Would you reuse brass that has pressure signs?

longarm21

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This may be a dumb question, but if I have a brass casing that has a faint ejector mark on the rim, should I throw it away? I see no other signs of pressure on the casing.
 
pictures? what caliber?

if it's something common i would toss it otherwise if it's something harder to come by i might make it a light load only case.

i have some winchester brass for my 500mag that's seen 10+ reloads that i now use for light loads only.
 
post some pics, it might help us help you a bit better. a slight shiny spot from the ejector, yup ill, size insepct use, brass flow around the ejector, toss it!
 
If the primer pockets are still tight, I keep using it.

X2
Loose primer pockets call for the case to be culled. This doesn't mean that the primer rattles around inside the primer pocket, but when the primer seats without resistance, the case has to go. Sometimes you'll get an extra firing out of a case, if you switch to CCI primers which seem to be a hair larger than the competitions'.
 
I'm new to reloading. Can someone please explain to me how an ejector mark on the rim would affect the primer pocket? Almost all of my brass from my semi autos has ejector marks on the rim. Thanks.
 
First of all is the brass from a rifle or handgun? Second, is it from your gun or range pickups? If it's from your gun you need to determine why the ejector is hitting the brass hard enough to mark it. You may need to go with a stiffer recoil spring or lighter load to lessen the impact of the case on the ejector.

Generally speaking the extractor or ejector are not going to affect the structural integrity of a brass case. However, they may deform the case head enough to give you chambering problems. A simple way to determine whether they have deformed the case head is to buy a cartridge headspace gauge. If the case doesn't drop freely and fully into the gauge then it's dimensions are out of spec and it should probably be scrapped as it's going to give you chambering problems. If it's a handgun a cheaper (but slightly less precise) way to do this is to take the barrel out of the gun & drop the cases into the barrel. If case dimensions are in spec the rear of the case will line up with the rear of the barrel. Drop in a brand new case to see where it lines up & you'll know what I'm talking about.

As others have noted, if the primer pocket is loose the case is scrap. However, if the pocket is snug and the case chambers fully in a headspace gauge then the case should be good to go.
 
Its from my rifle when I was pressure testing loads, the high end showed extractor marks on the first shot. I backed off, and didn't continue to press my luck but now I'm going to clean my batch of brass, and I'm deciding if I should chuck that casing. Its .308 Lapua brass.
 
x3 on the primer pockets being tight .

normally with high pressure it is the primer pocket that loosens up first .
it may be a b*tch to resize cases that have seen high pressure , but these cases 9 times out of ten also have loose pockets . so unless it is a some super rare and expensive brass , I toss them .
 
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