just received a shipment of XM193. Is it typical for the brass to be tarnished looking? thanks.

from [url=www.ammo-oracle.com]The Ammo Oracle[/url]:

[b]Q. What is with this goo and the dings on my Lake City Rounds?  What is this discoloration on the necks of my Q3131A?  Did someone take a blowtorch to it?
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Lake City doesn't bother to polish ammo after it's loaded. Occasionally you'll see dings or excess sealant on the casings of Lake City ammunition, particularly the Federal XM193 that Lake City has produced of late.  Sometimes the ammo looks downright beat up.  It's generally not anything to be concerned about and shouldn't impact performance.  Still, most distributors will offer to take the ammo back if it's in that condition.  Check to see if your vendor has a return or satisfaction guaranteed policy if you're really worried about pretty ammo.  You can also send it to the AR15.com staff "Ugly Lake City Disposal Facility" and we will be happy to render each and every round safe.  J

Just about all necked rounds use a heat process called "annealing" to shape the neck of the casing.  Producers of military ammo don't bother to spend the extra time and effort in production to polish the brass after annealing, unlike most commercial ammo.  The result is that discoloration that makes it look like someone took a blowtorch to the ammo.  Don't worry, it won't impact the performance in any way.

I don't think I own any .223 that isn't all gnarly looking.

~AbM

M193 is like Shit-eating grunt's, it's ruff, it's rugged, it's ooglay.

The lighting is a little off in this photo, but you can see the M193 on the left, darker, shows the annealing around the shoulder of the case, [i]the rugged military type.[/i]  The one on the right side is Winchester commercial 223, beautiful polished case, very nice aesthetics.

[img]http://www.pbase.com/image/24073327/medium.jpg[/img]

Updated image above with a better photo.  [8D]

The XM193 still looks too pretty. [;D]  You need to Photoshop some blotches, decrease the brightness by 10 to 15, then put a nice dent in the shoulder before I'll recognize it as brother to any of my Federal lots at the house. [:D]

I find the annealling rather attractive myself.

Gives it a nice two tone effect, they oughta charge extra for that!  
[thinking]

Bingo!