ngnrd
Member
I'm just getting into reloading and I have some questions about some of my brass. I have been saving my empties for a while in anticipation that one day I would start loading my own. At this point I have about 100 Remington and Federal cases, along with a few Winchester. I got a tumbler for Christmas, so I thought I would go ahead and clean 'em all up and start prepping for reloading.
But, as I was wiping off the corn cob dust and giving each of them a good inspection, I found a couple of things I wasn't expecting. (Bear in mind that these are all factory loads fired in my Remington 700, mostly premium varieties.) There are about a half dozen that (I think) show signs of overpressure. The primers have cratered and the brass has flowed into the ejector hole. I've only found these particular issues on the Federal cases, not on the Rem or Win cases.
Also, about a third of each of the brands have bulges in the bodies near the heads. Most of these bulges are about a third to halfway around the cases, but some are all the way around. Is this a sign of a "loose" chamber?
So, the questions...
Is there something wrong with my rifle that I should get checked out?
And, are these shells safe to reload, or should they be culled?
I hope the pictures post OK...
EDIT: Not that it should make any difference, but this is a .270 WIN (in case somebody can't see the pics).
But, as I was wiping off the corn cob dust and giving each of them a good inspection, I found a couple of things I wasn't expecting. (Bear in mind that these are all factory loads fired in my Remington 700, mostly premium varieties.) There are about a half dozen that (I think) show signs of overpressure. The primers have cratered and the brass has flowed into the ejector hole. I've only found these particular issues on the Federal cases, not on the Rem or Win cases.
Also, about a third of each of the brands have bulges in the bodies near the heads. Most of these bulges are about a third to halfway around the cases, but some are all the way around. Is this a sign of a "loose" chamber?
So, the questions...
Is there something wrong with my rifle that I should get checked out?
And, are these shells safe to reload, or should they be culled?
I hope the pictures post OK...
EDIT: Not that it should make any difference, but this is a .270 WIN (in case somebody can't see the pics).
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