Shooting brass until it cracks

[wayward]

Hi guys,

I've done the reading on inspecting brass for head separation and cracked necks and the rest.

I'm no expert though and I guess you misread or these things slip through.

My question is, can you just shoot brass until it cracks safely?

Do cracks start little and become problems if you miss them or do you need to fish the bad brass out before it's fired?

As long as there isn't a visible crack is it safe to use until it cracks or is that a bit stupid?

I'm not trying to be lazy, just to understand what's what.

Thanks.

[MeccaOz]

I'm no guru reloader what so ever mate, but I do reload and I have yet to have head separation ( I do look for it though ). And honestly if a case looks dogey at all to me I get rid of it. Usually i'll get a crack in the neck, but sometimes loose primer pockets will let me know too, and since I dont reload big bunches at a time very few if any get though the inspection part.

[Hatter]

As a general rule if a case cracks in the chamber it's usually not a big deal.

You can often just pull the case out with the bolt, or if it's stuck use a cleaning rod from the other end to assist by tapping it down at the same time. If it's really stuck or the head separates completely and the body is really in there a smith can cast some metal into the chamber to grip it and pull it out - it doesn't often require that though.

Usually it's not a safety concern.

Having said that though, it would definitely be very poor practice to just ignore brass condition and shoot until it obviously fails. Unless you're shooting scorching loads brass won't go from perfect to split in a single shot, there will be some signs of it starting to go.

If it's on the way you'd usually get some hint that it's happening.