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I had some questions about brass and if it should be reloaded or not. I've attached a picture. #1 appears to be normal. #2 and #3 has what appears to be a crimp lines.

Are the lines on #2 and #3 crimp lines? Can or should #2 or #3 be reloaded? Thanks for your comments or suggestions.

lws380 wrote:I had some questions about brass and if it should be reloaded or not. I've attached a picture. #1 appears to be normal. #2 and #3 has what appears to be a crimp lines.

Are the lines on #2 and #3 crimp lines? Can or should #2 or #3 be reloaded? Thanks for your comments or suggestions.

I would discard #3. I have had problems with these types of cases splitting. I might load #2 if the line isn't too deep, but I would probably just toss it as well.

When I was starting & brass was precious.
If it was not split I proceeded.
If it sized I proceeded. Belled w/o splittilg or crushing I proceeded to prime.

Seat the bullet & crimp. If it split but would chamber I used it as first round for practice.

Now that I have been reloading for long time & brass is everywhere in buckets (I have range pick up available) I am much more particlar about my brass. If it is extreemly dirty I will cull it now.

How precious is brass where you are.

Brass is not that precious for me now. The lines seem fairly deep to me. I think they will get tossed. Thanks for the comments.

For revolvers, since the case is fully supported everywhere by the chamber, I'm a lot less picky about the brass than for any semiauto where there's pretty much always some unsupported casewall at the feedramp.

#2 I wouldn't worry about at all; I've got a lot of brass with that sort of rolled line on it in .38 and .357, and I'm pretty sure I even have some .45ACP with similar. #3 looks a bit odd, though, and I'd have to think about it a bit. It almost looks llike the forward line is some sort of stop groove for seating a wadcutter or something.

The cannelures (groves) are placed on cases to help prevent bullet setback or, as a stop point for the bullet in the case of revolver ammo. I have never had a problem reloading cases with a cannelure. The majority of my .38 Special and .357 magnum brass have cannelures as do many pieces of .40, 9mm and .45 ACP. I find them on premium ammo more so than range ammo. I would use all three of those cases without hesitation providing everything else is OK.

KD5NRH wrote:For revolvers, since the case is fully supported everywhere by the chamber, I'm a lot less picky about the brass than for any semiauto where there's pretty much always some unsupported casewall at the feedramp.

The only case that I ever had split was in a revolver. It split all around at the cannelure ring. When I pressed the ejector rod the back half of case ejected and the forward end stayed in the chamber.

I have always suspected that if the grooves are too sharp or deep they become stress risers and weaken the case.

Had lots of them split from the mouth down a little but never had one spit around.

New to me. How did you get the rest of the case out of the chamber.???

WildBill wrote:The only case that I ever had split was in a revolver. It split all around at the cannelure ring. When I pressed the ejector rod the back half of case ejected and the forward end stayed in the chamber.

You've got to admit, though, that that still beats the damage and injuries common from unsupported case failures in semiautos.

I have always suspected that if the grooves are too sharp or deep they become stress risers and weaken the case.

That's why I would be concerned about #3; the forward groove looks awfully deep and sharply impressed.

I've had a case split around the circumference on my 45acp 1911, I pulled a boresnake through and it came right out. A cleaning brush might work just as well on a revolver.

longtooth wrote:Had lots of them split from the mouth down a little but never had one spit around. New to me. How did you get the rest of the case out of the chamber.???

It was really stuck and wouldn't budge. I couldn't push it out with a brush or dowel and didn't want to risk scratching the gun with a screwdriver or other metal tool. I ended up making a little tool by using a lathe to turn down the head of a bolt to just under the diameter of the bore of the cylinder. I slid the threaded end through the front of the cylinder and put a couple of washers and a nut on the other end. A couple of turns to the nut with a wrench and the case popped out. Fortunately, there was no damage to the gun.