Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Loading dented cases?

I sized these 25-06 cases about 5 years ago and noticed a dent in many of them. Most are smaller like the one on the left but a few have a larger dent like the other two. After some reading I realized I either had too much sizing lube or caused some crush due to the die being screwed in too much. Or both.

Are these safe to load and shoot? Any major concerns? Will the case simply fill the chamber like in fire forming? Or should I chunk them?

Yes load them and shoot them. The dents are caused by excessive amount of case lube.
The case will be dent free after firing

Yep load them up and fire away. Like jwp475 said. Could be excessive case lube.

Yep. Best way to get rid of the dents.

They will be gone the instant you pull the trigger

Ditto. Hasbeen

Thanks for the replies. Earlier in my reloading career I was overly cautious and I guess I was paranoid of a stuck case hence the excessive lube. I’ll load and go. Merry Christmas all!

I'd be more concerned about the incipient case head separation you got going on there with that brass. Check those cases with a wire with bent hook to make sure the case is not separating. You have to look at the whole case, not just the obvious dent in the neck.

Those have been fired once using factory ammo. Hornady superformance SSTs. Is case head separation after a single firing a concern?

The question there is if and how excessively far the shoulders may have been pushed back during the making of the dents.

I’ll measure base to shoulder and check them this weekend. If I remember correctly the coloration at the base is the point at which the sizing die ended on the case.

I think those lines are where your Resizing die stopped. A full length resizing die does not come all the way down the length of the brass. That’s just my guess, but it could be something else.

Those dents look reminiscent of those caused by low-pressure in the case (such as in the event of partial case head separation), rather than the typical dents caused by sizing with excessive lube.

The one in the middle may not iron out but the other two will for sure. It’s amazing what 50,000 psi will do to brass.

Jordan
Would that happen in firing or sizing? They looked completely normal after firing and came out of the sizing die with dents.

Like was said earlier they are lube dents you should not lube that high up on the case....about 3/4 of the way up the case is enough.

Load them and shoot.

What I described happens upon firing. Your dents are created by excessive lube on the shoulders, but they look unusual for lube dents. They’ll pop out when you fire the brass next time.

No need to lube the shoulder.

They should be good to go.

Have fun shooting them.

Over thinking again...

look at all the evidence before you.make these stupid statements and scare the guy.

You cant dream this chit up folks....