What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

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What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by in2anity » 12 Dec 2017, 8:37 pm

Got a new 308. Shot 100 rounds. First 50 were cast lead over Trail Boss, no issues, very accurate. Next 50 were 150gn hollow points. Load on the milder side (40.0gr 2206H). Again very accurate. BUT rounds were hard to chamber; I think they could have been seated a little deeper; they may have been touching the lands. 6 out of the second lot of 50 looked like this:

93851F30-2524-4341-9656-352DD317CDB8.jpeg
What are the dent lines from?
93851F30-2524-4341-9656-352DD317CDB8.jpeg (1.08 MiB) Viewed 4707 times


They kind of like indentations rather than scratches. Does anyone know what would cause this? And should I be worried?

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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Bills Shed » 12 Dec 2017, 8:47 pm

Do you have some junk in your chamber? Have a look with a torch. Being hard to chamber and indentations in the brass tells be there may be something in there. Just a guess.

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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Wombat » 12 Dec 2017, 8:49 pm

Could have been some lead shavings that are now gone.
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Mitch » 12 Dec 2017, 8:53 pm

Bit of cleaning patch in the chamber. Slowly working its way out.
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by marksman » 12 Dec 2017, 8:59 pm

as has been said crap in your chamber, clean it out :drinks:
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by darwindingo » 12 Dec 2017, 9:31 pm

PIC.JPG
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What's happening there ? looks odd :?
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by in2anity » 12 Dec 2017, 9:34 pm

darwindingo wrote:
PIC.JPG


What's happening there ? looks odd :?


They may have been belled (flared) in the past to take a cast pill.
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by in2anity » 12 Dec 2017, 9:38 pm

FWIW some of the jacketed ammo shaved a little when seating; it’s cheaper Aussie made flat base stuff, and I didn’t debur (I know, lazy!) Perhaps a chunk of that was in the chamber...
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Supaduke » 12 Dec 2017, 10:19 pm

If it's a new rifle the lines along the side may very well be from the magazine feed lips being a bit sharp. Watch where the lines start next time you feed a round. May need to take the sharp edges off the magazine.
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by COLLECTOR 1 » 12 Dec 2017, 11:30 pm

What sort of rifle...????...my guess it's something either in the chamber or a rough chamber that's doing the damage with the higher pressure rounds..(the 150gn hp's)

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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Mitch » 13 Dec 2017, 4:45 am

Is this first time loaded?

If not the ebd burr might be from brass that is too long and needs trimming
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Oldbloke » 13 Dec 2017, 5:08 am

marksman wrote:as has been said crap in your chamber, clean it out :drinks:


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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by in2anity » 13 Dec 2017, 7:34 am

Case length was 51.3mm, and like I said I skipped deburring/chamfer. Possibly second time loading; I don't really sort my brass (anymore :P ). It's a new tikka t3 thats had 200 rounds through it. As suggested I'm hoping it was just some crud in the chamber; proof will be in the pudding
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Tripod » 13 Dec 2017, 9:34 am

in2anity wrote:
darwindingo wrote:
PIC.JPG


What's happening there ? looks odd :?


They may have been belled (flared) in the past to take a cast pill.

If it still chambered with a flared neck then the chamber dimensions must be huge. :shock:
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by in2anity » 13 Dec 2017, 9:51 am

Tripod wrote:
in2anity wrote:
darwindingo wrote:
PIC.JPG


What's happening there ? looks odd :?


They may have been belled (flared) in the past to take a cast pill.

If it still chambered with a flared neck then the chamber dimensions must be huge. :shock:


It could explain why some were hard to chamber; I really should be crimping a tad to remove any bell, but i always operate under the premise "if it shoots and it's acceptably accurate, don't stress over the small stuff". In sayin that those dents in the photograph are a little concerning (hence the thread!)
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Gamerancher » 13 Dec 2017, 10:43 am

Dents in your brass indicate crap in the chamber, whether it is lead,copper,brass or even thread off a cleaning patch. A raised ridge in the brass with corresponding "stickyness" on extraction would indicate a problem in the chamber, i.e crater or gouge. As for chambering "belled"cases, you are basically using the taper in the chamber to "crimp" the brass. Brass is a lot softer than barrel steel. If the chamber is well defined there are quite sharp edges especially at the back of the chamber, could be where the shavings are coming from.
The sharper dents are from contacting a sharp edge, could be from rough chambering or extraction of rounds. Slow down, unless you are in a speed event and you don't care about your brass, ( or the zombie apocalypse has started and your life is in danger ) a little care will result in extended brass life.
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by Wm.Traynor » 13 Dec 2017, 10:57 am

I'm here to find out what made those marks :unknown: :)
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by in2anity » 13 Dec 2017, 12:12 pm

Thanks guys a lot of useful information here; brass is a little on the long side too; I'll bring it back to 51.0mm. There is a distinct possibility of cycling too fast also, perhaps gamerancher is right (after all, it was only 6 out of 100). I'll inspect the (since cleaned) chamber and shoot some more this W.E to see if I can reproduce it...
Last edited by in2anity on 13 Dec 2017, 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What happened to a few of my 308 brass?

Post by sungazer » 13 Dec 2017, 12:17 pm

A flared neck like that if in the chamber would make it impossible to extract the cartridge with the bolt. As other have said my bet is on crud in the chamber.
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