View Full Version : 223 range pickup brass
I have been collecting a fair amount of once fired range brass for reloading 223's for my AR. My question to some of you guys that have been reloading for a long time is when do you toss the brass.
Right now I clean each piece in a tumbler and inspect each piece before resizing it. Any brass that has the least little bit of damage to it I have been tossing into the recycle bin. This includes damage to the neck, but also any minor flat spots on the body. Am I being too cautious or am I on the right track?
Just started reloading 223 recently and am having good luck with it. Have been loading pistol for a couple years now.
Would like to hear some of your comments on how and when you decide on pitching brass.
Phil
ramairthree
09-28-13, 12:56
I don't worry about the deflector dings, etc.
Crushed/dented mouth openings/necks I don't use.
I only very rarely see a split neck, etc. I don't use.
Most often, the brass I toss is when the base has an issue with going into the shell holder. So I don't know until it has been clean and I am about to size it. Or sometimes it seems fine when I sized it, but the trim holder, or hand primer shell holder is when I notice it.
Everyone once in a while, I put a loaded round into the case gauge just to find the base/rim had an issue that was not noticeable in the previous three steps.
Shoot it till it splits. Check your brass after sizing it. Sizing brass can cause it to split.
Shoot it till it splits. Check your brass after sizing it. Sizing brass can cause it to split.
I shoot .45 ACP until the mouths split. .45 is a low-pressure cartridge.
I shoot .223 five times, then decap and put into the recycling can.
NWcityguy2
09-28-13, 21:02
You can be a lot more accepting and be fine safety wise. Dings and dents to the body and shoulder will pop out as you shoot them. For a dent to ruin a piece of brass it has to be bad enough to hinder resizing or chambering. There isn't any relationship between minor body damage and a case head separation, which is the real thing a reloader should worry about.
I shoot my .223 brass until a neck splits, it is damaged beyond my ability to resize it or the primer pocket becomes too loose to hold a primer. For an AR that is properly gassed those things will happen before head separation becomes an issue.
Ironworker46
09-28-13, 21:09
Most of the brass I find on the range gets loaded and set to the side. Those are the rounds I use in places when recovering brass will be an issue.
On the other site a gentleman did a test using random range pick-up brass.
He was able to get over 20 firings if he annealed occasionally. The biggest culprit he found was split necks, followed by lost cases.
Originally Posted By Scorpius:
Here are three remaining rounds intact. You can see the shoulders are beat to hell from 21+ ramp feeds in my AR. But didn't seem to impact anything. They shot just as well new as they did old. Of course that is subjective since by no means am I one of those that could truly test this that can put 5 for 5 through the same hole at 100 yards.
For me...I saw no difference, but again i'm about a 2 inch spread at 100 yards, but i also don't really take my time. I like to fire, reacquire target, pop next round.
Also I don't really see any signs that pop out at me of any issues with case stretching that would cause case/head seperatation, nor any issues with the primer pockets. Feel free to comment if you see anything.
After 20 firings:
http://i1323.photobucket.com/albums/u581/Scorpius68/IMG_0689_zpsd4b4b618.jpg
His documentation:
Originally Posted By Scorpius:
and lastly....I am not the greatest at excel, but as requested above by another poster I did some data sampling and this is what I came up with.
Now...the bottom is 1-21 this is the number times fired. The neck splits at the count after firing. So example firing 21, post firing 7 rounds had neck splits.
The red lines. This is when I annealed PRE SIZING. So for example at fired 3, this means that on the 2nd firing I brought them home, cleaned, deprimed, annealed (by hand) then sized, reloaded. I almost hate to say it but looking at the data and how i sometimes waited a little longer to anneal, this chart appears to at least suggest annealing should happen pretty much every other time. When I went too long between annealings it appears it wouldn't stop neck splits since in essence the damage was already done. hmmm.....maybe I should redo this test. (Anyone got a giraud for sale :-) ) my fingers couldn't take it much longer.
Anyhow....simply my interpretations. Would love to hear any supportive, contrary so this research helps us pave forward (at least for .223) :-)
http://i1323.photobucket.com/albums/u581/Scorpius68/IMG_0690_zpsd0fea23a.jpg
For .223 brass I throw it away after it has been trimmed twice. This is usually around 5-6 firings.
Nice info gentlemen, this is exactly the kind of things I was wondering about being new to rifle reloading.
Phil
The longevity of your cartridge cases depends on the chamber pressure you shoot them at and how you reload them meaning shoulder bump. Shoulder bump controls head clearance or the "air space" between the rear of the case and the bolt face. And shoulder bump controls case stretching in the base web area.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/HEADCLEARANCE-a_zps53089f07.jpg
Below, head clearance, how far the primer can move before contacting the bolt face and brass stretching to meet the bolt face.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/HeadClearance_zpsf30a3af1.gif
With the RCBS case mastering gauge below I can measure case stretching much more accurately than using a bent paperclip.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/RCBSCMG_zpsb95d3710.jpg
I load my practice .223/5.56 ammunition with 24.7 grains of H335 which is a mild load. And good enough for practice at 100 yards or less and very easy on the brass.
The .308 cases below were full length resized with the press camming over without any adjustment for minimal shoulder bump.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/308fail-1_zps30d387ab.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/308fail2-1_zps3ca31f6b.jpg
Quick Draw
09-30-13, 17:40
Have had great case life from Norma and Lapua brass in my bolt rifles.
Not surprised that Norma was most durable but thought Lapua would do better based on my experience and and the premium price they cost.
Was pleasantly surprised that the Remington did well in your test. A lot of bang (pun intended) for the buck.
Favorite brass for .223/5.56 is PMC next LC I load them until the primer pockets are bad then scrap. Had very few that split but I don't load max charges so they last longer. FC brass is about the worst in my book- usually use them to convert to 300 Blk out brass and they last about 5 reloads an then the primer pockets are shot. Rem brass is also not very good.:rolleyes:
Good info.
After tumbling I check all of my brass for wear. So far so good.
Suwannee Tim
10-19-13, 07:18
When I sort through range pick up brass I am hyper-critical. I toss anything that looks reloaded or in any other way compromised. When picking up RPUs I bag each "lot" I pick up which makes sorting easier.
I shoot .45 ACP until the mouths split. .45 is a low-pressure cartridge.
I shoot .223 five times, then decap and put into the recycling can.
i have some 223 brass in have been shooting since 1995... still loading it...
shot it till it splits....
I'm in the shoot it til it splits crowd. A couple things though, I never load pick ups hot. Or close to hot. All of my "self defense" need to be reliable are in new cases or stuff that was fired once and bought new by me.
I run mine until the primer pocket becomes unacceptably loose. 99.999% of the time that is well before case separation. I think I've had 4 separations in my reloading life. Brass is way too hard to keep batched with round counts with the volume I'm doing.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.