i bought some new .444 marlin brass for reloading, and the ends are all boogered up. some are flared out at the end and some have small dents. i'd say 90 out of the 100 look to be defective. very few feel perfectly round when i spin the end between my fingers. Is this normal when purchasing new brass?

what brand? i would say probably not, but run them through the FL sizer and they should turn out just fine.

they are R.P Heads

quote:

Is this normal when purchasing new brass?

Yes. They will straighten out during full length resizing which you do with new brass always.

What you are describing is more the rule than the exception, especially on a case like the 444. Like beretta said just run them through the FL sizer die and you should be good to go--I do it with all my brass any way.....

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:

quote:

Is this normal when purchasing new brass?

Yes. They will straighten out during full length resizing which you do with new brass always.

I wish this wasn't so....but it's the way it is.

If you expect your brass to be perfect, expect to pay alot more.

Yep most new brass come like that. Like everyone said, just run them thru a full length resizer and you're good to go.

Bulk brass almost always comes that way. Long straight cases like your 444 (or my 45/70) brass seem especially vulnerable. Badly dented mouths can be straightened with a tapered metal tool (like a centerpunch). You'll save a couple from being crumpled instead of smoothly entering the sizing die.

I have yet to buy anyones bulk brass but Lapua & not have dents in them. Part of the problem is most package in plastic bags then throw them into a box w/ other bags of brass, bound to get dents.

Thats pretty typical of 444 brass... any I have ever bought for mine were like that...

I just pulled out the full length RCBS die and resized them after pulling out the decapping pin, because the expander can catch on something if they are messed up that bad...

I full length size them and then resize them again with the expander back in them...

Being straight walled and long, they just evidently get banged around a lot in shipping...

doing that, I haven't had any casualties...

good luck..

cheers
seafire

thanks guys, i appreciate the help,
matt

quote:

Originally posted by bkmastr:
i bought some new .444 marlin brass for reloading, and the ends are all boogered up. some are flared out at the end and some have small dents. i'd say 90 out of the 100 look to be defective. very few feel perfectly round when i spin the end between my fingers. Is this normal when purchasing new brass?

Yes, many a new case comes a little "boogered up". I run all new brass at least partially into a sizing die to true up the case mouths then trim and chamfer all to the same o/a length before loading.

Trimming is particularly important if you plan to crimp them, as they then MUST be of identical length!