casing damage after firing .45 ACP

[passtime]

I am getting nicks on the case mouths after firing rounds out of my 45. ACP. It is causing me to trash brass because I am not able to work the nicks out. It happens 4 or 5 times out of 50 rounds. I found out today it also happens with factory rounds so it is not reload specific. I believe it is happening during extraction but I cannot confirm it. I have cycled 25 rounds through it manually without issue. I am hoping someone has had this issue and resolved it. Help would be greatly appreciated. I hate to waste brass. I have included images below.

 

[Blindstitch]

I'm not sure on the problem but I would take a sharpie and mark the top side as I load the magazine. Then shoot a mag and find the marked brass. The mark would at least give you a direction to look.

 

[passtime]

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't quite follow you.

 

[Blindstitch]

Ok say I have a single stack pistol with magazine. I place a round in the magazine. Then I take a sharpie and make a line mark from rim to tip dead nuts in the center of the round. Insert the magazine, pull the slide so it's live and pull the trigger. When the casing is ejected find it and see if it has that dent mark that you're showing. If so hold the shell horizontal with the marking at the top. If the dent is right of the sharpie mark then it's happening on the right side of your gun. Left for left and so on.

It gives you a direction to look.

 

[Blindstitch]

Or these guys might have your answer.

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/bent-brass.65692/

Shells hitting the ejection port.

What pistol are you using?

 

[passtime]

Thank you kindly for the description and the link. I will give it a try next time I hit the range (my backyard) probably tomorrow or Monday. The handgun is an SR45.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Your brass is smacking the edge of the ejection port on the way out of the gun.

This is fairly common, especially with 1911s in .45 ACP.

It happens with my Springfield Milspec.

Unless the brass is actually torn or crushed, I don't even bother worrying about it, I simply reload it.

 

[mikld]

I agree with Mr. Irwin. Also lighter loads will eject the case slower and get an "almost stove pipe" jam. If the case isn't ejected hard enough/fast enough the slide may be hitting it as it's closing and smack the case between the port edge and the barrel hood.

 

[g.willikers]

The picture shows a definite tear in the mouth of the case, rather than the typical dent.
Do all the cases do this tearing, including the new factory rounds you mentioned?
The reason for asking is that the case in the picture shows it is an old and very much used one, with bends in the rim.
The cases can be cleaned up an still be useable, but there might be an irregularity in the slide causing it.

 

[madmo44mag]

OP says it is happening with store bought ammo.
Have you checked your recoil spring.
The marks on the brass are from the ejection port.
The slide may just be getting back far enough to cycle the gun but not far enough back to give time to cleanly eject the brass.
We are talking milliseconds and few thousands of an inch and that is all it takes to have the slide catch the brass on the ejection port.

 

[passtime]

Thank you to all who have replied to my question. I too think it is happening during ejection. The case has been reloaded twice. It has not been cleaned after the last firing. The brass is not torn but it is close. It is flattened somewhat just below the nick. It will not come out completely using the resizing die. If I use a chamfer tool on it I can get it somewhat smooth on the inside but it leaves the mouth pretty thin. The recoil spring is factory and it feels stout. It is rated at 18lbs. The Lee reloading manual, IMR and Hogdon reloading data shows the charge range for my load a 230 gr LRNBB at 6.3 to 6.8 of IMR SR4756. I am loading mine at 6.6gr so I could go up in the charge a bit but as I said it also happens with Federal Champion 230 FMJ. Would a stronger or weaker recoil spring offer a solution? Galloway has 15, 20 and 22 lb replacement recoil springs for my SR45. I added a close up image of the nicked casing and an image of another casing that is marked but not nicked.

 

[Urban_Redneck]

I would check your extractor tension, it's possible that cases are sliding down the breech face a bit. This can cause the empty to bounce around the ejection port before leaving the gun.

YMMV

 

[BillM]

Yup---it's hitting the ejection port. If the gun has a stock (not extended)
ejector and the extractor tension is OK, try a lighter recoil spring. I generally
run 14-15 lb. in my 45's.

Reloading---no, the sizing die won't remove the dent, but the next
die that bells the case mouth will. I use a Dillon 550 and run stuff
that beat up much worse than yours without any problems.

 

[madmo44mag]

Hmmmm Urban Redneck may have hit on it.
If the round is slipping under the extractor that will cause weird ejection issues.

 

[Mike Irwin]

That doesn't qualify as a tear. That's a love bite. As in your gun loves to bite your cases.

At that level it is NOTHING to worry about. It won't compromise the integrity of the case at all.

I've reloaded hundreds, if not thousands, of cases with nicks, cuts, and tears worse than that, and have never had an issue. If it gets longer than 1/8th of an inch, though, scrap the case.

 

[Nick_C_S]

I'm with Mike +1.

From what I can see, that brass is still reloable.

That said, it would still be good to determine the root cause to see if it can be remedied.

 

[Unclenick]

What everyone is saying about springs and the ejector are from experience with the 1911. Your SR45 with its external ejector and 4.5" barrel and already lowered ejection port may have different mechanical advantage and may need some other tuning element applied. I'm not familiar enough with it to want to guess. I would call Ruger and explain the issue and see if they have a means of addressing it.

I can guess the case is spinning in place pretty hard at ejection and is probably getting kicked forward by the outside edge of the slide or the ejector. Brass marks usually become visible where it's hitting. On a 1911 I'd mess with the ejector nose profile as well as the recoil springs, but I don't know what other springs may or may not be available for your gun.

I'll move this thread over to gunsmithing and we'll see if anyone there has worked on one of these Rugers.

 

[James K]

Take a good look at the inside top of the slide just at the ejection port. See if there is a burr or casting flaw in there that is nicking the case.

Jim

 

[passtime]

Thanks for all the info and thanks Unclenick for moving the post. lol I did not even think about the seating die belling the case... duh.... OK so now I am not worried about the brass but something is amiss and my OCD will not tolerate it. I looked pretty close for brass buildup any did not see any but I did a thorough cleaning before I put the last fifty rounds through it so that may be why. Calling Ruger was my last resort but nonetheless a call may be in order. If it is broke they will fix it. I may be able to fix it myself but I need to know what's broke to even begin. James K, below is an image of the top, inside of the ejection port. I believe this is caused by the barrel rubbing against the top inside of the ejection port. Probably does not have anything to do with the nick in the brass? I guess we will see if somebody in this part of the forum has any answers. Thanks again everyone. Standing by........

 

[Unclenick]

If the brass is cleaned off, try Blindstitche's suggestion of marking 12:00 on each round as you insert them in the magazine. Magic Marker (I use a Sharpie for case marking) can simply be a dot down in the case extractor groove. Pretty hard for that to scrape off during cycling. If you find the dings at a location consistent with respect to that mark, you can then chamber the dinged case and manually extract it in slow motion and see where you gun tries to throw it.

If, during that manual extraction, the case falls down into the magazine well, the extractor tension is likely to be the issue.

BTW, there are now a lot of slow motion cameras around. If you know some enthusiast, they might have one and you could conceivably diagnose the problem that way. You can see why, as the frame rate is increased in this video.