how to tell if brass is still good

[TRAAV]

I have been loading the same brass over and over due to there isn't any to buy. I know the obvious signs such as splits, cracks, dents, etc. Some of this brass has been over pressure and blew primers out. After cleaning up i always inspect the brass and get rid of any that shows "signs" of being bad. My question is. Is it possible for the brass to be wore out but still look OK? The reason I ask this is because it seems like i cant hold a group any more. I will get 3-4 touching and then one will do something goofy.

Thanks,
Travis

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: how to tell if brass is still good

Necks get harder with working, and this affects neck tension. IMHO neck tension is one of the factors critical to keeping an accurate load accurate. Despite the same component recipe, <span style="font-style: italic">a load with a soft neck is a different load from one with a hard neck.</span>

This is why I make a point of staying away from near-max loads, and from brass prep techniques that increase tendencies to induce more work hardening.

Greg

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: how to tell if brass is still good

But knowing the 'why' doesn't help you identify the problem.

Typically, hardened necks will show (more) soot, and will exhibit additional resistance to seating bullets. If a resizer ball is being used, it will also exhibit more resistance. Obviously these are judgement calls. Overly hard necks tend to split.

Hard necks can be restored, assuming there are no pending splits, by annealing. This is not an untuitively simple process, and needs to be done right.

This...; we call the "D'oh mament"...

Greg

 

[308sako]

Re: how to tell if brass is still good

Deleted in protest!

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: how to tell if brass is still good

Not knowing what chambering you're dealing with, I'm going to take a leap and guess it's .308.

There are a number of chamberings that are made from the same basic brass blanks as .308, and while .308 may be going like hotcakes and be impossible to keep in stock, others may be just sitting there gathering dust.

Just as I can either use Remington .260 brass as is, or simply run .243 or 7-08 through the F/L resizer; so can you do the same thing with 7-08 or .338 Federal to make .308. Just take some notice of thickening with the necks when necking down, and donuts when necking up.

At least it's worth thinking about...

This..., we call the "D'oh moment"...

Greg

 

[TRAAV]

Re: how to tell if brass is still good

thanks for the help. I will have to look in to that process. The soot you mentioned sounds like what i have going on. I know there is something going on because they will not group 5shots....The load I'm working with is 6.5 creedmoor.

 

[bohem]

Re: how to tell if brass is still good

I noticed some more sooting showing up on my 30-06 loads, the brass has 5 firing cycles on it without being annealed.

I loaded 15 rounds of it again, and annealed 15 cases and loaded those.

I shot all 30 of them last night at 500y, the wind was pretty nasty last night so I focused more on the vertical stringing than on the horizontal to evaluate it. There was noticeably less (3" against 4.5-5") vertical stringing on otherwise identical loads.

It's not a endall,beall test with only 30 rounds, but it did tell me that there's merit to it.