Where do you draw the line on what’s safe to shoot? If they are small dents like the one in the photo below are they ok to shoot or would you throw them away?

Dents like those in the picture above are NOT A PROBLEM, as noted in the "Ammo Faq" tacked to the top of the Ammunition Forum, these are quite common with XM193 rounds.

Personally as long as the dents don't occur forward of that one and affect the neck, possibly canting the angle of the bullet I don't worry much about them.

They tend to fix themselves by fire-forming to the chamber the second your hammer drops anyway. Provided of course your not shooting them in a rifle which has excessive headspace.

Shoot 'em up!

Mike

When Marines shoot on the range, we do brass checks for dents.  If there is a dent, we trade it in for a different round.  Not for sure if it's safety or maybe if a dent can affect accuracy, but they don't want us to use them, so i don't use them in any of my home weapons.

Dents like that are not a problem and are normal.

Slowworm

Quoted: When Marines shoot on the range, we do brass checks for dents.  If there is a dent, we trade it in for a different round.  Not for sure if it's safety or maybe if a dent can affect accuracy, but they don't want us to use them, so i don't use them in any of my home weapons.

They ain't paying for those rounds they toss out either, us taxpayers do.....

I'll go with the info in the Ammo Faq: www.ammo-oracle.com

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?

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.


There's pics there also......

Mike