[steverjo]

Help!!
I was looking at the brass that was ejected from my new Stag AR-15. The rifle is chambered for 5.56.

I am shooting Federal XM193, 5.56mm. Head stamp is L C 0 8. This was new ammo. I shot about 150 rounds from my rifle and each of the expended brass has a similar sized dent about .75" up from the bottom. This happens in every instance.

What would cause this and is the brass safe to use for reloading? Here is a picture of the dents.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd73/steverjo/IMG_1291.jpg

Thanks for your help.

[Walkalong]

Those will load just fine. The dents will iron out on firing. If it was me, I would try to figure out what they are hitting and find a cure if possible, if nothing more than taking off a sharp edge or tweaking an extractor and or ejector.

We have a lot of AR shooters here, maybe they will have an easy cure. It is very common for semi autos to dent brass on ejection.

[rfwobbly]

It's for sure something with a sharp corner! Is there a case deflector on the outside of your gun?

[dagger dog]

Looking at the pics, those dents are almost punctures, made by a very sharp edge, I don't think I would trust those to "iron out" by fireforming. If the dents were more rounded I wouldn't see a problem with reuse.

What little AR experience I have I've seen this problem when switching uppers. Could this be caused by loose upper to lower pins?.

How about it you AR GURUS help this fellow out!

[rscalzo]

Standard ding from the brass deflector. Just fine for reloading.

[steverjo]

If these dents are caused by the brass deflector, can it be modified so that it won't happen? Most of the brass is ejected forward to about the 2 o'clock direction.

[rcmodel]

They won't hurt anything anyway. They will mostly iron out when resized, and be completely removed by fire-forming when you shoot them again.

Of course, when you shoot them again, you get new dents in a different place.

Look at the brass deflector on the side of the upper and you will find brass tracks where the cases flip around 180 degrees and hit the sharp edge of it.

rcmodel

[AgentAdam]

Maybe you could put a piece of 3M black foam tape on the shell reflector to soften the impact.

I put a piece of black electrical tape on my ar15 shell reflector and behind the ejection port on my Steyr Mannlicher Scout to prevent the little brass skid marks on the finish.

[45ACPUSER]

You want dents? See HK91 brass without the port buffer!

[jpwilly]

At 1:43 of THIS VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O-GkLTQqmk&feature=PlayList&p=C7669569C89A4491&playnext=1&index=8) you'll see why your brass is dented.