Dented .223 casing.

Shoot it, you'll never know the difference.

If the bolt closes on a round... it's good to go.

Nothing wrong with it that I've ever experienced. Alot of the Federal/American eagle black box stuff I shot in 2014-2016 was very ugly, dented, dirty looking stuff but it all ran 100%. It's weird, I didn't like it at first and when opening bricks of that stuff for the first time I though it looked like it spilled out loose out of the back of a humvee and was exposed to the elements, etc... but I shot enough of it I kind of miss it. I still have a good supply of lake city stuff but it's winchester and is a lil prettier than the Federal XM193. I trust it 100%. I trust anything from the Lake City plant. Although it's not always marked LC, anything dented or rough looking is bound to be M193 spec or someone's reloads, no?

Generally speaking, like noted above if it will chamber you should be good to go, unless it is very obviously dented/creased

A guy loaded these five rounds of really dented brass.




After fire formed and annealed


Target at a hundred yards.



A have about two hundred such cases all resized and ready to load. I will be useing a H&R 223 Handi-Rifle to shoot mine out of. I bought this rifle just to shoot my damaged range brass through.
I will load twenty at a time along with twenty good pieces of brass and see how many times they can be reloaded until they fail.

You little dented 223 case is good to go as long as it fits in the chamber and the action closes.

Be a bit careful generalizing on the above good advice, though, as you wouldn't want to apply it to a .22 WMR cartridge.

Those little dents don't pose a problem. I would shoot them. I doubt you will set a round off by laying on it. You're safe there too.

I’ve seen several that were dented after being jammed in AR rifles that had spaced-out dents from the bolt lugs on their shoulders. All fired when tried just fine.
You’ll be good to go with those .

Stay safe.

Agree with the above. If the cartridge will chamber, shoot it. Brass is an amazing material. Its malleability is exactly why it is favored for cartridge cases.

Bulk packed ammo looks a lot like that...sometimes.

Perhaps the question is not whether they'll fit, or if they're malleable, but can dents reduce interior volume and raise pressure to an unsafe level?

As long as it is just a dent, not a split, and it chambers then go ahead and shoot it.

Speedo66 said:

Perhaps the question is not whether they'll fit, or if they're malleable, but can dents reduce interior volume and raise pressure to an unsafe level?

Click to expand...

The chamber area has not been reduced .....as soon as the primer ignites ...the brass is "ironed" to the chamber dimensions .... So there really is no reduction in volume....

^^ ... which is why users of QuickLoad are encouraged to measure the H20 capacity of a fired case to get a better measure of the case volume in that particular chamber.

As seen, a smooth dent will fireform right out.
I am reluctant to shoot with a sharp crease and a cut or gouge is right out.

OK....I agree in general with most of the above. But let's step back here...it isn't a good idea to ever carry fixed ammunition in a manner in which it may become deformed. I have shot many rounds....especially of old .30/06 which had small dents; they fire-form back to great shape. But it is a good idea to watch for a possible squib load in which the bullet is pushed too far back into the case neck as this can make for a very bad day at the range. I have a special box on top of one gun cabinet clearly labeled "Unsafe---DO NOT SHOOT!" into which I place loose rounds that I have not been willing to chance shooting for whatever reason and that I want my family to not use should I become incapacitated or deceased before dealing with them properly. Similarly, if I have a firearm I decide might be unsafe (for always or until repaired) I hang a tag from it describing the issue as soon as I can after discovering it. Just my way of being cautious.

Good point. Loose bullets are another ball game. Steel cased ammo is also another ball game.
Both should be given scrutiny...or called on account of oops. If you find one...might wanna' check the whole batch!

Seven or eight years ago, I had an issue with some bulk M193 ammo blowing primers in a factory AR chambered to accept both 223 and 5.56 ammo and did some extensive testing to determine the cause. A couple of interesting facts regarding case capacity came to light during that experiment: http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2258010&page=1

Having no reliable means of measuring chamber pressures, I was forced to rely only on visible "signs of pressure" on fired case weighted by muzzle velocity measured via chronograph for a "seat of the pants indication" of pressure. Based solely on these two parameters, a couple of observations regarding case capacity/pressure.

Based on years of reloading, I've noticed that the velocity of a given load is measurably lower in unfired brass than in brass which has been fired one or more times in a particular chamber. Expanding new brass to fit chamber seems to "absorb" some of the pressure, resulting in a slightly lower MV. I would therefore assume ironing out a dented case, even one that had been fired in that chamber, would have a similar effect on pressure.

As far as bullet setback, some "freebore" can actually reduce pressure and is often used to get maximum MV while holding breech pressures within safe limits. This fact was illustrated during my testing of the M193 ammo mentioned above.

The blown primers in that lot of ammo was resolved by setting the bullets back a few thousandths to provide a bit of "bullet jump" before engaging the rifling. Not sure at what point reduced capacity of the case would outweigh the benefits of freebore, however.

Incidentally, accuracy of that lot of ammo was improved by setting back the bullets, as it improved the base to ogive length, as well.

Regards,
hps