Funky .223 Brass

[Ugly Dwarf]

I was sorting through some brass I picked up at the range and noticed some pieces had an odd ring running around the base of the shoulder (see pix below). Each ring was in the same place and was about as pronounced as the others.

I'm guessing they all came out of the same gun, as I noted it was the same (PMC) headstamp for the 15-20 pieces I checked (I've got about 100-150 of them).

I'm interested to hear if I should toss them all in the garbage or if these should resize and shoot just fine. I'd also be interested to hear what might cause this.

I'm not that savy on such matters, but my suspicion is this is due to some sort of headspace issue on a home built upper. Perhaps it's an issue with the chamber on that barrel? I'd never seen this before and figured I'd bring it up here.

I noticed Randall in here a little bit ago, so perhaps he will have an answer for me. Anyone else is welcomed to chime in if you've seen this before.

Dwarf

[Timberland]

Linked. Or really wierd reload? Removing PMC crimps really sucks, ive smased a few primers on thoes.

[ar15barrels]

What does the diameter measure just above and just below the ring?

It looks like a barrel that had the rough chamber reamed, but did not have the finish reamer run all the way in.
I'm suprised it headspaces as the roughing reamer should not be run all the way in to headspace depth.
Drop some of the cases in a chamber gauge and tell me if they stick out of the gauge more than your other cases you picked up.

[Army GI]

It looks like it was fired through a Saiga.

[Beelzy]

I would ditch that brass. That line is too shiny and in the annealing zone.

Looks like a defective chamber to me, or maybe a military rifle shot those.
Either way, the gun that fired them didn't care much about reloading.

[CAT_101]

I wont reload PMC brass. I would just toss it. culd run into case sepration on reloads.

[Ugly Dwarf]

What does the diameter measure just above and just below the ring?

I measured three of them with the following measurements:

1. .345 Above Ring (neck side) / .358 Below Ring (rim side).
2. .346 Above Ring / .358 Below Ring
3. .346 Above Ring / .358 Below Ring

Drop some of the cases in a chamber gauge and tell me if they stick out of the gauge more than your other cases you picked up.

Unfortunately, I don't have a chamber gauge (it's on the list with many other items), so I can't run that test. I was able to chamber one of them in my bolt action .223, but I don't think that tells you much.

I'm leaning towards tossing them, but I really hate to throw them away if they'd be fine for one more spin as 'plinking ammo'.

[bohoki]

weird looks like they had a go around with a pipe cutter

[ar15barrels]

I measured three of them with the following measurements:

1. .345 Above Ring (neck side) / .358 Below Ring (rim side).
2. .346 Above Ring / .358 Below Ring
3. .346 Above Ring / .358 Below Ring

0.346 is quite undersized and 0.358" is about right.
The chamber of the gun that fired them was not fully chambered with a finishing reamer.

[Ugly Dwarf]

0.346 is quite undersized and 0.358" is about right.
The chamber of the gun that fired them was not fully chambered with a finishing reamer.

What do you think about loading them back up? I would assume they would expand back to the correct dimensions, much like "fire forming".

[ar15barrels]

What do you think about loading them back up? I would assume they would expand back to the correct dimensions, much like "fire forming".

Should be no problem.
Load a dozen of them and go fire them.
As long as they behave, the rest should be fine too.

[Ugly Dwarf]

Sounds great, thanks for the help.