New to the forum. Tons of great info. Im pretty new to the gun world and the info here has been a big help…Last week I purchased 1000 rds of Federal XM193. I just recieved it last night and I have a few issues with it. I have opened 5 boxes of 20 and have found 10rds with dents in the casing and 1 with a small crack in the neck of the casing. Is this normal? I tried to search to see if anyone else had this issue but I didnt find anything. I think I got a pretty good deal on the ammo but I dont feel like having 11% of my rounds damaged seems right, even if it is cheap. Maybe it isnt a big deal but I would love to hear your opinions. Also is this new brass? Its scuffed, scratched and has has some black gummy substace splattered all over the casings so I have a hard time seeing how it could be. Again I could just be ignorant of how these things work. My normal ammo purchasing experience is limited to going to walmart and buying a couple hundred rounds before I go shooting. I have never purchased anything in bulk before. Thanks for the help
Dents on the case are normal shoot it dont think twice about it.
The small crack on the one could cause concern more than likely it would be fine to shoot if its not that bad but best bet would be just to toss that one into the garbage.
The black gummy stuff is water proof sealant its fine it wont cause a problem.
If they are individually boxed (20 round boxes) they should be in better shape than the bulk loose pack PD ammo.
But quality can go down when production numbers go up.
If you are not happy get in touch with the seller.
This is right on. They are rarely all perfect, don’t let every little cosmetic flaw throw you.
But some may need to be disposed of, so if it looks that bad just toss it.
Ok. Im fine with dents and dings. I just wanted to make sure they were not going to damage my rifle. So does anyone know if this is new brass? It just looks so dirty but i guess im just used to getting the shiney overpriced rounds from wal mart. Also im saving my brass for possible future reloading, is this stuff worth saving? Or am I better off leaving it and sticking to brass that is a little nicer?
hmm… i’ve never paid a whole lot of attention to them, but i’ve shot a HELL of a lot of xm193, and i haven’t noticed anything like what you’re describing- a cracked neck is most certainly no go. dents should only be found in, at least in quantity, in remanned ammo- which xm193 is not. xm193 should be pretty new looking… it’s annealed, so the neck should appear tarnished- but other than that, it’s generally bright shiny, new looking brass. the black gummy stuff is most likely neck sealant, and is a good thing- but it shouldnt be slopped all over the outside.
sounds like you got a shitty batch, to me. not sure what advice to give… having found a crack, i think i’d be inclined to attempt a return, since there may be more. otherwise, inspect each round and make sure you’ve got your safety spex on when you shoot it.
Yes, the cracked necks are normally associated with “bulk XM193” or XM193 PD. Rarely if ever the boxed type have this issue.
in my boxed American Eagle xm193, I regularly find some dents and the rare seated crooked bullet. All has shot just fine.
I dedided to take a few pics so you could see what im talking about. Sorry they arnt very good. Im no photographer and I took them with my phone.
The first one is a round with a dent in the casing. Seems like all the dents are in about the same place on all the rounds. Just below the shoulder.
The second one is just a few of the casings. You can see the sealant splattered on the casings.
The third is another of the sealant on the casing. I just threw a new shiney round next to it for comparison.
I tried to take a pic of the round with the crack in the neck but it is pretty small and my phone camera couldnt get a decent shot of it. So is this pretty typical of how these rounds come?
The one dent is a little deep for boxed ammo, but beyond that they look pretty normal.
What year is the brass? Are they mixed years?
All normal no problems just go out and shoot it.
I just bought a 200 round bulk pack yesterday XM193. I visually check each case neck for cracks or to see if the case rim has been folded over during the bullet seating process I have never found that on X-M193 but I have seen it on win q3131 and PMC bronze. The black tar water proofing is fine I have a few in that box that has more than the pic you posted. Commercial ammunition is made nice and pertty 
and has been polished. The military brass is unpolished because they want to see the case neck annealing to visually verify that the neck was annealed properly.
I agree with the above. All of the XM193 I have shot has been boxed in cases, never loose packed. However, I am an avid reloader and naturally I pay attention to the quality/shape of the brass before & after shooting it. Ive got to say that for being individually boxed in 20 rounds to a box some of those rounds looked like crap. It almost appears as if they had an exposure to a moist/wet environment. Definitely throw out the cracked case necks, don’t take a chance. I would consider contacting the source that you purchased your ammo from and ask questions.
All the brass that I have looked at is the same stamp LC 09. Im not planning on returning the ammo but I will definately give the seller a call. I also called Federal and left a message a couple days ago but no one called me back. Guess it is time to give them another ring 
This is silly:rolleyes: just give me a ring I will dispose of it for you
I hope you got that crap cheap!
How much was it?
haha thanks Thomas but I think I can handle it :D. I think I got it pretty cheap. I paid $300.
+1 on both counts (+2?).
Are you sure it’s sealant or dirt on the outside of the cases? It looks almost like tarnish of some kind.
I wouldn’t worry about the dents, but I wouldn’t shoot any ammo with a cracked neck. I’d trash those straightaway.
Bimmer
The more you learn about ammo, and the closer you look at XM193, the less you’ll like it. :mad:
Roll some of those rounds on a flat surface and check out the bullet runout. :rolleyes:
I won’t shoot that crap through my silencer without CAREFULLY checking each round first.
Some of it is black and gummy so I would assume, from what others described, that it is sealant. Some of the other disoloration could definately be tarnish. I dont know what would cause that
What would be a good affordable alternative? I mentioned it before but sometime in the future I would like to start reloading. Is dented brass reloadable? Or is it not worth dealing with?
i’ve had some random stragglers of messed up rounds, but never a whole batch that looked like raked-up range duds. you probably got a particularly jacked up batch of mil rejects… i was under the impression that they put all their mil rejects in the BK cases (which easily explains why i never experience these poor examples other guys have reported), but i suppose they’re under no law or regulation to maintain any policies.