AKA - Can I load and shoot dented cases?

Once upon a time there were some badly dented 223 cases.....they were not happy cases. :(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/Dented223Cases2.jpg

A friendly shooter (also a brass scrounge) felt sorry for the dented cases and took them in to give them a new lease on life. Could they be salvaged. :confused:

He cleaned them and ran them through a FL size die and loaded them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/Loadeddentedcases.jpg

......they chambered in his gun and they looked like they would be OK so he took them outside and shot them :rolleyes: ........all three shots went into a knot hole at 60 yards! When he inspected them he found the dents were gone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/JustFiredDentedCases2.jpg

Another full length resize and polishing and all was well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/ResizedFiredDentedCases.jpg

.........and the brass lived happily everafter. :D

Marvelous things, rifle cases! :D

They look happy in their new home.

Great story!
Thanks,
Greg

Gotta like happy endings!

Well, they may live happily, but their "ever after" is likely to be pretty short.

If I were you, I'd watch those cases with a critical eye; you may see stress fracture lines appear where the dents were - and they might appear soon. Using cases dented that badly might be justifiable if the cases are rare, really expensive or a genuine booger to form. But if they're a common and easily avaliable cartridge, it's penny wise and pound foolish to risk using them. That's my opinion; yours has a right to vary.

I might have done the same as flashole "depending on the case". Good brass is a terrible thing to waste in "my" opinion. I think of the case as a "gasket"! Firearm is the "engine". Re-build that engine as long as you can.

Shoot straight, shoot cheap.

Cheezywan

It's an affliction. I have literally BUCKETS full of .45ACP brass, but I still spend about as much time searching for brass from my Commander as I do shooting. I just can't seem to bring myself to leave brass laying.

Use them and enjoy shooting.

Don

I agree with Rocky, I'd not worry much about those with small dents near the shoulder but that one with the huge dent near the base would scare me.

First, would not have salvaged cases with dents that deep and would have left those cases on the ground after the first reload if I did. Second, there are enough opportunities to salvage healthy abandoned brass to let brass like this remain on the ground. Third, nice story and pictures.:D

I love a happpy ending! And with .223 brass getting harder to find I'd do the same thing.

RJ

Occassionally we get a question from someone about using dented brass. If you've never seen what can be done to salvage brass you will always have the question. These three were pretty seroiusly dented. The intent was to simply show that brass can be salvaged if needed.

All are good points about the integrity of the brass but the one I'm most curious about is the one on the bottom in the first picture. That was a serious crease in the case. I was surprised it blew out as cleanly as it did.

I love a happpy ending! And with .223 brass getting harder to find I'd do the same thing.

RJ

I've noticed that 223 brass is getting harder to come by. My buddy over at oncefiredbrass.com is out of 223 brass altogether. I'm glad I can get some range pick up every now and then.