Dented case walls and reloading

[sailcaptain]

After reloading about 100 or so .25 Cal Pistol, I had about 6 or 7 that had cases (brass) that were deformed (somewhat crushed) after seating the bullet (FMJ).
I pulled them from the group, to remove the bullet, deprime and throw away the casings. This is their second reloading.
I ran them through my RCBS Depriming/Case Forming die, (I want the primers), but when they came out the we're all back to a smooth walled case. They'll need a small amount of trimming, but look good. The case walls all measured 0.016 - 0.0175

I saved one that was the best of the 7 and didn't remove the primer to show you all, but the others were double what you see in the picture. I did remove the primer from it, but it still maintained its dent.

So, my question is, would you reload these cases with confidence?
How bad of a case have you "reformed" and reloaded with confidence and got good performance out of?
Thanks for the guidance.

[Ozark mike]

Look in yore reloading manual it gives case dimensions compare those measurements to a resized case. If i run my cases all the way into my resizing die it sizes it to small and a oversize bullet will bulge but if i back the die off to where it matches the book i get very little bulging if any

[Winger Ed.]

I've had some 'ugly children' like that, most of them with .38Spec.
I figured it was a combination of not enough mouth flare and sized too much.
Mine all chambered OK, and fire forming ironed the little dent right out.

[Texas by God]

Kudos to you for reloading John Browning’s little vest pocket rocket. Ozark Mike’s above advice makes sense. Function is way above appearance (to me) on semiauto pistol rounds; I’ve had some .32ACP mixed brass loads from Lee carbide dies with funky appearance- but they ran through a Walther PP like accurate grease through a goose. Sorry that I’m not more help, good luck figuring it out. But I will close by saying that if they work; just worry about finding the tiny fired brass on the ground......

[Gar10]

I would load those up and shoot em when fired they will probably straighten out. Like Texas by God said the hard part will be finding them after shooting.

[trapper9260]

I would load those up and shoot em when fired they will probably straighten out. Like Texas by God said the hard part will be finding them after shooting.

I say the same also run them as long you are able to cycle them. Do not worry other wise I had some that did not look good and had dents and load them and then cycle ok and after I did find them they look like the ones that did not had the problem. Just check for cracks or splits in the cases . If none run them.

[skeettx]

CHOOT them Lisabeth CHOOT em

[sailcaptain]

Thank you everyone. I’ll check the data and go ahead with the trimming and reload process.
Second, third and more opinions, works for me.
As you see them, unloaded, unprimed, they fit into my derringers just fine and eject. I’ll try them in my Auto this week.
So it was just the appearance that drew my attention.
Thanks again.

[blackthorn]

I think most of us, when we started reloading, produced cases with lube dents (usually at the neck/shoulder junction) that ironed right out when loaded and fired. I do not see where the dent pictured would be any different. I have been processing a lot of range pick-up 223 brass in the last couple of days and there are many cases with dents (some significant), likely from the ejection process on some rifles. I run them through the sizing die and just process them if the dents are ironed out. I do not keep cases that have actual deep gouges, but I have taken several that have still noticeable blemishes and marked the blemish with a permanent marker so when I fire them I will be able to see if indeed those are worth saving in future.

[Moleman-]

Oh those would get reloaded and shot again at our house. At 2 firings those cases haven't even been broken in yet. Occasionally I'll shoot at an actual range with a concrete floor and undoubtedly bring some cases home that have been stepped on. Some take some effort before they'll go in the sizing die and some even need some sort of mandrel to be inserted to make the case roundish again. If they'll chamber and don't have missing metal to the point I'm concerned they'll split upon firing, they all get reloaded. Usually the first shot irons them out, but lower pressure rounds might take a few reloadings before you're unable to see the old deformation.

[sailcaptain]

It’s the reassurance we get from this site that helps us all move forward with our individual reloading needs. That’s why I asked this question.
These will be reloaded by this week and put into use. Thanks.

[Wayne Smith]

Probably caused by the base of a bullet catching the edge of the case when seating. A light chamfer will prevent this in the future.

[pastera]

Not enough flair (belling) or seating and crimping in one step -Been there done a lot worse...

I'd say seat/crimp is more likely the culprit - As the crimp is applied the force to move the bullet goes up very fast. If the force to seat the bullet exceeds the hoop strength of the case, you get a wrinkle. The force while in the die is much, much greater then the resulting neck tension from the crimp (lots of steel in the die versus ~0.01" of brass in the case).

If you want a strong crimp then you may need to crimp in a separate die. But those 25's shouldn't need much more than removing enough of the bell mouth to fit the chamber.

[Three44s]

Probably caused by the base of a bullet catching the edge of the case when seating. A light chamfer will prevent this in the future.

+10 right there!

Belling is important for sure but the more of these type of threads I read I conclude the too many folks may not be inside case mouth chamfering.

I do both religiously. I want my bullets to enter smoothly so belling is paramount, however chamfering allows one to bell somewhat less.

The less you have to bell, the longer your cases will last with respect to case mouth splits.

Three44s

[Wayne Smith]

Belling or expanding the case mouth is important for soft cast boolits. Case inside chamfering is important for condom bullets so they don't catch on the edge of the case. This can crumple the case if the neck/shoulder is soft.