beat up lake city brass 7.62 with my semi auto, need help please!

[elfster1234]

What do you guys think about this...... This is now 3rd fired lake city brass in both year 12 & 85 out of my LMT MWS 7.62 semi-auto... for some damn reason as of late my brass shoulders have been getting beat up (tried my best to get close up pictures)....i'm rather sure it is the feeding ramps, but what do you guys think? its not cracks forming in the shoulders right???.... it is hard to tell when you have the brass in hand, but looking at these close up pictures they now look like groves / gouges from the feeding ramps??? I have some 4th fired federal brass that doesn't have these gouges this bad (some, but very very minor)... and I usually trash the brass about 5th to 6th fire (lol, I don't have the patience to anneal or maybe this is a good time to start)... This is my first time using lake city brass and I'm on the 3rd fire of this set so far.... What do you guys think? trash the brass?? or maybe tumble them in my stainless steel for a few hours and see what happens? Not sure what to do here..... and if it is the feeding ramps should I file off the sharp edges a little bit maybe? Not my sizing die is it? Guess I didn't look at the brass that close before I sized it to tell (as I should've, but realized it after sizing the brass).... Best logical guess is my rifle has close to 2k rounds thru it so you would think my ramps would be broke in by now... I usually get two small nicks in the neck which are usually not a problem, but this beat up shoulders has be a bit worried to reload it... I did start using a new pmag and maybe I should go back to the old warn in pmag... hmm.. not sure........ Any helpful suggestions would be great if you have run into this before.. See pictures.

 

[usmc1488]

I think it is just fine. LC aneals their necks and it is common for semi autos to beat up brass. As long as there arent cracks or splits you will be fine. Be advised though 3 is a good number and return on an investment for a lc reload, who knows how many times the mil reloaded it before you got it.

 

[sinister]

Normal. The necks are hitting the inside of your barrel extension on the way out (the scratches are from the inside corners of two neighboring lugs). Cosmetic surface scratches.

It's all in the timing -- it's not from your feed ramps on the way in, rather it's from your extraction and ejection speed. As you noted, before the scratches were on your necks, now it's at the body/shoulder juncture.

Don't throw away good, usable brass.

Your Lake City should go farther than Federals -- AR semis (LMT, KAC, Armalite, etc.) don't have the same piston system as the M14 so can last a bit longer -- just keep checking for incipient case body separation (a simple check using a paper clip or angle probe, or by eyeball once you've punched the primer if you have good near vision).

Conventional wisdom with the older M14 gas system and extraction was to chuck them out on the fifth firing.

 

[elfster1234]

Thanks for the reply my friend. I tumbled this brass for about 2-1/2 hours and the scratches and gouges and virtually gone and it is nothing i wouldnt worry about reloading now. Doesnt hurt to ask good friends for advice and thanks for your input.

Normal. The necks are hitting the inside of your barrel extension on the way out (the scratches are from the inside corners of two neighboring lugs). Cosmetic surface scratches.

It's all in the timing -- it's not from your feed ramps on the way in, rather it's from your extraction and ejection speed. As you noted, before the scratches were on your necks, now it's at the body/shoulder juncture.

Don't throw away good, usable brass.

Your Lake City should go farther than Federals -- AR semis (LMT, KAC, Armalite, etc.) don't have the same piston system as the M14 so can last a bit longer -- just keep checking for incipient case body separation (a simple check using a paper clip or angle probe, or by eyeball once you've punched the primer if you have good near vision).

Conventional wisdom with the older M14 gas system and extraction was to chuck them out on the fifth firing.

 

[Unknown]

I get the same marks on my LC cases. I thought it was from gouging the locking lugs on the way into the chamber though. I had never even considered that it could be happening during the extraction/ejection. Interesting.

 

[Benito]

I can't see the pics. Please repost. Thanks.
I have shot LMT MWS, and haven't noticed anything unusual about the brass for a semi auto

 

[Keith E.]

I'm sure sinister is spot on concerning the brass getting dinged during extraction. You can verify by making a witness mark on a loaded round and letting it feed during the firing process. Slowly extract the marked round by hand while noting the location of the witness mark and it's relation to any possible contact points encountered during feeding or extraction. Good luck on your search.

Keith

 

[NGCSUGrad09]

I think it is just fine. LC aneals their necks and it is common for semi autos to beat up brass. As long as there arent cracks or splits you will be fine. Be advised though 3 is a good number and return on an investment for a lc reload, <b>who knows how many times the mil reloaded it before you got it.</b>

The military doesn't reload anything for regular ammo. Only select units such as the AMU of the Army and PWS of the USMC reload some ammo for their competitive teams.

 

[usmc1488]

The military doesn't reload anything for regular ammo. Only select units such as the AMU of the Army and PWS of the USMC reload some ammo for their competitive teams.

Exactly, PWS reloads all M118LR.