I shot my .308 today, I shot Lake City 7.62x51mm M118, as I always do. After I shot I looked at my casings and all three looked like a "baseball diamond" on the neck. I inspected the chamber and it looked fine. Any idea as to what would have caused this? The rifle is a Ruger M77 MKII with a V/T barrel, it shoots really tight groups at 100 with this ammo. I have only had damage on one other casing before today, but it was along time ago and I have shot alot since then. Another question is can this be reloaded?
Could be some type of oil or grease on the case necks or a trace within the chamber. If you reload did you get all the case lube off of the brass? As long as there are no splits or deep gouges I'd definitely reload.
That "damage" is not from firing, it is from ejection. Were you working the bolt more vigorously than usual? As the case is ejected forcefully the mouth can slap the side of the receiver. I say "damage" because this is not an issue. Minor mouth dents such as this are nothing to worry about. Load normally. If the mouths get more deformed than that, needle nose pliers are handy to get them "kind of" round so they will slide over the expander ball.
You are rockin that bolt there boy. take it a little easier and see what happens. as for reloading sure they can be. over time brass becomes work hardened and you must anneal it. Working the brass more like resizing these dented necks will add to that.
