Q: .223 brass (line on base)

[mongoose33]

I bought out a guy who was retiring from reloading, and part of his stash included 800+ .223 cases.

Some of them have been decapped and resized, and they have a peculiar ridge or line on the base of the case, as shown on the left case in the pic. It almost makes some of the cases look like belted cases; I can feel the ridge with my fingernail.

The right case is one that I cut open to see if there was any indication what was going on inside the case.

Is this simply a bad resizing job (not enough lube, e.g.?). Or something endemic to a particular gun? (remember, I didn't shoot these, just working on prepping them). Or is something else going on?

 

[Walkalong]

Pic doesn't work for me.

 

[pvthouse]

Do you know if these brass were at some point military surplus? The pic doesn't work for me but I know that the m249 saw shoots the 5.56/223, the same round as the m4. After every time on the range we do a police call and scrounge up all brass. And I have noticed that brass from the belted ammo used in the saw normally has lines from where the belting flexs and rubs the casing. Just my .02

 

[Canuck-IL]

It can also be the stress line from overloaded or too often used cases. Make a small hook in the end of a paperclip and run it down inside the case. If you can snag the tip around the line area, the case should be tossed. Yuou can often see the interior line with a small penlight through the flash hole.
/Bryan

 

[NCsmitty]

It's possible some of the cases have been reloaded a few times and are showing a ring around the base from stretching and resizing. Some may eventually suffer a case head separation, so careful culling of the brass may be prudent at this point.
Your picture didn't come through, so I'm guessing that's what is going on.



NCsmitty

 

[mongoose33]

The host is down so the pic doesn't show up. It went down right after I posted it.

I just got off the phone w/ the guy I bought the brass from (I'd lost his number--he called me).

He says it's a resizing line from using small-base dies. I may shoot a few with light loads, see if it'll correct itself upon resizing, but it was as much a question of what causes stuff like this.

Thanks for the [pic-less] attempts at explanation!

 

[gearheadpyro]

Pic works for me.

Looks like just what he said, the bottom of where the sizing die reached. I get a similar line when I full length size some of my .308's that have been shot through my loose Rem Factory Chamber.

 

[W.E.G.]

Does it pass muster in a case gage?

You DO have case gage, don't you?

 

[mongoose33]

Does it pass muster in a case gage?

You DO have case gage, don't you?

Yep--it's called the chamber of the weapon I'm shooting it through.

Seriously, that's what I use. I pull the barrel of the handguns (Springfield XDs) and use that as a case gage. And for the M4s, the chamber there, too.

 

[Steve in PA]

The line is more than likely a mark left by the resizing die.

 

[Walkalong]

Pic works now. My .222 Mag cases look like that. They have 6 or 7 firings on them. A tighter chamber and the brass would not look like that. It's the case walls expanding to fill the chamber where the solid head can't. Either that or a mark from the sizer, but it is pretty far down for that.

 

[rcmodel]

I agree it looks like a line left from over-sizing in a Small Base die.

There is no stretch ring in the photo of the sectioned case, so it is not caused by repeated firing/sizing cycles.

It should correct itself with the first firing and will not return if you don't use an unneeded small base sizing die.

rc

 

[Kentucky_Rifleman]

There is no stretch ring in the split case AND the "belt" is clearly not within the case but on the solid head itself.

It's from sizing, and shouldn't affect the brass or give you any problems.

KR

 

[medalguy]

Yep, it's from using small base dies on milsurp brass I'll bet. I used the small base dies a few times when reloading 5.56 milsurp brass and got the very same appearance, then decided it was overworking my brass and I quit using those dies and went to regular dies. I don't have the lines any more.

Look at the headstamp and see if the cases are milsurp. Probably are.
These are fine to use but the brass has been overworked a bit so you won't get as many reloadings from it.