Damaged cases

[armoredman]

As I was depriming and resizing the 7.62x39mm cases I was able to find after shooting them out of my Yugo SKS, I surveyed the damage. Several cases were dented, some case mouths partially crushed, all in all, not a rifle kind to brass...which led to the wildest scene in my imagination...

(Early 1940s, Soviet Russia)
"Comrade Simonov?"
"Da, Tovarisch?"
"You know we are designing your wonderful new self loading rifle to beat the filthy Nazis back from the Motherland, da?"
"Da, go on."
"Well, Comrade, do you think we should change the ejection system, as it damages ejected shells."
"Why, comrade?"
"Well, Comrade Simonov, maybe, some 60 or so years from now, some decadent American capitalist running dog will have one of your rifles, and he will try to reload brass cases for it, even though good Soviets use steel. Then he will curse your name for making an ejection system that batters up brass pretty badly. What do you think, comrade?"
"Comrade, you've been in the vodka again."
"Da, that is true..."

 

[WayneConrad]

Glad I'm not the only one that noticed!

There's just one thing I want to know. How did you ever find your brass so you could reload it?

 

[armoredman]

I shoot on a wide range by myself early in the morning...slanted sun shows the glint of brass, and plenty of space to find them! Even so, I still lose 1 in 10, not good. Gonna have to get more, and build a brass catcher.

 

[WayneConrad]

Good luck with your brass catcher. I have two brands of commercial brass catcher I have tried with the SKS, without success. One, a custom molded unit, tends deflect the brass back into the ejection port, causing jams. I forget what the trouble was with the other one--I think it was a generic unit that doesn't mount to the rifle well. With a home-built unit, you should be able monkey with it until you get a good solution. Then maybe you'll have a product!

Not being willing to shoot Wolf, and shooting at a range with too much brass on the ground to be able to find my brass (and not having found a reliable brass catcher) is one of the reasons why I no longer shoot my SKS. It's going up for sale one of these days.

 

[armoredman]

I plan on using a unit made from wood and a sheet, mount right next to me like a screen, brass hits and falls straight down...according to theory.
Wolf ammo is for emergencies, nothing else.

 

[gandog56]

AK's are worse than SKS's!

 

[armoredman]

That's next week...