[bjengs]

Forgive the newbie question...

Just bought a bunch of surplus .308 ammo that was further discounted because "approximately 5%" suffered from "creased case necks." Now, I've begun to sort the stuff out, and I'm no dummy, but I am a newbie to guns. For the life of me, I can't DEFINITIVELY figure out which are the good and bad rounds. After a while, they all start to look defective.

A call to the seller didn't yield much. My biggest concern is "if one of these gets by me, are we talking dangerous or merely inconvenient?" And I couldn't really get a straight answer, just "oh, you can't chamber these bad rounds."

Help appreciated, please. Bonus thanks for any pics.

[Dave P]

Are these once fired, or virgin, or what? If they came from automatic weapons, I wouldn't use them due to possibly stretched cases (very dangerous).

Assuming they've been fired no more than once, and the neck dents are maybe 1/16" or less: just full length re-size 'em. My FAL always dents the necks, but they straighten out fine.

If they are tight creases and you see cracks in the brass, then throw them away.

Newbies should start with known good products and suppliers. Mil surplus brass (un-used) is widely available; maybe $.10 each. A Lyman or Wilson case length gage is a wonderful thing to check carteidge headspace (about $20).

Dave

[bjengs]

These are never-fired boxer primed military surplus .308 147 grain FMJ rounds.

I guess the thrust of my question is, what exactly am I looking for? What constitutes a creased case neck, and is this an inconvenience or a danger?

[mete]

Could you define or photo what you mean ? A fluted chamber such as found in HK rifles leaves markes on the neck and shoulder These are black marks parallel to the case. Some autos will dent the neck as the case hits the receiver as it is ejected.Neither of these is a problem.

[Dave R]

I've never seen one, but I'm guessing from what you describe that the neck will be "pinched" and have a ridge flared out of it. That would prevent it from chambering.

Sounds like it would have to be really bad loading control to wind up with a crease like that, though.

[Mikul]

Welcome to the ever-frightening world of Indian surplus ammunition.

I bought some and quickly sent it back. What a mess. If 5-10% of the catridges were externally screwed up, you can be sure that another 5-10% are messed up internally. The powder charges are surely all over the place, as are the overall lengths (measure for yourself).

[happy old sailor]

mmmm, not good.

next move, disposal. i would not fire this stuff on a bet.

another of a whole bunch of reasons i reload.

[bjengs]

Thanks everyone.