What process do you gentlemen use to inspect rifle cases prior to priming? A cursory look, a magnifying glass, by feel, all of the above, some additions?

BEJ -
This topic should certainly generate some results.

I always sort new brass by weight, run through the size die, trim, chamfer and clean up the flash holes. All this handling will usually show any abnormalities which warrant further examination.

You should also get some interesting stories about weird things guys have found, like a bulk batch of 30-06 R-P's I got from Midway that had about 50 270's mixed in. Didn't notice it until I ran one of the 270's into the die and tried to expand it to .30 cal.
Found a 223 with a full length fold in the side in a box of Federal Gold Medal Match (excellent brass otherwise, BTW) one time.

R-WEST

quote:

---

Originally posted by BEJ:
What process do you gentlemen use to inspect rifle cases prior to priming? A cursory look, a magnifying glass, by feel, all of the above, some additions?

---

BEJ/ All of the above...I look for defects from the factory in the brass...check when uniforming primer pockets for depth and off center holes....check flashhole size with #45 drill bit after uniforming FH....on fired cases reloaded many times..use the sharp feeler to check for head seperation....when turning necks. I use a low power mag glass to check neck/shoulder juction on turned case..after sizing check shoulder for bumps from excess lube if it is building up in the die and feel the mouth as I brush out the neck to make sure it doesn't have any burrs from trimming or missed the deburr/campher step....and tap the inspected case-mouth down and look for metal case shavings or tumbling debris before weighing or priming according to the use of the cases....after priming I check visually and feel for seated primer flush seated well.....it get to be a routine that your eyes and fingers do without any real effort durring the handling of the cases for the reloading steps....good luck and good shooting!!!

Visual check with an inexpensive pair of 2X reading glasses and a physcial check with the good old fingers.

~Holmes

If a case has been previously fired in a rifle with rear locking lugs I feel for a separation ring that forms from the inside of the case near the base. I use a piece of coat hangar wire with a tiny hook bent at the end. You can't see this failure from the outside until it's too late.

Other than eyeballing primers (never saw anything interesting about rifle primers), I mainly do what Don Martin29 above does, only I do it also for front-locking rifles if I've reloaded the cases very many times. Although I used to use a hook like he does, some time ago I took a mini-mag-lite (two AAA cells?) with a grain-of-wheat bulb, and soldered two 6" pieces of thin insulated wire (actually the stuff you get out of telephone cables that the installers use) to the bulb's leads, and inserted the other ends into the sockets on the battery case. I now have a light that allows me to SEE the inside of the case. Probably still a good idea to check with the hook, too, since the combustion by-products may cover up an incipient case-head separation visually. Don't know - haven't had one yet.

If the brass has been previously reloaded by me, I give it a thorough visual insp., check length and clean the primer pockets. I will also check for incipent seperation as described by the others.

If the brass is new, I do all of the above plus uniform the primer pockets and deburr the flash holes. I also take a good look at the thickness of the brass before I chamfer the case mouths. The reason for this is once I got a piece of .44 Special brass (W-W) that was only about .003" thick at one point from mouth to rim. I didn't notice it. When I fired that round, it split all the way to the rim. I'm glad it was a starting load.

------------------
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.