New to reloading weird marks on brass

[dc9mm]

New to reloading rifle. Just starting reloading 223 rem. Using Varget,CCI 400 small primers and a few types and weights of bullets. Hornady bullets 60 Vmax, 62 fmj bt and 68 hpbt match.
So shot about 200 rounds today. After tumbling brass and taking a close look at brass of 200 I got 5 that had this mark across primer. Any idea what that could be? Pictures below

First picture is what almost all the brass looked like, look ok to me?
https://pbase.com/dc9mm/image/169017372

second picture with weird mark
https://pbase.com/dc9mm/image/169017373

third picture another weird marked one
https://pbase.com/dc9mm/image/169017374

 

[bersaguy]

If I were to guess, I'd say that's the bolt smacking the end of the spent cartridge while cycling the new round.

 

[tactikel]

To me it looks like the the bolt hit a not fully seated primer in the process of stripping a round out of the
magazine. Be sure to inspect loaded rounds to insure primers are flush or ideally slightly under.
If your brass had crimped primers it is very hard to fully seat primers unless you ream the pockets.

 

[Random 8]

If the mark was made before firing, it would likely be swaged flat during firing. I had a whole lot of match ammo marred on the primer by a foreign object on my priming ram, they all looked normal after firing.

My guess is a foreign object on your bolt face. Excess lube, a shard of brass, dirt, grit, plastic, etc embossing the primer as the round is fired. Clean the action thoroughly, check for any unusual wear, galling, sheared pins, irregularities on the bolt face, etc.

 

[dc9mm]

ok that makes sense. Yes Iam reloading Federal American Eagle ammo that I bought new and shot and the primers were crimped in there. . I cleaned out the primer pockets by hand. it was a big pain in the a$%. I might not have gotten them all cleaned out enough. So I thought the primers were seated in enough but had a few that went in real hard. Iam going to buy new unprimed brass soon enough to avoid such a pita in cleaning out primer pocket. Thanks for your thoughts . Much appreciated.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Save some money and buy a primer pocket swagger. I’ve been using a RCBS swagger for over 25 years.

 

[dc9mm]

Save some money and buy a primer pocket swagger. I’ve been using a RCBS swagger for over 25 years.

I would if I planned to get more crimped in primers brass. Iam just using this American eagle brass and have most of it cleaned out already. Sure the swagger is better but since I wont use any new crimped brass I see why bother. At least I have a good idea why a few had that mark on primer.

Thanks again for all who answered.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

5.56 brass is easy to come by. Most often you can get free 5.56 brass from friends or range pickups. My favorite brass to load is Lake City. It’s all crimped and needs to be swagged. My swagger has saved me a lot of time and money.
The only time I buy new factory brass is when I load for my 223 bolt guns.

 

[sequins]

Considering the case dimensions for .223 and 5.56 are identical I don't see any reason not to swage range pickup .223/5.56x44 and just load to .223 pressures for any rifle in either caliber. Obviously loaded factory 5.56x45 will be overpressure for a .223 barrel but if you load to .223 pressure then that's what it is.

Swager is like $100 so not a huge investment considering the prevalence of free, but crimped, brass relative to the cost of new brass. I do agree factory new brass that you fully process will be better for maximum precision work. For plinking though I love taking advantage of range brass and would hate for doing so to be inconvenient (the screw-driver style uniformers do not look appealing to me- I decided to cut straight to the swager so as to amortize the cost and feel good about the purchase sooner)

 

[Walkalong]

Considering the case dimensions for .223 and 5.56 are identical I don't see any reason not to swage range pickup .223/5.56x44 and just load to .223 pressures for any rifle in either caliber.

That is what a lot of folks do. They don't sell 5.56 dies. Some powder company PDfs have 5.56 data (Slightly higher pressure), but as handloaders we can stop at .223 pressures for our .223 guns.

Weird looking marks.

 

[Englishmn]

I would guess a bit of rim got pulled off by extractor and caught between bolt and case head.