Case heads dinged/dented

[Wiz5347]

Hey everyone,

So just received an M1 this week and was able to get out this weekend to shoot it. I was shooting Greek surplus ammo HXP.

After cleaning the cases, I noticed all cases had dings, dents or bends on the case head from the extractor. The dents are easily noticable but the bends on rim when looking from the side is pretty slight, but noticable when you roll the case.

Here's a not so good picture of the impressions left by the extractor though the camera flash catches the new angles rather well.



Will these cases be safe to reload? Any concerns of the case head being weakened?

Is the dent/ding normal for semi auto's?

Thanks for the help.

Chris

 

[popper]

Normal. Problem is getting them into the shell holder. You can use a small hammer to bend them back. Use a sharpened paper clip to check for head separation on the inside of the case, close to the head.

 

[rcmodel]

I wouldn't call it normal at all.
I have about 20 pounds of old GI 30-06 M1 brass, and none of it looks like that.

The first thing I would suggest is to dissemble the bolt completely and clean all the old cosmolene & crap out it.

The extractor may not be able to get itself out of the way to snap over the rim because the plunger tunnel is packed full of cosmolene.

rc

 

[cfullgraf]

M1s tend to be hard on cases.

But, as rcmodel said, the bolt may need to be thoroughly cleaned in the extractor area and/or the springs or extractor need replacing.

 

[rg1]

Garands are hard on brass. I use a smooth knife shaped file to remove any dings and burrs left by the extractor or dings from the ejection. Like already mentioned clean and polish the ejector.

 

[Wiz5347]

I'll take another look at the bolt tomorrow. I detail stripped the whole rifle including the bolt when I received it to remove remove any old grease and oil and to relube everything.

Of all the springs, the extractor spring seemed the worst for wear but still serviceable (perhaps not).

Hopefully another round of cleaning the bolt or new spring may get my brass mark free. And if not, I'll just pay careful attention to the structural integrity of the brass to determine if it's good to reload.

Thanks for the help.

 

[cfullgraf]

Check around the receiver looking for brass marks where the cases have hit the receiver and/or the op rod. It might give an indication of what might be happening.

Generally, dinged bases are not an issue except where the case will not fit the shell holder. If it is bad, a little clean up with a file will solve the issue.