have two.

Normal resizing will not remove the bulge from the case. There are products on the market that are created to take this bulge out of the case. You need to push the entire case through a special die and out the other end to re-size the case and bring it back to factory specs.

Unless you are having feeding issues, or are shooting a gun with a tight match chamber I wouldn't worry about it.

Again, just my opinion, its worth exactly what you paid for it.

Tony D

 

[tomcatfan]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

Well it looks like there are a good bit of people who get this as well. Has anyone noticed any adverse impacts of this happening on their guns? If it doesn't mess up my gun, I really don't care what the brass looks like. That is why I have a tumbler. I just wasn't sure if this would mess my gun up.

 

[adam3999]

Re: Wierd Handgun Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Savage 10fp</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well it looks like there are a good bit of people who get this as well. Has anyone noticed any adverse impacts of this happening on their guns? If it doesn't mess up my gun, I really don't care what the brass looks like. That is why I have a tumbler. I just wasn't sure if this would mess my gun up. </div></div>

I was worried at first as well, but no negative effects here. I tend to agree with the folks who think it's related to lighter loads where the brass doesn't fully expand to every minute contour of the chamber after ignition.