Safe to Reload Cases from Fluted Chamber????

Beezer

Beezer

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I bought some once fired 300 Blackout brass from here in the EE and after closer inspection I noticed some unusual markings on the cases. It appears they were fired in a rifle that had a fluted chamber. I thought HK was the only company that used fluted chambers, but after further research, I found out that the Troy PAR also does.

I am just curious if these cases are safe to reload or did I waste some money on garbage cases? I plan to shoot them in a bolt gun.

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I full length sized a couple cases and the markings did not come out of the neck, just flattened down a bit.
 
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Honestly, if I had bought those and the seller didn't mention that they were like that I would ask for my money back.
Safe or not you should have been told about it.

Only you can inspect them close enough to determine if they are ok to load. I suspect they will be ok but you may only get a couple loads out of them before they start to split.
If it's just a little deformation they're probably fine but it it's a crease it will be a weak point.

Personally though, I'd ask for my money back.
 
Probably from one of those goofy PAR rifles. I would consider it garbage myself regardless of whether or not I could get a couple loads out of it.
 
You can reload it safely but I would ask for my money back if the seller didn't disclose the condition.
 
Unless you bought lots at once the shipping will cost too much to return. If you are buying used 1F brass you are not looking for great precision anyway. Serious precision shooters are pickier about their brass. Load and shoot. In my limited experience of reloading 3-4K rounds for non-precision bolt rifle shooting (right at or under 1 MOA usually) brass is kind of like a grocery bag that takes the shape of the space it’s in. When they start cracking, pitch the lot.
 
emerson said:
Unless you bought lots at once the shipping will cost too much to return. If you are buying used 1F brass you are not looking for great precision anyway. Serious precision shooters are pickier about their brass. Load and shoot. In my limited experience of reloading 3-4K rounds for non-precision bolt rifle shooting (right at or under 1 MOA usually) brass is kind of like a grocery bag that takes the shape of the space it’s in. When they start cracking, pitch the lot.
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What the F does buying 1F brass have to do with precision? So you're saying that when I bought 100 pieces of Lapua headstamped 1F brass for my 338 Lapua I wasn't looking for precision?

I wouldn't return it unless the seller was willing to pay the shipping, it's not worth enough to worry about getting it back if it's in that condition anyway.
You're missing the point though, he wasn't told the brass was in that condition when he paid for it.

Also, precision has nothing to do with it, regardless of whether it's just ammo you're making for plinking or ammo for precision the brass should be in good condition and free from defects if you want safe loads. Stretching it like that is going to reduce it's useful service life and therefore is not really the same as buying once fired brass which is what it was advertised as.

Brass is not like a grocery bag, it's just as important that it is in spec and in good condition as your choice of projectiles and primers, maybe more important because if it fails it could mean catastrophic failure of the firearm and potentially your face as well.
The only brass that I use with your mentality is 9mm and 45 auto pistol loads and even those get fully inspected every loading and any pieces with damage of any kind are tossed in the trash.
 
back in the day, with 223, I was told, do not reload.

A quick search got this tidbit, a quote from RCBS:

my thought would be to not use the brass for reloading. My
reasoning is that most often the rounds were fired in a H&K semi-auto or
full-auto firearm (or para-military look alike). The flutes in the
chamber are to ease the extraction forces of the hot case and lessen how
tight it adheres to the chamber wall, that puts stress on the brass at
each flute. That sort of stress is not seen in a normal chamber since
they don't have the flutes and to what extent that will effect case
performance and longevity are an unknown.

Case preparation will take time in that each case will need to be sized,
trimmed to length, primer pocket swaged (most likely with military
cases) and then fireformed to remove the flute dents. The amount of
reloads available after that is an unknown and if a case fails it would
most likely not be at the normal web-failure point, but rather at a
flute. Case failures and escaping gas at 50,000 psi is not a good thing
to have happen.

My suggestion would be to take a hammer, crush each case and sell as
scrap brass. Take that money and buy new 308 Winchester brass.

Shoot Straight!
Coy Getman
2299 Snake River Ave.
Lewiston, ID 83501
Sr. Technical Coordinator
(866) 286-7436 ext 5351
 
I'm not sure about bottle neck cases, but I have loaded a boat load of 9mm brass fired in an MP5 I got 20 years ago that is still going strong. I have loaded them many times and haven't noted any ill effects. Pressures in 9mm are lower and again not a bottle neck case.

Auggie D.
 
Ganderite said:
Do the marks go all the way to the case web? That is the area where a split could be a problem.

I would want my money back.

Ask Black Sheep if he has 300Blk brass.
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The marks go down about half-way on the case. It is more present near the upper part of the case and on the neck.

Unfortunately I don't remember who I bought them from, as I cleaned out my message boxes shortly after the deal was completed.


I will resize some more and see what they look like after that. I only planned on loading subsonic loads, so not as much pressure in those compared to supers sonic loads.
 
Beezer said:
The marks go down about half-way on the case. It is more present near the upper part of the case and on the neck.

Unfortunately I don't remember who I bought them from, as I cleaned out my message boxes shortly after the deal was completed.


I will resize some more and see what they look like after that. I only planned on loading subsonic loads, so not as much pressure in those compared to supers sonic loads.
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I have a batch of 50 300BLK brass that I ran a little hot during my playing with the cartridge that have slightly loose primer pockets that I now use for my subsonic bolt gun load testing. These might be good for the same.
What type of rifle are you planning to use them in (bolt or semi)?
 
@nitro-express:

Did you expect any other type of response from RCBS? Remember, they need to cover their a$$.


 
cr5 said:
I have a batch of 50 300BLK brass that I ran a little hot during my playing with the cartridge that have slightly loose primer pockets that I now use for my subsonic bolt gun load testing. These might be good for the same.
What type of rifle are you planning to use them in (bolt or semi)?
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I will be using them in a bolt gun.
 
cr5 said:
What the F does buying 1F brass have to do with precision? So you're saying that when I bought 100 pieces of Lapua headstamped 1F brass for my 338 Lapua I wasn't looking for precision?

I wouldn't return it unless the seller was willing to pay the shipping, it's not worth enough to worry about getting it back if it's in that condition anyway.
You're missing the point though, he wasn't told the brass was in that condition when he paid for it.

Also, precision has nothing to do with it, regardless of whether it's just ammo you're making for plinking or ammo for precision the brass should be in good condition and free from defects if you want safe loads. Stretching it like that is going to reduce it's useful service life and therefore is not really the same as buying once fired brass which is what it was advertised as.

Brass is not like a grocery bag, it's just as important that it is in spec and in good condition as your choice of projectiles and primers, maybe more important because if it fails it could mean catastrophic failure of the firearm and potentially your face as well.
The only brass that I use with your mentality is 9mm and 45 auto pistol loads and even those get fully inspected every loading and any pieces with damage of any kind are tossed in the trash.
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I get that he should have been told, but shipping costs many not work out in his favour to return for a refund. Brass fired by someone you don’t know in a rifle you don’t know before you buy it is not how to pursue precision reloading. Appreciate your lecture.
 
BlackSheepBrass said:
If you want to pay the shipping I will give you 100 pieces of my commercially converted stuff if you scrap that stuff. It isn't worth the risk IMHO.
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That is very kind of you BlackSheepBrass. I was thinking of buying some brass from you anyways to try. Will send you a PM.

I will take the other stuff to work tomorrow and crush it in the press.
 
Beezer said:
I will be using them in a bolt gun.
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If you really want to try to use them and they'll go through your sizing die and chamber, buy a can of Trailboss and some 150gr FMJ's. PM me when you're ready and I'll check to see what my powder charge was but I've got a really nice 150gr subsonic load for my bolt action. Should be good for trying to iron out those dents without too much pressure.

For anyone with a 300BLK semi, DO NOT try trailboss and 150's, they will not cycle your action, this is for bolt guns only.
 
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