case inspection

[granillanutz]

I've recently obtained some 338 win mag rounds and cases. The factory loaded ammo seems to all have a "ding" in the case, but the handloaded rounds seem flawless. Some of the unprimed factory cases have not so perfect neck. Will these be acceptable to shoot or reload? Will the resizing dies fix such deformities?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Smaller dents will "blow out" when you shoot the casings after you load them. Run them through your sizer die to iron out the neck and trim square and have at it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

+1.

Usually you see body dings on semi-auto fed brass where the ejection is abrupt like a 223-5.56 and sometimes 308 in OFMB.

 

[granillanutz]

These rounds and cases were inherited by my would be mentor, so bare with me. Many rounds were labelled with max or close to max loads. Organizing them has been a challenge, but i'm getting there. I feel confident that the 338 loaded rounds and cases are virgins. new cases and new factory loads. Would it be a good idea to pull all of them and lower the powder to the minimum as i am new to this? I have shot a few, but upon furthur inspection of other cartriges, i ran across this box of split neck and obvious headspace... (whatstheword?). They were 270 at just about max load, and i think they've only been reloaded 2wice.
There were a lot of loaded 270's that seemed to have that bright ring and a slight bulge. good thing i don't own a 270

 

[cohunter14]

If they are all labeled then that helps. Check to see where the loads are at compared to suggested minimum and maximum loads. If you haven't ever shot anything loaded with that powder and bullet, make sure you either start with or load up some closer to minimum loads and work your way up. If you are not seeing pressure signs, then you can keep moving up. By doing this, you should be able to find out if those loads will be okay in your gun or not. I definitely wouldn't just pop one of the max loads into your gun and shoot it though. You never know, they could be fine in your gun or they could be way over the max.

 

[granillanutz]

I pulled apart my first bullet today. One of the hot loaded 270 rounds. 53 grains of imr4350 with 150 grain speer spitzer. Before i pulled it, i noticed the slight buldge and rind around the base. After pulling, i noticed the neck was cracked. The label said only fired twice.
The 338s, however, were loaded light. 200gr nos bt w/imr4320 60gr=2672/sec and 3160 me w/nickel plated virgin cases... So im not too scared of those, but i still may pull them.
His 270 was stolen, and he didnt use the 338 much because he didnt own it very long. From what ive read, i imagine that both the rounds being kinda hot and the rifle being fired so many times, there could be some head space problems. so hopefully the culpret will get some incipient head seperation to the eye.
Im just glad i didnt give those rounds to my dad for his 270.
Whats the price of scrap brass nowadays?

 

[ODAVID]

As a suggestion consider cutting one of the brass in half with the"bright ring" at the base. If you notice a groove above the base on the inside then you confirmed near head separation. As the case fires it tends to stretch and the brass flows from the rear forward.

Another suggestion is take a paper clip and straighten it out and make a small hook about 1/8" long. If you suspect a "bright ring" in the future you can feel the groove on the questionable brass if it is there or not rather then throwing it out or cutting in in half. Continue to use the cut in half brass for a bases as to what the groove feels like.

Hopefullly I just saved you a major extraction problem and a trip to your friendly gunsmith.

learn well
ODAVID

 

[SidecarFlip]

To further muddy the water, the 'bright ring' can also come from a F/L reloading die.

 

[granillanutz]

i can actually feel the bulge on the bright ring, and it seems pretty consistant with most of the 270 rounds as far as the bright ring and bulge placement. The bulge does not circumvent the case. Also there were several with backed out primers, cracked necks and grab dents in the rim. I will saw one in half to get a confirmation view of it.
Like i said, that 270 was stolen, so testing the rifle may be up to the culpret.
After flipping through most of his notes and books and stuff, i think it's safe to say he put a lot of round through that gun.
NOW,
with that being said,
would 53 gr imr 4350 w/150 gr speer sptz w/winchester case in a model 70 w/20" bbl normally display that amount of stress to a 2-3 reloaded case?

 

[Bullet bumper]

I agree that you should not shoot any of the hand loads and pull them all down . If you don't know for sure what the powder is , dump it an use new identified powder.
If you don't hand load then find somebody to pull them down and just keep the case and bullet till you do hand load.
I refuse to shoot anyone else's hand loads it is just too risky .
A good tool for visual internal inspection is a Doctors Otoscope , one of these Pocket PRO LED Fiberoptic Otoscope NO Burned OUT Bulbs | eBay

After some experience with it you can see thinning of the cartridge web starting as a black shadowed ridge right where cases always go.
If you section a few cases over time and inspect the progress of thinning add to that the amount of times already fired and you can build up a mind picture of how much thinning is associated with the look of the Shadow and you get a good visual idea of when they need to be replaced.
I find this more reliable than using any type off feeler to gauge the web thinning as I can't feel it properly and one side could be worse than the other and you miss it , sectioning a few would also help with learning the feeler operation but I like the visual way better , you can see all the inside of the case and check for burrs , pits, cracks and flash hole irregularities when they are new . It's like using a mini bore scope and also great for inspectiong dies .

 

[SidecarFlip]

My take on shooting someone else's handloads (with 2 exceptions) is this....

Shooting someone else's handloads is like cheating on your wife. You may be a good liar but sooner or later you'll get smacked....bad.

Thye 2 exceptions for me are, one handgun loads with hard cast lead pills loaded by someone I know and 2, I load for our entire group, they all shoot my handloads in 223, 308, 270, 22-250 and 338 Lapua. However, I'm very methodical about how I load, what I load and everything is carefully tested and recorded in each box of rounds. Best part is, I get each of their rifles to build loads for so I get to shoot lots of different brands and calibers.

I leave nothing to chance, I use quality brass (usually Lapua brass), quality propellantts (usually Hogdon) and quality pills (usually Sierra or Hornady) and cases are inspected each and every time and annealed if necessary or pitched in the scrap can.

The last thing I want is to betray the trust of anyone in our group and/or cause personal injury. These guys are all my good friends and I value their friendship both hunting and not hunting.

 

[granillanutz]

To further muddy the water, the 'bright ring' can also come from a F/L reloading die.

i was wondering bout that

 

[Bullet bumper]

i was wondering bout that

Nobody can inspect a case properly from photos on the net , asking the right questions is good but you have to develop your own case inspection skills in the end . I showed you a good tool to start doing that .