HELP!! Tell Me I Didn't Destroy 300 .223 Cases

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Whats all this about brass splitting and blowing your face off or your gun up? When did we change from a system where the brass just held the bullet powder and primer and the chamber of the weapon contained the pressure to a system where the brass held all the pressure??

Remember they even at one time made plastic cased .223 ammo (along with several other calibers) just like they did with the almost all plastic activ shotgun shells.

I have had plenty of old steel surplus 7.62x54r split when fired because of crappy quality of the case but the gun was still what was holding the pressure.

As for drying in the oven even with no timer, why not go for a lower temp? I know some old ovens don't have functional timers, but surely they will set somewhere well below 400 deg.
 
Whats all this about brass splitting and blowing your face off or your gun up? When did we change from a system where the brass just held the bullet powder and primer and the chamber of the weapon contained the pressure to a system where the brass held all the pressure??
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You've obviously never had a case head separation or a blown primer.

I have and the results ain't pretty in the event of a case head separation. thank god I was wearing safety glasses... I still have that pair of pitted glasses hanging on the wall in the gun room.

And the "system" you refer too never existed. Once the gas blows the escaping gas will come right back in your face... right down the bolt raceways. Even those actions with "vent holes" will still vent some of the gas backwards.

I've seen the evidence of rifles blown to bits from brass cases letting go with the shooter being severely injured and in rare cases killed.

Do a google search and see what you find.
 
Whats all this about brass splitting and blowing your face off or your gun up? When did we change from a system where the brass just held the bullet powder and primer and the chamber of the weapon contained the pressure to a system where the brass held all the pressure??
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The brass works with the chamber to hold in that pressure. The front half or so expands and seals the chamber to keep the gases going forward, while the rear must stay tough to hold together. If it fails, the chamber can not keep the gases in. Bad things happen if it fails. If we anneal the case head, it will fail. The chambers weak point is in the rear where it opens up. The brass has to hold together there.
 
I was just discussing annealing brass with a machinist, tool and die man yesterday. Annealing and hardening brass is opposite steel. To anneal brass you heat then quench quickly. To harden brass you heat then cool slowly. By that information it sounds like your brass would be harder not softer. (Although we did not discuss temps. )
 
To anneal brass you heat then quench quickly. To harden brass you heat then cool slowly.
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Brass softens when heated to it's threashold temp and stays soft wheather cooled slowly or quickly.

Receiving pressure blow back in the face from a seperated casehead or high pressure gas escaping past the primer ain't much fun.
If the brass is discolored in any way, then it's scrap.
 
I'm more curious as to what your wife had to say about this.
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Yes. It helps my walnut media from getting so dirty and makes it last longer. It's probably not so much of an issue since I now buy crushed walnut media from the local Pet Smart for about 1/4 the price of "Walnut Tumbling Media" from the Bi-Mart or online.
 
Yes. It helps my walnut media from getting so dirty and makes it last longer. It's probably not so much of an issue since I now buy crushed walnut media from the local Pet Smart for about 1/4 the price of "Walnut Tumbling Media" from the Bi-Mart or online.
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You can actually buy crushed walnut media for less than $ .40 cents a pound? At Pet Smart no less?
 
You can actually buy crushed walnut media for less than $ .40 cents a pound? At Pet Smart no less?
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Yes you can, however it's not been treated with rouge like the "tumbling media" you buy from a shooting supply house and it works MUCH more slowly and creates three times as much dust.

I've tried all the pet shop stuff and the media that harbor freight sells. A tub of treated media will last years even for a heavy user like me. The expense is minor when you amortize it over 5-6yrs.... pennies a month.
 
Quote:
You can actually buy crushed walnut media for less than $ .40 cents a pound? At Pet Smart no less?

Yes you can, however it's not been treated with rouge like the "tumbling media" you buy from a shooting supply house and it works MUCH more slowly and creates three times as much dust.
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Better check the pricing again. Pet Smart Lizard Litter 10 lb. bag for $12.99 comes to $1.29 per lb.

I've never had a tumbler tub last more than a year, must be a much heavier user. I don't shoot as much here lately but a few years ago just cleaning the 45 cal brass I shot accounted to approx 10,000 rounds, this didn't count rifle brass and other pistol calibers, or range pu's.
 
I use a Nesco food dehydrator set at the highest temp for as long as needed to dry my brass, it never gets higher than 125 or so but it works well and can't damage the brass.
 
Well, fellers there's an awful lot of good advice here, but I'm compelled to add my 2 cents worth. I clean all my brass with cider vinegar. Here's the process.
Deprime all brass and clean the primer pocket.
Use a container of sufficient size for the quantity of brass being cleaned. (I use a 1/2 gallon jar with a lid. Don't use a metal container.) Put the brass in the container.
Pour in the cider vinegar enough to just cover the brass.
Agitate slightly and let sit for 5-15 minutes depending on how dirty the brass is.
Take a large bowl an put a colander in it and pour vinegar and brass into the colander.
Remove colander and rinse brass in fresh water.
Pour vinegar back in container for the next use. I have a mason jar about 2/3 full of vinegar that I've been using for the last three months. No sign of deterioration of cleaning efficiency.
Pour brass out on a large towel and make a bag by picking up all four corners shake it around a bit, lay the towel out on your bench or a table and let the brass air dry.
This works, it's cheap and it won't anneal your brass or upset your wife and it's very quiet. Vinegar is an acid so don't let it sit over night. 5-15 minutes has always worked for me.
Simple, no?
 
Yeah... I air dry only. I use the El-cheapo plastic 40 cal trays that come in American Eagle boxes (a buddy of mine is a LEO, and has given me three or four dozen of the trays to use.) They aren't solid plastic, rather "skeletonized."

I load them with brass just out of the cleaning solution and rinse, then set the trays over the big air-return register in the living room. The air flows through the trays, drying the brass in an hour or two.

+1 to what Krochus said about putting your crap in the oven; that's just a really bad idea. A buddy of mine baked the Brownell's Aluma-black spray finish onto a pistol frame in his wife's new Kenmore range. He never could get that smell/taste out.

KR
 
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