Burns on brass!?

RockyMountainHigh · 09-10-2009, 06:45 PM

Have a quick question for the veteran loaders here, bought a new remington model 700 30-06 a few months ago have put around 100 rounds through it since the purchase have had no problems at all but when i took my empty brass to my buddies house to get him to load a few boxes of bullets for the season for me he pointed out something i have never noticed or seen before, all the brass after it was polished has near identical burn marks on the neck of the casing that he couldnt remove. Went home checked my rifle out and couldnt see any thing out of the ordinary in the chamber or on the bolt. But the burnings on the casings are consistent with each other and he said hes never seen that either. I clean my rifle after each outting in the field or range. Not sure what to make of it and am wondering if any of you have come across this and if maybe its linked to the rifle being new and needing some wear or if its even a big deal at all. I have been shooting the cheap gray box of federal 180 grain (runs about $20 a box at wal-mart). Looking for any advice or knowledge on this or if i should talk to a gunsmith or if its not a problem.

kelbro · 09-10-2009, 08:11 PM

I would try another box of ammo before I did anything drastic. That is usually a sign of low pressure which is uncommon for factory ammo.

bigbulls · 09-10-2009, 08:59 PM

It is perfectly normal to get burn marks on the necks of brass. Nearly every gun I have ever owned or test fired has powder marks on the necks of the brass. Some more than others but they are all there.

If you are getting burns on the shoulders or farther then you need to be concerned.

Centaur 1 · 09-11-2009, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbulls

It is perfectly normal to get burn marks on the necks of brass. Nearly every gun I have ever owned or test fired has powder marks on the necks of the brass. Some more than others but they are all there.

If you are getting burns on the shoulders or farther then you need to be concerned.

This sounds logical. Even though the brass expands to form a gas seal, the neck is straight walled. The corner where the shoulder meets the neck should form the absolute gas seal.

skb2706 · 09-12-2009, 08:11 AM

Post a pic. Define burns, are we talking black soot or discolored brass ?

driftrider · 09-13-2009, 06:26 AM

If the "burn marks" exist after cleaning (is he tumbling or just washing the brass?), I'm going to speculate that it is just the dark discoloration from the annealing. This is perfectly normal. Annealing the necks is done by the factory when brass is new, and it creates the brown ring down to the shoulder of the case. If the cases are not being tumbled, this dark color could persist for the life of the case even after the powder fouling is cleaned off. I tumble all my brass when new and between reloads with a 50/50 mix of fine corn cob/walnut media with Iosso Brass Polish, which polishes out the discoloration from annealing.

Mike

TUK101 · 09-13-2009, 08:14 AM

If it is consistent and you didn't experience anything funny when shooting the gun then I would say you have nothing to worry about.

09-13-2009, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kelbro

I would try another box of ammo before I did anything drastic. That is usually a sign of low pressure which is uncommon for factory ammo.

Yep, kelbro hit it right. Also could be little looser neck in the chamber, overworked brass (which its not), or not enough powder charget to get good seal.

I see this with powders like RL22 when starting a low pressure load. When i get close to max or 60KPSI, it goes away.