Reloading question

[Robin]

This is a 350 legend casing. If you look just above the rim there is a band similar to what you would see on a belted magnum. This belt appeared after sizing this case, along with a handful of others, the rest were just fine. I have never seen this happen before and I'm not sure what it is telling me, any thoughts would be appreciated. Should I chuck them?
Robin

 

[1075tech]

What did the primers look like?

It might just be a mark from the die? Can you feel it? Take a paper clip and make a little bend on one end. Run it inside the case. Can you feel anything inside the case?

 

[kev74]

Does it fit in the chamber well? It might just be that the resizing die doesn't get the whole case.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

Looks like the case was bulged and then it was pushed down when sized.

 

[Robin]

Primers were okay. Like I said, it was only four or five that showed this and I could feel the the extra stress when I ran the sizing die down the casing. The rest of the batch look good.
Robin

 

[1075tech]

Autoloader? Maybe early unlocking a couple of times which caused the case to bulge a little?

 

[kev74]

If the feed as they should, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

If it's an actual band I would chuck them and try and figure out what's going on.

 

[Mosinitis]

I seen this on .223 Lapua brass after a number of firings, although not as pronounced. It has to do with how the brass is made. How abrupt is transition from base to walls. If this was caused by pressure, the primer would fall out. If nothing else is wrong, I would use it.

 

[Tisto]

It looks to me like the resizing process pushed the wall of the case toward the base, and the web expanded forming the "band" around the base. Measure the length of those cases. Are they a few thousandths shorter than all the rest ? You said that you could feel the extra resistance. That alone causes me to suspect a problem. I would not use them. What load was fired from them ? Is it anywhere near maximum ? I think I would take a dremel tool and cut one of the cases in half for an inspection. Just curious, what brand of brass is it ?

 

[Xae289]

I wouldn't reuse that brass. If I really wanted to reuse it for whatever reason, I'd make up an unprimed and uncharged dummy cartridge and check it in a case gauge/drop it into the barrel to use the chamber as a case gauge. I'd also be wary of feeding issues and try feeding it from the magazine to see how it does.

 

[Robin]

It is once fired Starline brass. Looking at it closer, the raised ring is more pronounced on one side than the other, if it was pulling, it wasn't pulling equally all the way around. Not going to use it but I don't like not knowing.
Robin

 

[Robin]

I did drop it in the chamber as it is and released the bolt. The bolt went all the way forward without assist and extracted it normally.
Robin

 

[Mosinitis]

Chances are the other cases from this lot will get the same way after subsequent firing.
Don't discard these cases, you might change your mind if you get more confidence in this brass.

 

[meketrefe]

By the picture I cannot tell if the brass was bulged or the die shaved a thin layer of brass towards the base. If so you should lap the mouth of the die and have the cases well lubed. You should be able to say if that ring is shaved brass by running some scotch brite at the end or see if it peals with a razor.
As bras ages might expand at the base and you might see a line where the die stops but not a ring.
Worse case the chamber is not properly cut (short) or die is a bit off or needs some lapping( extremely rare mostly very old dies when cnc was not around yet)
A short chamber can still pass a headspace check but the case might not get the full support at the base. This also very rare but not as rare as a bad die.
Simple things to check anyway.

 

[Mosinitis]

Here is my .223 Lapua brass after 7 firings

 

[Mosinitis]

It looks even worse. It's not the die. This is how this particular brass is formed. If it fits the chamber, use it.

 

[spat]

I guess it would depend on what you want this brass to be.

If it's just plinking ammo, then it's probably safe and fine.

But if you are trying to squeeze out every bit of accuracy, there is obviously something different about those cases from the rest. Since variation is the enemy of accuracy, so I would probably not use them for that purpose.

If it's hunting or defensive ammo, I might not want to trust these for that purpose either.

 

[Robin]

It is not shaved, definitely formed, or swedged.
Mek, Inspecting the chamber as best as I can it appears to be ship shape, I cannot tell if it is cut short though. 1075tech mention a timing issue and it was something that crossed my mind as well, But I guess I don't have enough knowledge to know if that is even possible.
Mosin, that is a much better picture than I was able to get but that is exactly how they looked, almost like a belted magnum.
Tisto, the casings were well lubricated when sized. The load was under the maximum recommended in the manned by a couple tenths. There was just a hint of a swipe on a few of the bases though.
Robin

 

[Mosinitis]

I guess it would depend on what you want this brass to be.

If it's just plinking ammo, then it's probably safe and fine.

But if you are trying to squeeze out every bit of accuracy, there is obviously something different about those cases from the rest. Since variation is the enemy of accuracy, so I would probably not use them for that purpose.

If it's hunting or defensive ammo, I might not want to trust these for that purpose either.

It has zero effect on accuracy.

 

[spat]

It has zero effect on accuracy.

That would take a lot of work to prove.

 

[Mosinitis]

I shot very hot loads with this brass. My concern was, it might split at the belt, but this never happened in thousands of such cases reloaded. I have confidence to use this brass without giving it a second thought. The same barrel, the same die but different brands of brass didn't produce this belt.

 

[Mosinitis]

That would take a lot of work to prove.

No, some things are obvious with experience.

 

[spat]

No, some things are obvious with experience.

When it comes to things that might affect accuracy in extreme cases, nothing is obvious.

It's a difference. Difference is bad.

Now you could get excellent accuracy from these cases, and maybe also from the ones that aren't affected.

But you would need some very significant and rigorously acquired data to prove that a mixed batch wasn't adversely affected by whatever is causing this difference.

 

[Carlos Hathcock]

I'm going to take a stab at head separation. There's some really great magnifying apps that would allow some photos for a better view. I have some 6 Creed cases that have shown not only signs of separation but all out failure. Have not yet determined if it was the brass or a headspace issue.

 

[Robin]

There is absolutely no sign of separation, to the naked eye or under 4X magnification.
Robin

 

[Mosinitis]

Head separation occurs higher.

 

[tony]

checking some sizes might give some insight...