I have been reloading for some time and safety is always paramount. I know to check for case head separation and to trim my brass and obviously the load itself. I have seen split case necks before and know what to do with them but I just encountered something new. Fired 5 times 308 brass not annealed since the factory. Ran in an LR-308 gas gun. Found a split on the shoulder on 20% of the cases. Was going to retire the lot after the next firing, but is it safe to shoot them again with this split? Not a particularly hot load, but still something new to me.
- Thread starter Raptor77
- Start date
Looks like a fold and not a split
Time to throw them out.
. . . and maybe start to anneal your brass if you want them to last longer.
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Thanks
sirhrmechanic and
whatsupdoc and everyone else. I will trash the lot of brass. Not worth the risk to me or my overpriced rifle. I have plenty more brass for it and will dump the powder back in the keg and sacrifice the primers. I appreciate your advice. Thanks again.
Id salvage the primers myself...
You can deprime live primers. Just go slow with a decapping die and they will pop right out. No need to waste the primers, especially given current conditions.
Not if it’s a fold.
Send them all to me with the primers in them, I'll dispose of them properly.
Wear glasses. Maybe ear plugs.
Though I've never had one go off, I always wear the PPE.
Though I've never had one go off, I always wear the PPE.
Except...those primers have been "sized" into the primer pockets. Definitely not worth, even with the shortages we are witnessing, the risk of primers failing. Your eyeball, not to mention your brain, is a scant inches from this explosion. Trash it all.
I mean, if you consider your noggin to be worth $10, by all means, wear a $10 helmet.
It does look like a "fold", but don't they usually occur a little higher up the shoulder near the neck?
they do but they could happen anywhere brass is forced to change direction
He will be decapping primers from 5x fired brass and seating into new brass. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that his old 5x fired brass will have tighter primer pockets than his new brass to the point that his "sized" primers could cause problems.
If his reused primers seat nicely into his new brass then great, if they are too "loose" in the new pockets (unlikely) then so be it. If he hasn't determined for himself what he considers too little seating force, then it makes no difference to his (or anyone elses for that matter) safety to reuse old primers in new brass or new primers in old flogged out brass.
OP: Your decapped primers will most likely seat with less force required than they did when new, but as long as they aren't "loose" they will be fine.
