Stainless pins in the case

[TransAmConvert]

Just did a batch of .45, 230 LRN mild loads. About halfway through I saw a case that had a stainless pin stuck in it from cleaning (I must've bought some of this brass). Then I was looking for it and noticed a few more, but it's likely I loaded a few before that with a pin or two in the case possibly. I'm thinking no big deal shoot 'em but maybe I'm not thinking of everything that could go wrong.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Probably not good for the rifling otherwise not likely to hurt anything, assuming it does exit the barrel. If it stays in the barrel and you shoot another round, that will very likely do worse damage to the bore.

 

[Ranger99]

JMHO-
I'd pull every suspect round.
Not even remotely worth taking
a chance with

 

[CQB45ACP]

How was the pin “stuck?” In the primer pocket? Flash hole?

You said you must’ve bought that brass. Did you? You don’t remember? Do you not use stainless pins? Who cleaned them with pins if you didn’t buy them and you didn’t clean them?

So you decapped, resized, expanded, primed, and only THEN saw the “stuck” pin as you were charging w/powder?

No offense intended, but you need to look at your cases earlier, more closely, and more frequently than you are doing.

I’d pull them all.

Merry Christmas

 

[lordpaxman]

Any chance you’d like to post a picture? I use SS pins and haven’t seen any pins stuck in .45 cases. They must be really long pins. Are you shooting a revolver or semi-auto? I can imagine a loose pin being more of a problem in a semi’s internals than a revolver, but not sure I’d see an issue in how a pin might make it’s way into a barrel and then be a safety issue.
Interesting thread, since I load a lot of 9mm on a progressive and the only time I really look in the case is after powder drop and before bullet seating.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Any chance you’d like to post a picture? I use SS pins and haven’t seen any pins stuck in .45 cases. They must be really long pins. Are you shooting a revolver or semi-auto? I can imagine a loose pin being more of a problem in a semi’s internals than a revolver, but not sure I’d see an issue in how a pin might make it’s way into a barrel and then be a safety issue.
Interesting thread, since I load a lot of 9mm on a progressive and the only time I really look in the case is after powder drop and before bullet seating.

I use SS pins & 45ACP as well and with most cleaning loads have a short pin or two stuck in a primer pocket or two.

But, never stuck “in a case” cause that would be a long pin indeed however certainly I’ll have them inside many cases until all completely dried, sorted, and waiting for priming at some future date.

 

[TransAmConvert]

It was a bit of an error likely situation. I was using small primer brass that I must've bought or traded for at some point and squirreled away because it was cleaned with pins, which I don't do. I load on a progressive so I didn't explicitly look in each case. The pins were slightly varying lengths actually, and I guess some longer ones were the right size to stick sideways in the .45 case. I found it when one perfectly lined up across the middle and I hit it with the decapping pin. After that I looked through the remaining brass and found a few more pins. It's 200 rounds so it's not the end of the world just ticks me off. I meticulously check all the 9 and 40 brass I load looking for bad cases but never did for .45 - lesson learned.

 

[Blue68f100]

In most cases a 400 series SS is used, which is mildly magnetic. Use a strong magnet to check for pins in loaded ammo. Test against the pins you found to confirm.

I've never had pins stick in 45cal cartridges. I have in the 223R till I refined my process, and none since.

 

[Y-T71]

I don't wet tumble so have zero experience with the process but I gotta think a stainless steel pin rattling down your barrel at a couple hundred MPH has the potential do some type of damage.

I'd pull them down and check for peace of mind.

 

[jmorris]

I was using small primer brass that I must've bought or traded for at some point and squirreled away because it was cleaned with pins, which I don't do. I load on a progressive so I didn't explicitly look in each case. The pins were slightly varying lengths actually, and I guess some longer ones were the right size to stick sideways in the .45 case.

My guess is the seller/trader noticed this too and found the easiest way to fix the problem. At least for them…. Buyer beware.

I don’t shoot steel cases in anything I care about, certainly wouldn’t shoot steel pins down the bore, if I could keep from it and we all can.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I don't wet tumble so have zero experience with the process but I gotta think a stainless steel pin rattling down your barrel at a couple hundred MPH has the potential do some type of damage.

I'd pull them down and check for peace of mind.

Yes, peace of mind! I think OP should do that for OUR collective peace of mind even if not his

 

[N555]

Pins like to stick inside the case when you run really dirty cleaning solution.

 

[Englishmn]

You can check by laying down rounds on a table and use one of the 1" cube neodymium magnets and see if any cases roll.
If you move the magnet too fast they all will roll.
I usually toss a magnet in the brass when I'm rolling brass in a towel to help speed up drying. Always picks up one or more pins.

 

[bfalcon00]

I have had that happen occasionally in 45 ACP cases. Maybe 1 in 5000. I inspect every case after cleaning for cracks, primer size, ect. So I catch them before loading.

 

[Tilos]

I wet tumble with pins and have occasionally had pins stuck in (pistol) brass.
What I do now...
After the cases are completely dry, I put them in my vibratory tumbler without ANY media.
The brass is tossed around way more violently with NO media, and any remaining pins are shaken loose.
That is something simple to do, doesn't take long, and most pistol cases end up standing on end/rim down for an easy visual scan for pins.
try it,
jmo,
.

 

[kalielkslayer]

I’ve had exactly 3 SS pins stuck in primer pockets out of 1,000s of pieces of brass I’ve cleaned.

to be frank and accurate, I should have said 10s of thousands.

 

[marchboom]

I have loaded tens of thousands of rounds and have never had a problem with pins sticking in the cases. Rifle cases, pistol cases, large and small primer pockets. different size flash holes, never a problem.

BTW, I have never used pins to clean my brass. Sure, the brass comes out looking great but at what expense? I don't have the time to look at each case after cleaning to search for stuck pins. And what if you miss one?

My cleaning method makes my brass look just fine and without the problems of stuck pins. If I NEED brass to look even more shiny then I'll buy new brass.

 

[Highland Lofts]

Take a hundred people who wet tumbler and you will get a hundred different stories on how they wet tumble.
I have my system that works for me and I will stick with it until I find a better way.
I've wet tumbled tens of thousands of rifle & pistol cases with the SSpins and never had one get stuck in a flash hole

I have had them cling on the inside of the cases while they were still wet. More do on rifle brass.

Once I started wet tumbling I retired my two dry tumblers.

I tumble full loads of cases and after tumbling I hang the brass on my drying racks that I made up. That way I get an actual count of my clean brass and my brass is 100% dry.
It also gives me one more step to inspect my brass.

If you remove the primers before tumbling they dry faster.

 

[MWC1974]

@Highland Lofts i like your drying racks. Those look like long nails? I might have to make a few, any tips?

 

[DukeConnor]

I'm sure I launched a few over the years

 

[Highland Lofts]

MWC
Depending upon how much you tumble depends on the size of drying racks you want to make.
I wet tumble a lot of brass so I have a lot of the drying racks for high volume tumbling.
Most of my racks hold 250 cases.
Most of the 9mm, 40cal, 45acp and 223 I sold by the 1,000 . So four racks made up one 1,000 cases. Then I have 100 and 200 case racks as well.
If you want to make some up we can start a thread on making them .

 

[MWC1974]

@Highland Lofts thanks! I prep about 250-300 pistol at a time and probably 50 rifle at a time. If you think a separate thread on how to make those drying racks would benefit others, I’m all for it.

 

[TransAmConvert]

Well for $12 I got a very strong magnet and ran it over the loaded rounds. I had made a dummy with a pin intentionally in it to gauge the magnet, and confirmed my new magnet got a strong response to my dummy - it would roll along an follow the magnet very obviously. I was able to locate one loaded round with a pin inside, it had a strong response to the magnet. I pulled down 6 others that had a weak response, but nothing was inside. These cases were slightly magnetic for whatever reason and the magnet would make them twitch on a flat surface. I'm confident now that no pins remain and learned a thing or two in the process.