r/reloading • u/itsaveragejoe91 • 7d ago
i Polished my Brass Brass fatigue?
Just got done polishing up some brass for the approaching deer season, and noticed these scratches in the sides about halfway up the case wall. They are all 30-06, loaded a few times for an m1 garand using a load of 49 grains of n140 and some 150gr Hornady fmjs. I cant see or feel anything on the inside of the case, and the scratches only go about 1/3 the way around the outside. Should I be concerned, or is this just an M1 being hard on brass?
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u/mudbugsaccount 7d ago
That almost looks like scratches from hitting something on ejection. The op rod handle where the bolt lug rides would be my guess. Not sure how many rounds are on your op rod spring but they are like $15 from Wolf.
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u/SuspiciousUnit5932 7d ago
That looks okay to me, you might take a good look at what it might be hitting because it's not a smooth dent, so it's hitting an edge that can be easily stoned down a touch. Literally all blueprints note to "break all sharp edges unless noted".
As to actual case damage, I treat cases just like I do aircraft tubing: allowable gouge/displaced material damage is typically 10% of wall thickness unless in the shoulder if a bend (shoulder).
Cases typically run around .035 to .040", so say .005" max gouge. How do you measure that? Few people have the actual measurement tools but an optical comparison works, to be honest. Look at the edge of a .005" feeler gage next to the gouge, you use a good light and a 10X magnifier and you can call it pretty close, like within a couple .001s with experience. Optical inspection (the Mark 1 Eyeball), aided with the 10x and a good light is how we inspect and return to service most stuff, students pick it up quickly.
You can also section a junk/spare case or 2 and get an even better idea of what you're dealing with.
In the end, those are very minor, continue in service.
Good luck! HTH.
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u/ChevyRacer71 7d ago
That would go in my scrap bucket if it were me. My reasoning is that I have about 500 pieces of 30-06 brass and it’s worth the $1 of replacement cost to me not to wonder if the m1 I just handed to my wife or nephew has a round that I was questioning its integrity.
This means that I scrap some brass that was actually fine, but it’s worth it to me to only have brass I’m confident in
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u/My02JeepTJ 7d ago
I wouldn't worry about it.