[kevinh]

I was doing an inspection of some cases today and came across this issue. Several .223 cases has what appears to be a brighter colored ring around the case where the web is. As I was suspicious of these cases I sorted them out. Upon further analogy, I found that all these cases (and only these cases) were all .223 Remington brass. They are all once fired (because I fired them myself). As I ran the tip of my finger nail across the area I noticed a difference in case uniformity. Not much, barely enough for me to detect. It wasn't a "bump", more like a step-off.

Now, is this normal for the Remington case? Or is this truly a sign of early case separation in this once fired case? Anybody else had this or similar issues?

Thanks in advance,
kevinh

 

[steve4102]

It's normal as long as the "ring" does not appear on the inside of the case. Use a bent paper clip to feel. If the inside is GTG then so is the outside.

BTW, all of my high powered rifle brass has a viable ring on the web after FL sizing.

 

[kevinh]

Thanks Steve...I inspected the cases AFTER full length sizing. I'll check the inside with a paper clip as you said.

kevinh

 

[312shooter]

Take a wire, paper clip, etc and bend it straight enough to reach down inside the case to the bottom. Bend a tiny 90 degree tip at the end as a feeler to scrape the inner casing where you see the ring. Feel inside the casing for the indent or "step off" as you call it with the wire. Stretched brass is pretty easy to determine doing this, but it is like everything else not 100% effective.

 

[kevinh]

Steve and 312...thanks for the advice. I went home this morning and did exactly as y'all said. Bent paper clip trick worked. I felt no indentations, ridges or other abnormalities. The only thing I found is that the texture of the web is rough while the rest of the case wall is smooth.

Thanks again for your help,
kevinh

 

[karlrudin]

Steve and 312...thanks for the advice. I went home this morning and did exactly as y'all said. Bent paper clip trick worked. I felt no indentations, ridges or other abnormalities. The only thing I found is that the texture of the web is rough while the rest of the case wall is smooth.

Thanks again for your help,
kevinh

I ran into the same thing after FULL Length resizing which I rarely do. A bright ring at the case web. I did the paper clip check and there was nothing inside. Since I tend to "over use" brass(average reload 7-8 times) I double checked by cutting a case length ways and get a visual check. NOTHING. Full length dies just seem to do this. My advice, keep track of your cases loading amount number.