I was at the range the other day shooting my Ruger gp100. Two rounds of factory +P rounds got mixed up with my reloads. They both had silver casings so I didn't notice. Any way one of the factory +P loads casing split. It shot way more fire out of the cylinder area and something (Powder?) hit me in the face. What ever it was it hurt and don't want that to happen again. I got me thinking about the used brass I bought to reload. Is there a way to measure the thickness of the walls or anything else to let you know that casing shouldn't be loaded again? How do you decide when to retire a case? Sorry if this has been asked before. I thought I read a thread on this but can't find it.
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To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Are we talking pistol cases? Just inspect them before loading, if there is a split you'll see it. For rifle cases, seperation usually happens about 3/8-1/2 inch ahead of the rim, look carefully, or you can put a point on a piece of stiff wire and bend a 90 degree very close to the point, then you can use it inside the case to "feel" a iminent crack in the afore mentioned location.
For any beginners,please do not follow any advice on here except to inspect brass,pitch all that even looks defective,never reload cracked cases,and read and follow the book.A cracked case releases gasses at about 5000degrees.Steel melts at about 2000deg..Every time one leaks,it melts little flakes out of the metal it touches.That is rough on firearms.If you don't believe it,look at the backstrap of a revolver just above the cylinder mouth. sam.
Thanks for all of the advice guys. However I was hoping there was a way to catch it before it splits. Oh well, I guess I load it until it splits. I just got 2000 fired 38 special cases shipped for $65.
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To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Seriously, I deprime and resize my brass, then tumble them. Then I put on some 2.5X glasses and inspect them all for any signs of wear. Any irregularity, they get pitched.
__________________ I keep tellin ya Doc, I'm in pretty good shape considerin the shape I'm in !!
Yeah, and some splits are so tiny you still can't see them. I visually passed a whole box of .223 cases, but caught about twenty that had splits I could not see just because the bullet seated way too easily. Of course seating the bullet widened the splits and I could see them then.
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People think I'm paranoid because I own guns. If I own guns, what do I have to be paranoid about?
For any beginners,please do not follow any advice on here except to inspect brass,pitch all that even looks defective,never reload cracked cases,and read and follow the book.A cracked case releases gasses at about 5000degrees.Steel melts at about 2000deg..Every time one leaks,it melts little flakes out of the metal it touches.That is rough on firearms.If you don't believe it,look at the backstrap of a revolver just above the cylinder mouth. sam.
I was just getting ready to ask what happens if you use a case that is defective. Thanks for the info.
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"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word."
Those silver cases that split first are nickel plated and they are more brittle than plain brass. In a lot/group of mixed cases the nickel plated ones generally go first.
I also find most of my split mouth cases when the bullet seats way too easy.
I do hope that you were wearing eye protection. I find that the side protectors are especially helpful when revolver shooting in a booth because the stuff that normally spits out of the cylinder/barrel gap bounces off the booth wall and comes back at your face.
Regards,
DocAitch
I don't know. I have some 25 year old .38 special nickel plated casings I must have reloaded 20-30 times. I got the expander set to the absolute minimum needed to seat the bullets without shaving lead or jacket, and I don't go too near any max loads.
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People think I'm paranoid because I own guns. If I own guns, what do I have to be paranoid about?
Seriously, I deprime and resize my brass, then tumble them. Then I put on some 2.5X glasses and inspect them all for any signs of wear. Any irregularity, they get pitched.
I was watching an episode of Sighting in with Shooting USA and the guy they have talking about reloading said some people choose to not deprime until after tumbling because it helps to prevent media from getting stuck/lodged into the flashhole. It was the one and only time I've ever heard that. Is this true or is it if that happens the media is to fine or it's time to change the media because it's to fine?
And after hearing the RCBS gut say this I figure after policing my brass or even if I get brass that isn't deprimed already that it would be that much easier to tumble with the primer in and just deprime using the die during the realoding process as he said. Am I wrong to think that and follow that advice?
would and will be appreciated.
__________________ "My next door neighbors two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs then Obama has." - Gary Johnson
If you are cleaning the flash hole and primer pocket as you should or resizing after tumbling,it won't make any difference.If tumbling after priming,media will get in flash hole anyway.The only thing,you won't see it. sam.
I tumble or vibrate mine before resizing (no dirty brass in die) and after resizing (gets the lube off) and trimming this is where I usually find cracked brass. I then clean out the flash hole before priming.
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"Decaffeinated coffee is kind of like kissing your sister" ~ Bob Irwin
The link I posted on how to inspect brass has been moved to the "NEWBIE" thread. It gives a few tips on how to inspect brass for signs of wear.
would and will be appreciated.
