This brass is toast, right?

[03psd]

Was inspecting some brass prior to trimming and noticed what looks tiny cracks, mostly vertical but a few horizontal in the shoulders. This is probably 4x or 5x fired FC brass. Its never been annealed. I am assuming its trash but was wondering if I should just trash the rest of the same lot I have. About 50 out of 200 show these marks to varying degree.

 

[Milo 2.5]

I'd probably shoot it again if mine, but do think either your die or chamber has something in it causing this.

 

[03psd]

I'd probably shoot it again if mine, but do think either your die or chamber has something in it causing this.

Hmmm.... Interesting. All the brass was fired from the same 700 and resized using the same die so why would only some of the brass show these cracks? I have always heard that FC was shit brass to begin with, but I still try to get the most out of it. I should probably lower my expectations and if I get 3-4 reloads out of it before the pockets get sloppy or these issue arise call it good and leave it at the range for the brass whores to snatch up. I recently switched to a Hornady precision resizing die I will be using in a LNL coller and RC press. This brass was however resized awhile ago in a plain old RCBS cheapo die set.

 

[918v]

Those aren't cracks. They're folds caused by sizing.

 

[Fursniper]

Anneal & shoot them.

 

[03psd]

Those aren't cracks. They're folds caused by sizing.

Really? OK, so what does this mean? I am novice reloader. Are the cases safe to reload? Are folds a sign I am doing something wrong?

 

[padom]

How much are you bumping shoulders? Are you over lubing your brass?

 

[03psd]

How much are you bumping shoulders? Are you over lubing your brass?

maybe .002-.003" bump. Over lubing, not sure but dont think so. never had a dent or a stuck case. How to tell if over lubing?

 

[padom]

You get dents when over lubing.. Maybe 002-.003? or you measured once fired brass and setup your sizing die and check your sized brass to ensure its .002-.003?

 

[03psd]

You get dents when over lubing.. Maybe 002-.003? or you measured once fired brass and setup your sizing die and check your sized brass to ensure its .002-.003?

Yeah, never had a dent so I dont think I am over lubing the cases. My sizing has been an issue until recently because of the crappy Lyman turret press I was using. I had inconsistent headspace measurements. I had a thread on here titles "headspace all over the place" and have followed the advice of many here and have invested in Rockchucker with the LNL collers for fast and consistent die changes. These cases were sized a long time ago so the exact measurement is unknown because of the inconsistency of the lyman press. I just pulled the brass from my stash and was going to reload it for plinking 200-300 yards. Nothing serious, but noticed what I thought were cracks and wanted to see if I should toss them as I didnt want a face full of powder burns from a split case. Going forward I will know my exact measurements because of the solid press and headspace guages I bought. My question is pretty much limited to what I should do with these questionable cases. I havent trimmed them yet so I have little time invested in them besides resize and tumble,

 

[padom]

You may be over wkrking your brass which caused this is where I'm going with this. It's easy. Take a once fired piece of brass in your rifle, de prime it, wipe it off and measure it with the Hornady Case Comparator. Now measure your brass in question and see what it reads. Takes 2 seconds.

FC never lasted for me. Trash it and start with some properly headspaced brass if you're that concerned.

 

[FLIGHT762]

The newer F.C. 308 with the Blue primer sealant is better brass than the older brass. It last as well as any other brass. O/P, you can use a jewelers loupe and look at the dents and see if they are cracks. I occasionally get one of the dents your photos describe, they are folds, not cracks. A loupe will disclose this. Get a loupe, they're good to have at the reloading bench.

Shoot the brass, it will be fine.

 

[918v]

Really? OK, so what does this mean? I am novice reloader. Are the cases safe to reload? Are folds a sign I am doing something wrong?

No. They are cosmetic. I see them all the time. I get them when forming 300WM from H&H cases. If you size too much too quickly, brass folds rather than flows. Your folds could have been created during the manufacturing phase and you just didn't notice them until now.

 

[demolitionman]

I dont think it's from over working brass or excessive sizing. I think its a manufacturing issue although im not sure what would cause them. I've noticed slight crease marks on out of the box hornady brass I purchased a month ago. It looks alot worse when soot fills the tiny crease. I'll post a few pics later. They are identical to yours. I only see 3 or 4 pieces of brass per 50 though. I still load and shoot them....

 

[jsthntn247]

Anneal them and shoot em

 

[ShtrRdy]

I think those are dents too. When Ive had a crack it looked like a deeper gouge.

 

[demonjigger]

FWIW: I have seen this on new brass, and I have seen it on new loaded factory ammo.