How to fix "nicks" on extractor rims?

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PolarFBear

New member
Have loaded several thousand .45 ac rounds on Lee and Dillon equipment. Always separate my cases by headstamp. Never had "brass" issues with anything except AMERC (never ever reload AMERC brass!). BUT: I bought a Dillon case gage chamber checker, just to make sure my rounds were A-OK. I am working through a batch of Speer Lawman. About 25% of the completed rounds will not fully drop into the chamber checker. The cases have little extractor nicks on the case rims. These nicks add just enough interference to jam the round. I tried a file and a utility knife. They work but make the process very slow. As an alternative I now trial fit the rim into the case gage: if it fits OK; if not I cull the brass. My cull pile is growing. Is there a CHAMFER device, like Lee makes for case mouths, that will trim the nicked edges off my rims? Or, am I being to picky and just load as I have been doing for the past 15 years. Oh, it looked SO inviting to just give those little babies a whack with a hammer to seat that round the last .0005 inch, but thought better of whacking the primer (chuckles).
 
If you are using the chamber as your case gauge, and this is an auto-loader instead of a revolver just see if the ones that have the nick on the rim are the same length as the ones without a nick. The rather violent cycling action will ensure the nick is properly smooshed flat during feeding.

If your nicks are big enough that your pistol can't feed them, that would be something to worry about, but if you are only 0.005" away from fully chambered, I wouldn't worry about it.

Jimro
 
JimRo - You confirmed my feeling. I AM being to cautious. My experience suggested that the recoil spring and slide back into battery would be sufficient to overcome the slightly "proud" misalignment. Sometimes I try just to hard for technical superiority. Still, a rim chamfer gadget wouldn't be such a bad idea. thanks.
 
So we are talking the rim and not the case mouth right? If the extractor is nicking the cases just use a jewlers file and knock the offending nick off. I do it for 223 cases that are the same way. If it, the nick, seems gratuitous you may consider chucking the case all together.
 
The extraction rim generally doesn't fit into the chamber in most auto loaders.
Knicks on the rim cause issues clearing the magazine lips, if you haven't had that issue in the past (failure to feed) then practically speaking you don't have an issue.

The are two possible solutions,
1. Orifice punch die, pushing that straight wall case completely through a hole in a die,
2. A Case Pro case roller machine.
Cost is an issue, Case Pro isn't cheap!
What a Case Pro does is roll the case between two die plates,
Restores the groove, straightens & restores the rim, takes the bulge out of the lower part of the case the die doesn't reach, even tightens up primer pockets.
Another unintended benifit, cracked cases chirp like a bird letting you fill them without a bright light & magnifier or 'feeling' for soft seating of bullets.

It's FAST too, up to 1,500 round an hour by hand.
 
A rim larger than .516" may be to wide to slide up the bolt face on some target guns, causing feeding problems. Must 45 acp guns will never notice the nick.
 
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I've used a large bastard file before and it went pretty fast. What kind of file are you using. I'd use as large a file as possible and lay it on a flat surface making it easy to make a couple swipes and knock off the burr. If you're going to go through the hassle of checking every case you might as well take a couple seconds to fix the problem.
 
You might also try polishing the extractor so it no longer deforms the brass.
The best solutions won't involve expensive specialized equipment.
 
Having loaded several thousand rounds which fired. The best chamber test gauge is a plunk test in your own barrel's chamber. I have used light emery to clean up minor dings caused during extraction but unless I have cases which fail a plunk test in my chamber I don't worry about it. You have loaded and fired thousands of rounds without a hitch and now since they won't easily clear a gauge I wouldn't worry about it. Do they pass the plunk test in your chamber?

Ron
 
Casepro roll sizer irons out the rim/base of the case, also gets into the extractor groove.

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I automated one of mine so it could roll size brass as I was loading ammunition.

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A push through sizer will knock them off the sides though.

FWIW a "plunk" test will not see any issue with dings on the rim of a case, it will plunk in and out like a good round. This is because the rim might not touch any part of the barrel.

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So all your rounds pass the plunk test then every now and then you have a "mystery" malfunction because a "good" round failed to fully enter the breach face and go into battery.

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That's why people waste the money on case gauges, so they can check the entire length of the round. Almost every timed competition shooter I know that reloads uses them.
 
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Jimro and Jmorris. thanks for the replies. I think a Lee bulge buster will be just the ticket. I recently tried the Lee sizer for the .452 acp's I'm loading. It seemed to be quite adequate for a low round-count loader. Jmorris, EXCELLENT pictures. That automated gizmo you use is way beyond my means and my needs. But those pictures of the rounds in a case gauge and the barrels fit me to a "T". I've never had an issue with loaded .45 rounds EXCEPT I loaded a few hundred AMERC brass. Found out the HARD way that AMERC is real junk. Had to pull every one back to lead and powder. I now NEVER pic up an AMERC shell and have discarded all I own. But that incident prompted me to get a Dillon case gauge just to check every round before boxing. And discovered that a 45 will nick the rim edge pretty well. I know that they were not fired in a Glock as they do not have the distinct Glock firing-pin bar mark. I now also check all my brass for length on a Lyman shell length checker. I only load about 500 45's a month so it's no big effort to add another simple step.
 
A cheap belt sander, with fine grit would be easy. Just dont over due it.

And be advised that some high pressure rounds, like 357sig, can expand and weaken the case head. You really should not use them, when that happens.
 
If you could obtain a small grinding wheel, say around three inches in diameter, that attaches to an electric drill, that provides an easy way for grinding off dents and is useful for numerous other purposes.
 
I'd make a pile of the ones that don't pass the gage. Pick a handful of the ugliest out of that pile, head to the range, and see if they'll feed and fire.

So basically, I'd make sure there was a problem before I started "fixing" anything.
 
I'd make a pile of the ones that don't pass the gage. Pick a handful of the ugliest out of that pile, head to the range, and see if they'll feed and fire.

So basically, I'd make sure there was a problem before I started "fixing" anything.
Click to expand...

And that's the problem, it depends on how the imperfection is "clocked".

From my photo above we can see that it wouldn't contact the barrel itself and cause a failure.

If we take a look at the breech face of the firearm we intend to use it in we might find we have a better than 50% chance the imperfection will also not make contact and stop the pistol from running.

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So if you had a bag full of rounds with the same damage to the rim, they may run or they may get caught up depending on how they happen to be loaded into the magazine. I'll be honest and say I never casegauged ammunition up to the point that I lost a match by less than a half a second, because of an otherwise preventable malfunction. After that I didn't leave function of my ammunition up to "chance".
 
to Jmorris

Jmorris, I like you, want to leave as little to chance as possible. I do not compete, except with myself. I have the time and the tools to check my work. Why not? I ordered up a Lee Bulge Buster for arrival next week. I hope it does the trick. Dillon referred me to Midway which had no suggestions as to a case cutter to trim the edges. Ever since the bad experience with that AMERC junk I rely on a case gage for a final check. I also use a Lee Factory Crimp Die on all my reloads of every caliber.
 
The Bulge Buster pushing the cases through the OD sizing ring on the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die will do what you want without removing material and it will be faster than filing or sanding, etc. Just don't forget to take the crimp ring and its setting plug out of the die when using the Bulge Buster with it, and you will be good to go.
 
The brass with nicks do not fit the gauge but do they plunk test in your barrel? When loaded do they chamber and fire. extract and eject.

If so then I do not understand what issue the nick or ding is really causing?

I have had brass with nicks that will not fit the shell holder when trying to load on the press and that is a pain, I just cull them out,
 
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