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I recently purchased a case of 1000 rounds of American Eagle 5.56x45 but I have some concerns. This ammo is listed as factory first run ammo, not once fired brass but upon inspection of a few boxes it appears that it actually might be reloaded. All cases have scraping like they have been in a chamber at one time, some have dents near the shoulder of the brass, and some have a weird pick near the primer. Headstamp has the nato cross, LC and 14. Are all these things normal? Here are some pics of what I'm talking about.

 

Weird crimp to the left

 

9t27v8.jpg

 

The 2 cases to the right are the ones with the weird crimp at the primer. You can see some of the dents on the cases.

 

2qw1su0.jpg

Edited by AZ-DAVE-IZ109
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Looks like Lake City is packaging their seconds as American Eagle (Federal owns both companies).  But head stamp is 2014 production. I got a case of loose ammo from Lake City recently that was dented up like yours is. Shoots and reloads fine though..

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Could this be mil surplus fired brass that was the subject of contention a few years back?

 

DOD was scraping their fired brass or being sold to China as I remember instead of allowing it

to be sold for domestic reloading. Then that order was reversed after a while due to the outcry.

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The 4 stake primer crimps and dented shoulders are more than likely reloads. I would be contacting the company that sold them to me if they sold them as virgin brass. Maybe someone else with more reloading experience than I can speak up. But that type of primer crimp is typically used a lot when the primer pocket starts to loosen up. I could be wrong. I received some Freedom munitions 300BLK that were cutdowns from LC 5.56 brass. Some had the 4 stake crimped primers, some did not. I have not attempted to reload any of the 4 crimped primers as It appeared that the crimping actually deformed the primer pocket. As far as the dents, they will reload just fine.

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I originally purchased 1000 round bulk pack if federal 5.56 from Palmetto state armory but their inventory was wrong so they subbed this out instead claiming it was the same product just packaged in 20 boxes. I already contacted them and expect to hear back in the next few days about it and I also will be contacting the manufacturer about it as well.

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XM, call it ex-military. The shit that doesn't cut the high standards and shoots just fine is sold to you as xm(whatever) or american eagle. etc. The brass is good stuff, the ammo is good. Just machine marks around the primer. Dents from conveyor belts and tips landing on another case, annealed around the heads is the color you see on the neck. Done by FIRE!

 

It's new Lake City military ball ammo, it just never made it to the infantry.

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I got some xm 180cs (i think) 7.62x51 ammo and i noticed the same kinds of things you're seeing here. So far the s308 doesn't give a shit what it looks like, it just consumes and asks for more! I guess when i get a lil more into reloading i may find issues with the gnarly ones but even so, the majority should still be reloadable.

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Yes you can shoot the crap out of it and it will be just fine, just not the best best brass for reloading. I don't disagree with Stryker often but that primer crimp is not machine marks, it is intentionally done to secure the primer. Won't make a difference in shooting it though. If your not worried about reloading it, shoot it and enjoy.

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Excellent subject. Can you examine the fired brass? It is Boxer primed? I for one have not seen that kind of 4 slot type crimping around the primer. The cases almost look like they have been run thru a SAW light machine gun.

 

Examine the rims. You might have to use a pair of binoculars and turn them around and make them into an expedient magnifying glass. Look for tiny burrs where the cases might have been violently extracted from an auto weapon.

 

Look at the boxes. Does it say anything in fine print about recycled or re claimed components? Are the bullets military spec SS109 with the hardened steel inserts inside? Can you pull a couple and identify the powder type?

 

Very strange and thank you for bringing it to this Fine Forum. My best guess right now in lack of other knowledge or evidence is that the ammo may not be completely what they say it is. Worst case? Counterfeit. HB

 

Does the box say anywhere that it is "X" something...like XSS109 ammo? The "X" would mean that for any number of reasons the ammo was not accepted by the military/govment. Does not mean it is bad ammo...just not accepted.

 

May not mean it is rejected ammo either. Lots of reasons why the govment will not accept a particular lot of ammo. Good luck. You are probably OK using the ammo, but if it was me, I would want to know more. Just me. Henry

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I did a little more research on the stake crimped primer. They can be reloaded with swaging. I just find it odd that you would get mixed crimping, some annular and some staked in the same batch of factory loaded ammo unless the brass has been reloaded. Even with the brass deprimed, sized, and the primer pocket swaged, the stake crimp marks are still evident. However the pics you posted above clearly show the staking occurring after the brass had been reprimed. You can see it by the brass deformation and the stakes on the live primer. Very odd. I say shoot it and forget about it. I haven't had any issues with the reman 300 BLK with the same marks. I have to admit though, it is puzzling and I would like to know the explanation for the different crimping methods used in the same batch of ammo.

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It was odd that only 2 of the stake crimped primers were in a box of 20. I just don't understand why these are marketed as first run, first quality ammo when it is not. I believe it when you say that they are rejected due to imperfections in the brass and such but they do look like they have been fired from a weapon. There are fine lines along the length of the brass like they were in a chamber. I have never seen any ammo purchased from a retailer that looks like it's been sitting in grandpa's old shooting box for a couple years.

Edited by AZ-DAVE-IZ109
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Here is a pic with the flash. Can you tell which is which?

 

102v0h5.jpg

It's really hard to show how similar these cases look with the naked eye through pics. Look towards the bottom of the case. Seems like they have been in a chamber before due to the bottom being brighter than the rest of it. The once fired brass has the same color marks at the bottom as the "new production" where the rim and bottom portion are out of the chamber when fired.

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