AR57 damaging my brass

[ripcity]

I finally got out and shot my new AR57. I shot my reloads, the same reloads that I shoot through my hand gun. I don't have my book in front of me, but if I remember right I use 6.5 grains of TB with CCI SRP and a .40 gr. z-max. Out of the hand gun the brass is in fine condition, but it's a different story out of the AR. It bends the rim really bad and blows holes in the neck, I'd say 1 out of 10. Anybody know if this is normal? If so, I will have to sell it . I search this subject, but didn't come up with anything. Thanks in advance for any input.

[grimmond]

Your FSN can handle a lot hotter loads then your AR57. You will need to back down the loads for your AR57 a little. The Bent rim is also IMO being caused by the hot loads because of the faster and harder ejection cycle. As to the holes being blown in the neck area; What is the current number of reloads for those cases. I normally do not start seeing those until the third or fourth hot/semi hot load and then I start using my 4x cases for light plinking loads or subsonics.

[ripcity]

It is once fired brass. I could try some lighter loads to see if that cures the problem.

[shopsmart]

I got a bunch of 1x brass fired from an AR57 that someone fired. The necks are stretched out some and really need to be put though the die. So I am thinking that might contribute to your neck hole punches...

[grimmond]

Also check your case necks and shoulders before sizing for stretch rings or marks. If you see anything, toss them. View this topic for more info.http://www.fivesevenforum.com/viewtopic ... 48&t=14564

[kmiles]

6.5 gr. of TB with the 40 gr. vmax sounds like it is on the upper end of the load range for even the FsN. I would back it down to the 5.5-5.8 range, and see if that makes a difference in the AR57. I use 5.8 for my plinking round in my FsN and get about 1700-1750 fps, and have brass that has now been loaded by me 8 times. Until there is a large supply of brass at a reasonable price, I do not press my loads for that extra 100-200 fps that destroys the brass.

[ripcity]

Ok, wow, I was way off. I should of went and got my note book before I opened my mouth. I'm still in the testing stage for TB. My loads that was doing this was 6.5 gr. of AA#7 (sorry about any confusion). That gave me an average of 1585 out of the FSN. So maybe I should tame it down a bit when shooting out of the AR57. Thanks to everyone for their input.

[12Bravo]

I finally got out and shot my new AR57. It bends the rim really bad and blows holes in the neck, I'd say 1 out of 10. Anybody know if this is normal?

This is quite normal with the AR57 even with factory loaded ammo. The case neck hits the side of the magazine well upon ejection. I have only shot factory ammo (FN 197 and AE) and all cases are dented. If you do a search for it on this site, you will see where some have put padding inside the mag well on their AR lowers to try and avoid this problem. I haven't tried reloading the 5.7 yet so can't comment on your recipe.

[Geoman]

+1 to Bravo's comment. My AR57 has dented my brass from the beginning. I assume it can be resized and re-used. The veteran reloaders can confirm.

[huddleston101]

+1 to Bravo's comment. My AR57 has dented my brass from the beginning. I assume it can be resized and re-used. The veteran reloaders can confirm.

i have reloded over 5000 rounds for my AR 57 and all the brass had the little dings and i have not hade any problems when it comes to reloding, just make sure you do not load it to hot, i use TB powder at 6.1 max and i havent had any issues.. as far as the casings being dented that was shot out of the AR57 rifle that is normal for the 57 and the resizing die should straghtin that out. hope these helps

[JohnG]

A bit of a thread resurrection here but I can confirm that even with a mild 5.7g load of true blue, I am experiencing cracks in the shoulders by roughly 40% of the cases fired at second reload. This is out of the CMMG banshee. The shoulder moves a lot and I would say if you can re-load 3x with moderate charge, you have pretty much exhausted the case life.