SSA 7.62x51 Brass Excessive Headspace

[Bret]

I purchased twenty-one 100 case bags of new blem Silver State Armory 7.62x51 cases. The price was $431.95 delivered which works out to $0.2057 per case. Here's what I received:



The cases look perfectly new and don't even have spots or discoloration. I weighed some cases and and they averaged about 178gr. For reference, some IMI cases that I have averaged about 183gr and some Remington cases averaged about 170gr. I measured the width of the primer pockets and they're spot on with the IMI cases. I then used my Hornady headspace comparator and found that the headspace of the cases measure about 0.005" or so greater than the IMI cases. I always full length resize my new cases anyway, so any cases that are "excessive" will get fixed anyway. I'm guessing that there are some people that don't full length resize new cases? Perhaps they only neck size the new cases. All this to say that I don't really see what the "blem" is here. Am I missing something else?

[grizzman]

I'm certain there are people that do nothing more to new brass than remove any dents from the necks. From where did you buy it?

[Bret]

http://www.shootersproshop.com/loadi...nd-100-ct.html

It sold out within a couple of hours of me receiving the email.

[Bimmer]

All this to say that I don't really see what the "blem" is here. Am I missing something else?

Probably not... Manufacturers have various quality controls, some of which are probably pretty esoteric, and then that's enough to label something "blemished."

FWIW, ShootersProShop sells a lot of Nosler "blems," and they're usually flawless.

Sometimes I think "blem" is just a synonym for "overstock" or "clearance."

[pinzgauer]

Shooters Pro Shop used to have really good deals, now I find most of their overstock or blems are about the same price as I can get for regular stock if you shop around.

Early on I bought jacketed 40 cal /10mm bullets from them for a nickel apiece in bulk.

Uncommon weight (135g), which was fine for light loads in the 10 mm when 9 mm ammo and components was hard to get.

Similar for 120 grain 6.5 bullets, used to be very good deals. Now not so much.

[markm]

I'd body size it, neck size it, and load it.

Normally, I just neck size new brass.

[Bret]

That's exactly what I'm planning on doing.

[bigedp51]

The average SAAMI cartridge and chamber drawing has headspace listed as Min and Max with .010 between them. The danger of shooting a short case is it stretching excessivly and causing a casehead seperation. I have had new Winchester .243 cases over .009 shorter than chamber headspace. And I just seated the bullets long and jammed them into the rifling to hold the case against the bolt face.

And a Hornady cartridge case gauge or a drop in case gauge will let you know how much too short these cases are. The problem will be how much the cases will stretch the first time they are fired.

Below is a example of excessive head clearance or headspace with a British .303 Enfield rifle and the case stretching and thinning when fired.



Bottom line, the amount the case stretches when fired effects how many times the case can be reloaded before you have a case head seperation.

Below these .308 cases were fired in a new Savage bolt action rifle with the headspace set between the GO and NO-GO gauge. "BUT" the resizing die was set to make hard contact with the shell holder without adjusting the die for minimum shoulder bump. In the chart you can see the cases lasted between 11 and 24 reloadings before failure. Most cases if sized with minimum shoulder bump and below max pressure will fail with cracked necks and not a case head seperation.