Thread: Dented case mouths

Can anyone shed some light on what might be causing the case mouths on my .223 cases to have a dent/flat spot on them? Two are brand new hornady factory rounds and other three are once reloaded federal. Have always fl sized but picked up a collet die the other day which is when I noticed the problem because it doesn't remove them like a fl die does. Haven't shot this barrel much so haven't taken a lot of time looking at cases as mostly factory ammo. I could understand if it was a semi as they can be a bit more violent ejecting but it's a bolt action. The federal aren't quite as bad as the hornady and geco even less but that I put down to different case hardness.

Ejection. I have had several rifles that do it, as the case is pulled back out of the action the extractor pulls it sideways and ejector pushes it also and it dents on the action or even on the bottom of the scope or rail (sako 85 are known for this)

What make / model bolt action ?

Blaser r8. FL sizing fixes the cases but not the collet die. I want to change to the collet as it's quicker. I don't use flat base bullets because they are to fiddly to get started in the small cases when seating. Yes ejection seems the most logical reason but can anything be done about it? Maybe a weaker plunger spring?

Originally Posted by r87mm

Blaser r8. FL sizing fixes the cases but not the collet die. I want to change to the collet as it's quicker. I don't use flat base bullets because they are to fiddly to get started in the small cases when seating. Yes ejection seems the most logical reason but can anything be done about it? Maybe a weaker plunger spring?

@r87mm

Ejected cases are from the gun having a crap, even if said turds do shine like tarnished gold and we handle them, polish them, resize them and even get them to fire again. But they're still turds and ruining a few is no disaster especially if we manage to reuse most of them.

Guns on the other hand are made to load, fire, eject and reload reliably. Expelling brass in a pristine state is nice but less important than reliability. Some will get dinged, you might say they were meant to be. Fiddling with the ejector just risks an unreliable gun for no worthwhile gain.

Are you using a saddle mount or pic rail?

Hornady brass in 223 especially is pretty soft. I wouldn't muck with the plunger or spring. I'd say it is likely an extractor issue if everything else is good.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Using a saddle mount. Was just using up the hornady from a 50 packet I got. No intention to reload them, I'll use fed but mostly the geco as I have plenty. The biggest problem is I now have a new collet die which is useless and to rub salt in the wound it's what I want to use. A pity the collet doesn't sort them when it closes on the mandrel. It takes some out and these other cases don't dent as bad. Spose the bullet when seating will straighten it out but what will accuracy be like? Best thing to do will be try a few groups with cases FL sizes and collet sized to see if there's a difference I guess. Bugger more shooting what a chore ..... If only I could get the weather to behave, especially mr wind!