Brass deformation ?

[unfitmother]

My first thought was "This looks like the picture from my reloading manual of what happens when there is too much headspace." (Left 3 unfired, right 3 fired)

But when I looked at them more, I became unsure because they look more flared than stretched...

Rifle: Remington 700 ADL in 270 Win, an armslist deal from someone who had hunted with it for 10 years
Ammo: Factory Winchester 270 win, 130gr PowerMax

This is my second trip to the range with this rifle. My first trip I shoot 150gr Remington factory. That brass is also deformed, but not as much, so I only noticed it upon re-inspection.

I want a rifle I can reload for, so any recommendations for a gunsmith would be greatly appreciated!

[aht_six]

If your brass is stretching, you should be able to see a shiny ring on the outside of the case and also feel the thin spot on the inside with a bent paper clip.

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/05/reloading-case-head-separations.html

[Seismic Sam]

Could be your rifle has a large chamber near the breech, and the brass is expanding as much as it can until it gets down to the case head where it can't expand. Also double check your load to make sure it's within the limits for that cartridge.

And when in doubt, hold the neck of the cartridge with a visegrips and grind down the base of the cartridge to the center of the primer hole. Then you can clearly see if you have a stretch ring on the inside or not. You're giving up about 40 cents, and an ER trip with cosmetic surgery(s) is high 5 figures.

[Rodentman]

deleted

[Seismic Sam]

Sheesh!! You're totally incorrigible!! Unless, of course you run across a busy freeway to make all the drivers swerve and have accidents like in the commercial, and then an 18 wheeler skooshes you into a corrugated rodent pancake!!

[unfitmother]

Looks like you were right about the large chamber, Sam. I cut 2 cases open, and they both looked like this. (There is only one piece of brass in the image, I just edited it so the opposite sides are easier to compare.)

If you bought a used rifle with the intent of reloading for it, and discovered this problem, what would you do?

[Bessy]

Looks like you were right about the large chamber, Sam. I cut 2 cases open, and they both looked like this. (There is only one piece of brass in the image, I just edited it so the opposite sides are easier to compare.)

If you bought a used rifle with the intent of reloading for it, and discovered this problem, what would you do?

brass.jpg

I must be missing something here..... the one time I had a rifle out of head space, the brass deformation near then base was VERY bad. I'm not seeing that here. I mean there is clearly a little bit of bulge on that one side, but I'm not sure that warrants any safety concerns. Maybe one of the other members has a better eye for this sort of thing, but that looks OK to me.

[JJ]

Its fine. Brass is on the min side at the base. Avoid excessive sizing (stick to neck sizing). If you FL size and force the case down in size repeatedly above the web, you will see stretching that will lead to failure.

Min brass, max chamber and you will see what you have on your hands.

[aht_six]

I agree with JJ, if the neck sized cases chamber reliably I would just use it. If you have issues chambering the neck sized cases, I would consider having the barrel set back and re-chambered. Any full service gunsmith should be able to do the work, I had one done 3 or 4 years ago for $100.00.

[Mauser98]

I'm not seeing any headspace issues in your pics. Maybe a bit of a fat chamber, but that's not unheard of.

I have a Westernfield in 30-06 that does the same thing to brass. Brass lasts just as long as any other rifle I have, and I partial FL size.

The case on the left of your last pic does concern me, but it may be the camera playing in the lighting. It appears that your bolt face is not square to the chamber/bore. The head of the case looks canted, like the left side is higher than the right. It may be the way the case is cut, or the lighting, hard to tell.

[OldmanFCSA]

Sam,
Grinding brass can be dangerous in itself because the brass tends to flow into the pores of the grinding wheel causing it to explode in your face and hands. DO NOT GRIND brass or aluminum or other non-ferrous materials.

O.P.,

The pictures you have provided show an out-of-center condition which was caused by the manufacturer of the rifle. The bolt holds the case head to the center of the design of the bolt face BUT the chamber was cut off-center to the threads that center the barrel in the action.
Would I shoot it ??? Yes, but with the understanding that brass life will be shortened. If you intend to shoot it a lot, I would re-barrel with a high quality barrel as re-chambering based off an already cut barrel usually causes the reamer to follow the error that already exists.
The barrel may meet the standards set for the manufacture of this firearm, but this is a prime example of the "stack up of tolerances" that cause failures in the field. I've had a rifle like this - I rebarreled it with a Hart barrel, years ago. Re-barreling allows you to choose your own rate of twist to better suit your intended projectile selection.

Have FUN, be SAFE.

[unfitmother]

I really appreciate all the replies! Once I start reloading, I'll enjoy the challenge of keeping a close eye on the brass from this rifle (still just reading manuals, 1 down, 1 to go).

The case on the left of your last pic does concern me, but it may be the camera playing in the lighting.

It's just distortion from having to hold the crappy camera really close. The piece of brass on the right is the same one from the left, just 2 photos edited together.