Do you 100% check 223 brass with paperclip?

[HankC]

Do you guys do paperclip check on 223 brass? I know folks do that on 308 and other high power large caliber brass but 223 is a little hard to do! Is it needed for 223? Or the brass mouse would split long before case separation concern!

 

[jwrowland77]

I do it on all my rifle cartridges.


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[MutinousDoug]

I agree with jw; All my rifle cartridges are inspected before being reloaded. The .223 operates at 55-60kpsi, same as a .308. Cases stretch and wear out. They also fatigue and crack.
You can't count on the case "mouse" splitting before case head separation. There are different reasons for these two types of case failure.

 

[119er]

I never did mine until the front half of a 5.56 case was lodged in my AR chamber. This occurred on the first loading of once fired brass. I fired the remaining batch of 2000 rds over time and I tossed several hundred for the detectable ring upon inspection. I decided not to take chances with them anymore.

I now keep broken shell extractors in the range bag, but expect not to have to use them. I tried chambering another round into the broken case to pull it out with no luck. After I got it home and it had cooled, it fell right out when I opened the action.

 

[rg1]

I inspect every case every time it's loaded. I use the paperclip method, also use an otoscope to shine light into the primer flash hole and look into the case mouth. If I'm not sure with the bent sharpened wire I use a light shined into the flash hole to see the case walls. Any stretch mark is visible as a dark ring. I've also tried a pen light shined into the case mouth. I haven't tried the RCBS Case Master tool:https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!l=RC&i=87310 but this tool seems like the best way to inspect for case separation. The otoscope is used to look inside the ear and a pocket version isn't expensive. http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Mom-Otoscopes-Generation-Stainless/dp/B000J1FT4W

 

[Walkalong]

The .223 is a bottlenecked case just like .308 etc, so it has the same potential to fail. I don't find it any harder than a larger case to check, and yes, I check every one every time.

 

[joem1945]

I don't check them. I have broken shell extractors in my range bags. Most times I get neck splits, enlarged rims or loose primer pockets, then they got to the scrap can.

 

[stoky]

I check each and every one.
And once you use a stuck case extractor, you will to.

 

[Metal God]

And once you use a stuck case extractor, you will to.

I feel this is likely very true . I how ever do not check every case every time . Although not the best way , I check the lots of brass by checking a percentage . I generally have 200 to 500 case lots I load . I will load and shoot the whole lot then upon case prep the next time I check several with a paper clip . If none show signs I'll load the whole lot . FWIW I use competition shell holders and only bump my shoulders back .002 on bolt guns and .003 on semi auto's . So I'm pretty confident I'm not getting much stretch if any in my case bodies .

I will add that the more firings the cases have the more I'll check . I also anneal after 4th or 5th firing as well

 

[Walkalong]

If you are prepping range brass or "once fired" brass you absolutely should check each one.

Once it has passed the test and has been loaded and fired by you, and you are not pushing the shoulder back too far causing undue stretching, then it isn't as critical, but I still like to do it.

I don't check them.

Many people don't, but I for one don't want case head separations in my rifle, and I don't care how many people have had them with no perceived damage to the gun and themselves. Just me.

 

[Metal God]

I do buy once fire brass from my local range . It's all once fired LC brass and I can confirm this by having to remove the primer crimp . I do how ever collect a bunch of range brass any chance I get . I rarely load it though because of all the LC I have .

I believe I need to rethink how I go about checking my brass especially the range pick up stuff . Most of it is just tossed in a bucket for SHTF type of thing but I did just prep about 6 or 7 hundred mixed cases from that lot to run some mixed brass test . I want to see how much mixing brass effects velocities and pressures . I checked quite a few of them but in reality the fact they were shot from any number of firearms an untold amount of times . I really should go back through them and check that entire lot .

I have had case head cracking/separation before . I've notice that you can see it about to happen do to the ring that starts to appear . I agian should rethink this method of looking for issues because once you see these rings . The case has been stretched way to much the last time you fired it .



Anyways thanks for the reminder , it's never bad to learn what you already know again .

 

[Walkalong]

Yep, those are toast.

 

[HankC]

OK. You convinced me! It is needed on shouldered brass, how about 300 BLK? There isn't much shoulder on 300 BLK!

 

[Walkalong]

It is a bottle necked cartridge and subject to the same potential case stretching as .223.

So yes.

 

[Metal God]

how about 300 BLK?

It goes for any cartridge that head spaces off the shoulder If you have excessive head clearance .

Think of it this way . When the firing pin hits the primer it pushes the cases fully forward until the case shoulder stops on the chamber shoulder ( non belted rimless bottle neck cartridges ). If your cases is sized from datum to shoulder really short . When the case is pushed forward it will leave a gap between the head and the bolt face of that same distance-ish resulting in excessive head clearance . Now when the case expands it will stick to the chambers wall leaving that space between the head and bolt face . The resulting pressure in the case will force the head of the case back up against the bolt face . But wait how can this be if the case body it firmly stuck to the chamber walls ? Well it forces the case to actually stretch rather the slide back . This stretching happens at the web of the cases where the case wall start to become thinner then they are closer to the head .

If you continue to size your cases smaller then needed . They well continue to stretch in that area resulting in the wall getting thinner and thinner after each firing . This thinning is what you can feel when sliding a sharp pick inside the cases . This thinning of the case wall will result in case head separation like the pic I posted above .

As for those cases . Sadly those were in fact my cases that I fired and reloaded 3 times . That was a result of me following the die instructions . I screwed the die down until it touched the standard shell holder then gave it a 1/4 to 1/2 turn more . That resulted in my cases being sized .009 shorter from head to datum then needed . That ended up giving me excessive head clearance resulting in the stretching I explained above . In my defense those were my first reloads and I was loading strictly per instructions and manuals . I saved a few of those cases to remind me what not to do

Here are those cases next to other cases that had been sized correctly and reloaded 8 times and annealed once

 

[HankC]

Thanks. Good info!

 

[Metal God]

Help me to understand this. When you gave it a 1/4-1/2 turn more, the result is a firm stop on the shell holder, right? how would this give a shorter brass?

Sorry should have been more clear . Shorter brass then my chamber needed . Meaning in this case and "my" comparator . The ideal case sized head to datum is 1.619" but when using my standard Redding FL die and a standard shell holder making hard contact . The cases were sized to 1.611 to 1.610 leaving the .009 space between the head of the case and the bolt face when fired . Understand that's not the actual measurements but rather what my Hornady head space comparators measured them at . The real measurements are about .010 larger if I recall correctly .