Sorry this isn't a better pic but phone wouldn't focus well.

Anyway, these are 5.56 cases once fired in my own AR. There are these little nicks in several places around the neck. Given the pattern and spacing I'm assuming it's probably something to do with hitting the lugs on extraction. Can anyone say for sure?

I'm just starting to reload this caliber and wondering if this is an issue? Is there a way to tame this?

Actually those look pretty good from what my AR spits out. I am about 10% with big dents on the brass that I just look at and throw away. Those scratches I would reload on the lower range of the charge. They look like scratches instead of totally dented.

Those are dings from the sharp edge of the barrel extension as the neck flips to the right (just as it clears the chamber) and strikes the extension while held by the extractor and pushed right by the ejector.

Some people will polish these sharp edges slightly to help extend brass life when reloading, and some will change ejector tension as well.

They are dents, but they are very little concern, and I would reload them without question of powder charge.  If brass is unsafe at ANY pressure/charge level, it is unsafe period.

Those are unsized and yes maybe more a scratch. Finger nail catches. Some look a bit worse but after sizing and wet tumbling they aren't quite as noticeable.

See above post and you are good. Like I said better that the ones I reject when reloading.

Drop a case in the chamber, close the bolt, then slowly extract. You'll see the ejector flick it outwards as soon as it exits the mouth of the chamber and smack the 2-3 o'clock lugs. If it bugs you, look at Part 3 in here: Hellbender's guide to ultimate AR15 or AR10.

Ejector spring tension is usually adjusted to change the direction of case flight so as to not hit your neighbor on the firing line. A smaller ding is a happy coincidence.

Very often there are 2 marks with light scratches. If you had these you probably would have figured it out yourself when you compare the spacing and the locking lugs.

You will probably see single dents at some time on the case body too. These are caused by the casing hitting the case deflector. Of course if you have a slick side you won't get these.

Motor