When Do You Inspect Cases?

I inspect brass everytime that I handle it. It is just an ongoing activity to search out and remove brass with issues.

I use cake pans a lot for reloading stuff and a few other pans you can lay a lot of cases on and then just roll them a little by tilting it different ways.

I watch for defects every time I pick up a case but once they are empty, de primed, flared or expanded, trimmed - I pick out a lot of bad ones during trimming, I'll dump a pile in the cake pan and just watch them roll back and forth. Any kind of "clinker" just sticks out like a sore thumb. I do this last thing before "putting any money" in them. Last check, then prime and powder they are ready.

I could not vote "both". Rough inspection at first and look for expantion ring in those that would expand. Then as I work them through the process I take the time to inspect each piece of brass. No split necks or defects on sizing. Primer pocket before and primer in all the way/ not upside down. Neck not split when expanded. Look over loaded round for shaving over/under crimping,collapsed shoulder etc. Roll finished rifle round to check concentricity .

I load only bottle necked rifle cases and I am constantly looking for problems at each step in the loading process and I don't try to salvage any case that is suspicious. Probably the most important step is the feel of the press handle when the case goes in and out of the sizing die and if the feel is not consistent with the other cases in the group it is rejected. Keep in mind that I anneal often and I expect every case shoulder and neck to be consistently soft and if the case is hard it is rejected.

1 Before wet tumbling, badly damaged ones, AL and steel ones I see..
I hand prime so I usually check the rest of it then (get the one with the stupid ledge in them here)
One nice thing about the wet tumble is the brass coated steel ones tend to turn interesting color (pinkish/orange)due to the citric acid, making them easy to spot without having to check with a magnet.

Bottle neck rifle gets more attention before hand priming
trim, check for possible case head separation issues etc.