Question on "tread marks" close to the case head

[grayfox]

I received some 308 brass from a friend, and after cleaning and sizing it, I have a question hopefully someone has the answer to.
Several of them have what looks like small "tread marks" around the outside of the case, down close to the case head. What does this mean, and are they ok to shoot?

I'll paste in a picture of this.
img-0447-small.jpg

[montana]

I have read that M852 Match that was knurled about 1/4 inch from the rim was not approved for combat, so they marked the cases to differentiate it from combat ammunition. I have read it was safe to reload and some who claim it weakens the brass and was not safe to reload..I can not verify any of this..

[Old Bob]

I found this...

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516314

Stencil on M852 Ammo can...

7.62x51M852-NFCU.jpg

I have some of this brass. Seems to reload the same as any other 7.62x51 brass.

[grayfox]

[grayfox]

From one of the sources.
The knurl marks are not as deep as this pic seems to show however.

Mk852.jpg

[kmon]

Grayfox, i hope that pic is not to scale as I would expect those cases to experience failure of case head separation on the initial firing or would certainly not reload them.

On your brass I would cut one off a little above that and file it down smooth to the marks and see how much you have left of the thickness of the case at that point. Military brass is thicker than commercial brass and you might still have as much brass there as commercial brass does. Might take sacrifice of a couple cases though to figure that out.

I might still have some once fired 308 brass if I do I will PM you later.

[grayfox]

The marks are only about as deep as a case scratch, I have seen deeper ones on cases up by the shoulder/neck.
I might tear down one just to see, not a bad suggestion.
If they were as deep as the pictures shows they wouldn't even last the first firing.

[LR1955]

GF:

That's M-852 Match. The box is stamped "Not For Combat Use". I think the knurling was a means of identifying it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the brass. The knurling has no effect on sizing, loading, or shooting.

LR55

[grayfox]

Thanks 55,
Got them all sorted out now, and cleaned up, separated into batches.
Making plans for some 308 lead downrange...
Not any varget around to speak of (I have some in store) but I do have lots of 4166, 4064. That should get me up to 165's if I want to go there, mostly I plan on some 125's and 150's, which again I have plenty of.
Some I4895 but may concentrate on the powders that I have multiple lbs of.
Like I do Ar comp and Xbr for my grendels.
And Lever for the 6Arc.

Decisions, decisions.........

[StoneHendge]

Do you need to swage the primer pockets? Does it have the normal LC headstamp or the LR headstamp?

[Old Bob]

Do you need to swage the primer pockets? Does it have the normal LC headstamp or the LR headstamp?

There's no crimp on the primers. The headstamp is MATCH LC-XX. I haven't seen any other headstamps.

[grayfox]

^^ what I've read for the match rounds. But to insure everything (I had some Hornady that was crimped, too) and the rest of the regular LC which might have had a crimp, I found some nice guys in FL that do all the clean up for a few pennies, and I had well over 500 altogether, so I farmed all of that out to them. Took care of any crimps, etc wherever they found, cleaned, re-sized trimmed and all spiffed up. Cool, clean shiny like-new brass.
Life is good