Is this brass still good

[bullpup]

This is once fired Federal brass. It is fired out of my rifle. I'm getting ready to start reloading and after sizing and trimming I was doing a final check and noticed that much of my brass have these "scars." I've never run into this problem with my bolt guns. So I have two questions. 1. Is the brass still usable? 2. What could be causing these marks? Thanks!

BP

[lee blackman]

Check your chamber. The mark is moving so I'm assuming whatever is in the chamber is also.

I would say the brass is probably still good, that is the thickest part. However just for good practice, I would scrap it. Brass is cheap and plentiful, and not worth risking ANYTHING for. Trust me, you wouldn't want to loose an eye over a $0.15 piece of brass.

[a.roberts]

Might be hitting something on the way out of the chamber/action.

[RiggerJJ]

Looks to me like a brass deflector mark, are you shooting this in an AR??? You didn't say what rifle...

At any rate, load it and shoot it unless you are doing BR.

JJ

Edited March 12, 2012 by RiggerJJ

[bullpup]

Yep, it is shot out of my AR. I guess I should have mentioned that. It's weird because this seems to be the only brass that it really does this with. It's almost every case that I have looked at of Federal brass. I have 200 cases of PMC and it's on maybe 2 out of every ten. Thanks everyone for the information.

BP

[RiggerJJ]

I think thats because Fed 223/5.56 brass is soft. I won't use it, had too many problems spitting primers when reloading once fired. I was going to use it in a reduced load for closeup hoser shooting, but haven't gotten that desperate, yet...

jj

[Alaskapopo]

This is once fired Federal brass. It is fired out of my rifle. I'm getting ready to start reloading and after sizing and trimming I was doing a final check and noticed that much of my brass have these "scars." I've never run into this problem with my bolt guns. So I have two questions. 1. Is the brass still usable? 2. What could be causing these marks? Thanks!

BP

No its terrible send it all to me for destruction. LOL

Its fine.

Pat

[ihatepickles]

Looks to me like a brass deflector mark, are you shooting this in an AR??? You didn't say what rifle...

At any rate, load it and shoot it unless you are doing BR.

JJ

The mark is from hitting the ejection port opening on the way out. The brass deflector dings up the case mouth usually, not the case web.

You can someone verify the mark is from the ejection port. Look for the mark left by the extractor, the extractor mark and the ding on the case web should be lined up if I'm right.

You can lessen this damage by clipping a half-coil off the ejector plunger spring at a time and testing. Clipping this spring will make ejection a bit less forceful. Getting the spring out is a bit of a pain unless you have an AR bolt disassembly tool. You have to compress the ejector plunger, drift out the retaining pin, and then slowly let off the spring pressure. If you're casual while doing this, you'll likely launch the assembly across the room. If in doubt, disassemble the bolt while it's inside a plastic bag to hopefully retain the part should your tool slip off the bolt.

I think the brass is OK as is to reload and shoot. I'd prefer if the ding wasn't on the brass though and I'd tune the ejector spring if it were my rifle.