Bent brass on Once Fired Brass casings

Bent Mouths

During the last couple of years we have had a large influx of new reloaders that are just starting to master the craft. Many of them are still unsure or don't understand what brass can be and what brass can't be reloaded. Some have only reloaded new brass and have found Once Fired Brass to be a little different. We've had several returns on brass that the user determined was 'bad' and severely damaged and impossible to reload due to the mouth being 'out or round'. After receiving the return, we discover that in fact the brass was fine, however and just needed resizing and trimmed. All of our OFB comes with the statement "could have minor dings, dents, slightly bent mouths, or other slight imperfections, but most flaws can be easily removed during resizing or will be shot out upon your first firing"

During one of our past reloading courses, we selected several examples of what can easily be fixed, but many novice reloaders think are trashed. NOTE: This is not what we normally ship, and several have been selected or bent on purpose just for this example.

Images 1, 2 and 3 are showing what some consider as being impossible to reload. However, after a quick resizing and trim, images 4 and 5 show they cleaned up well. NOTE: The brass in image 3 and image 4 are exactly the same, as they were placed back into the same position after processing.
Image 6 shows a small ding on the neck that will be shot out and is not an issue. Later we will post a few images of brass that should not be reloaded.

Dented Cases

So the next question is, how about bent or dented cases? If the case is 'cut' or severely dented, then obviously recycle them. Here is a look at a few that once resized and trimmed, can be fired. Once they have been fired, the dent will disappear. Brass like this is entirely usable and is not an issue.