Dented Brass

C120

Six Pointer
This is the first time I have had to deal with this. I emptied a can of Hornady OneShot Lube and instead of opening another can of OneShot I picked a can of Lyman spray lube from my shelf. Apparently I applied too much lube to my cases (7mm-08) and during the resizing created some dents in the cases, mostly on the shoulders. This was once fired brass (not fired from my rifle). Can I reload these cases to fire form the brass and will this get rid of the dings? Thanks.
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
Should be good to go loading it but make sure to check the brass after firing for cracking at the dent; lots of variables and possibilities depending on where the dent is located and how big it is. It usually does pull the dent out.
 

41magfan

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
^^^^ What he said ^^^^

Smooth dents and dings tend to disappear upon firing but any displacement that amounts to a crease may not.
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Above statements are correct. Normal hydraulic denting is due to using too much lube, particularly on the shoulder and pushes back to form upon firing again. Wouldn't want to do that every loading, but is a common thing.
 

LanceR

Six Pointer
Contributor
As has been said, the dents will iron right out and I seriously doubt you'll have a cracks. Cracks are more common towards the head of the cartridge where there is a curved web that blends from the inside of the head to the sidewall. Those cracks run around the rim of the case and are most often found in brass that has been loaded several times, has been resized to minimum dimensions (as some semi-auto rifles like) or has been fired in chambers that have excessive head space.

At any rate, it is almost impossible to see cracks before they break all the way through to the outer wall of the case. But, if you reload your brass a lot you can make a couple of simple tools to find the cracks before that happens. Cut two lengths of coat hanger wire and flatten one end of each nto a sharp edge. Bend the flattened edge of each wire over with one flat edge parallel to the wire and one perpendicular to the wire. Keep the bends short.

Now you can use the tool that has the flat perpendicular to the shaft to check to for head web cracks and the one with the parallel flat to check for cracks in the shoulder and side wall. When you find your first crack you might want to save it so you can familiarize yourself with how it feels.

Personally, I use Imperial sizing wax.


Lance
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
^ Yep, I learned the wire trick years ago but forget from whom/where. I use spray lube and a 1 gallon zip lock bag and haven't had this problem since.
 

C120

Six Pointer
Thanks for the replies. I'm going to reload the dented cases today and take them to work with me tomorrow :).
 

C120

Six Pointer
I loaded with 43.0 grains of RL17 behind some Hornady SST 139s that I've never been able to get to shoot well. Dents completely gone and dog gone if that load with Winchester primers didn't shoot real well with my Tikka T3. Good day at the range.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The only thing about dented brass and this would have to be an extreme case is it will cause pressures to be higher. I have always just fired them out unless it was something that was extremely bad.
 
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