Thread: Case Inspection. Anything of note here, folks ?

The necks





A case mouth


Base showing usual separation site
(Actually, I've never had a case base separate on this rifle.)







The primer pockets
More and more of these have felt loose seating over the years and 90% are now real easy to slip the primer into but they seem firm and never fall out.







Cases have been reloaded about 15x and annealed once about 5 shots ago.
They're still shooting fine and there are very few split necks or other problems.
Just looking for any comments, advice, any problems visible ...

If I was you I would cut a couple of them in half. Then you will see how thin they are getting

Yeh, the bent tip paperclip should be employed when they get to this age.

General observations from the pics:
The trimming on the neck is a bit so-so, some rough edges.
The neck/shoulder junction is pretty indistinct- ? from partial neck sizing
The marks at the "200 line" are really just scrapes from the die, don't tell you much.

I'd give the die a good cleanout as there's a suggestion there's some fine grit in it

Have you cleaned them?

I'd say take a good look at a fired one to see how well the neck is sealing.

Also, brass grows (forward) with every firing. So, assuming you are trimming the brass, it means the area around the web is getting thinner with each firing.

Case head seperation is inevitable.

What is causing the groove around the base outside the primer pocket?

Hi Woody,
It's the pocket reamer turning round on the base.
Cuts them to the same 0.130" depth each time but I have to push hard to get it to remove all the soot and see shiny metal.

Originally Posted by 6x47

Yeh, the bent tip paperclip should be employed when they get to this age.

General observations from the pics:
The trimming on the neck is a bit so-so, some rough edges.
The neck/shoulder junction is pretty indistinct- ? from partial neck sizing
The marks at the "200 line" are really just scrapes from the die, don't tell you much.

I'd give the die a good cleanout as there's a suggestion there's some fine grit in it

Anneal every firing. Trim only to maxi length. The sizing is as commented is more neck rather than FLS. Run your brass thru a good SSM wash with big dollop of Armourall car wash, big dollop of citric acid and big splash of creme of tartar. Run for 2 hours.

Or maybe US clean, which does the same thing less polishing and pin impacts. The comment about life is pretty much spot on, I'd be cleaning them up and doing the case length trim and checking case weights. After that I'd do the water capacities by weight (plug the primer pockets with something like a fired primer) and anything at the extremes of the range either more closely inspect or section. And after that the paperclip test for any impending seperation or internal defects.

Also, at that many primer pocket cleans with a reamer it might just be a case that you've managed to ream the pockets slightly looser - going forwards measuring and recording case head expansion with the replacement lot of brass will possibly be a better way of tracking wear? But at 15 firings - that's free brass...

If you have "loose pockets" but still feel you can get more life from the cases, you could change primer types. For example if you are using Feds you could go to CCI that give a tighter fit.

Consider changing to small primer brass, for more firings, but at 15 you have done well really.
There is no real defintion for neck / shoulder junction, do you get hard to chamber on the brass now? or are you in the FLS every X reloads. For having 15 reloads and only one anneal the brass has done very well.

Stainless pins, meh, shiny peened up brass is not for you if you want to clean the carbon off for smaller outlay that doesnt involve a mechanical wash / bath try a product called never dull. its a cotton wadding thats impregnated with cleaner that saddlers use on horsey brass stuff. It is / was about $50 and cleans the carbon off necks and cases....... but its a one at a time in the drill chuck type of job...... you could do it in conjunction with trimming if you use a chuck mounted method for that.

Oh and just to be picky you need a new wooden block as that one is way too big for those cases.

Everything looks normal really. The mark around the base where they separate, well, I dont think it means anything. I have those marks on all my brass after the first couple of reloads. The only case head separations I have ever had were from cartridges that were stupidly over loaded with the wrong powder. I have not had anything separate from being over worked. And although I have employed the bent paperclip from time to time, I have never caught anything unusual. (I am not saying it doesnt happen, I am just saying the shiny marks up from the base don't indicate that its going to happen.)
One question: How far down the case are you annealing them?

I had a case seperation, in a .243 Savage 99E. It was after a fair few reloads but they had been done in a whackamole Lee so no FL sizing done at all, I was a very novice reloader and it was my first centerfire and first attempt at reloading.
If it happens on a hunting trip and you dont have any gear it can wreck your trip.

It seperated at the web mark as shown, by the marks.It was a full seperation and the case head tumbled out onto the bonnet of the cruiser I was shooting across, I couldnt figure out why the next round wouldnt chamber. As I had "heard" the case eject. As luck would have it I got it out with a pocket knife.

Originally Posted by 6x47

Yeh, the bent tip paperclip should be employed when they get to this age.

General observations from the pics:
The trimming on the neck is a bit so-so, some rough edges.
The neck/shoulder junction is pretty indistinct- ? from partial neck sizing
The marks at the "200 line" are really just scrapes from the die, don't tell you much.

I'd give the die a good cleanout as there's a suggestion there's some fine grit in it

@6x47 what is the 200 line ? 200 thou from the base, where they usually separate ?
Point taken about the rough case mouths. I couldn't see them without my reading glasses and they look shocking in the close up photo don't they ?

What do you think about that neck/shoulder junction ?
Looks like the neck part of the die never reached it to me, yet the shoulder is sized back neat and tidy, not growing out. It's a full length die.

At 15 times reloaded I would have thrown them out 5x reloads back

10 times is well enough for me and I’m probably throwing brass away after 8 reloads maximum

Yes, correct on the "200 line" interpretation.

I'm surprised you were using an FL die with such an indistinct neck/shoulder junction. This isn't a bushing FL die??

I've felt the insides with the bent paper clip and there's no groove or unevenness, specially at the shiny 200.




Looking at the die, it just says Redding 7mm08 FL U9
I wonder what the U9 is ?
I haven't put any bushing into it and I take it apart after each session to clean out with Hoppes then dry and a thin layer of waterproofing oil (Mobil DTE).