How old is your brass?

[Boerrancher]

Here is a photo of some of the 30-06 brass milsurp brass I have been shooting. I never really paid attention to how old it was, or how many times it has been fired. After a couple of shots I anneal it trim it if need be and with each loading I inspect it to see if there is the start of the tail tell ring of the brass getting thin. I got to looking at this piece and noticed that it was made in Sept. of 1940. That is rapidly closing in on 73 years of age. As old as many of our members here.

65533

So how old is some of the brass you are shooting?

Best wishes,

Joe

[1Shirt]

Yep, almost as old as me! I am still loading LC-62 M brass, that I have no idea how many times it has been loaded, but many many times for sure. I loose one occaisionally from a split neck, and I anneal and trim between 3-5 shots, and I neck size with a lee die. I expect it to outlast me.
1Shirt!

[jeepyj]

I know for fact that I'm still shooting some 38spl and 357 brass that has been with me since the beginning 34 years
Jeepyj

[texassako]

I have some .25 and .32 Remington cases from the the .40s I use with mid level loads. I also have some ~1930's Remington 8x50r Lebel cases I use with spitzers in the tube mag because they have the ring to catch the tip unlike today's Privi brass. They don't get used much anymore since I switched to shooting big flat nose boolits in the Lebels.

[shooterg]

Oldest I see is WRA 53 .45ACP . But I'll keep looking !

[km101]

I have '06 brass from '42 & '43

.38spl milsurp '62

.45aco milsurp '45

And some commericial .357mag from the '70's. The '06 and .45 is older than I am but it still reloads.

[Harter66]

LC 42 TW54 06'
FC 58 38s
68-69 308
58-60 32 Rem
and 80 pieces of brand new unfired 71' 7x57
Life span wise I've 9s that have been fired 50 plus times and some reworked brass that may see many more than that.

[searcher4851]

46 milsurp 30-06. Still works fine, but I have no real idea how many loadings it has on it. I had a bunch, and the crop has been thinned out over the years, but still have enough left in useable condition. I probably have lost and or given away more than I've had to thin out over the years.

[Boerrancher]

Thanks fellas for playing along. My original intent was to make a point which you fellas have, that brass will last a long, long time if properly cared for. I fear there may come a day when we wish we had taken care of our brass a bit better.

Best wishes,

Joe

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i know i have been reloading the same 357 brass for over 25 years

[x101airborne]

I have some LC 55 brass that I shot in my 30-06 for, um, geese, lets see here, at least 15 years with 180 grain j-words. Anneal every 5 reloads. Started out with 250 brass and am down to about 140 now. But, now they are new 8mm mauser loads. Trimmed, thinned, and annealed again, they will serve me for several thousand cast 8mm loads. Old brass never die, they just become other calibers.

[TheGrimReaper]

I got some 30 Carbine brass I think from '52 I been using.

[edler7]

Oldest I have is some '06 LC military from the early 40's. Like others, I anneal it and it keeps on shooting.

[mold maker]

I still have some of the 38 special with the different web.(maybe balloon head) I forget what its called, but it hasn't been mistreated and is still fine for light loads.

[oldarkie]

i have 1 lc39 ,most of the rest are early fifties thru ,sixties most have never been fired,i pulled them apart myself.

[dakotashooter2]

I had some 38 sp brass I got from and older guy. I don't know the age of it but it looked good...................... until I started depriming it and the bottom of the primer cup pushed out.......... figured must have been from corrosive primers.

[nicholst55]

I have one piece of .45 ACP brass with an FA 37 headstamp, but I'm not shooting it. I leave it on my desk to remind me that just because it's old doesn't mean it won't still work.

[Ohio Rusty]

I'm still reloading some .38 and .357 I bought about 1976 when I was a constable for a small police dept. I know which ones they are as the Lyman press left an odd ring at the bottom of the shell.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[firefly1957]

I have 45 acp cases from 1918 some still loaded with zinc bullets and 30-06 cases dated 50's and earlier i still use.

[No_1]

45 ACP FA42 headstamp. I have two 5 gallons buckets of this stuff. Needless to say I have a lifetime supply ;)
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p206/no_one_photos/Brass/530248_4015826013428_2029728414_n_zpsea5d8225.jpg

[GaryN]

You guys got me beat by a long ways. The oldest stuff I have is 39 years old. I lose one once in a while but it works fine.

[Frank46]

Just gave 250 FA 50 7.62 nato brass to a budding hipower shooter. I have tw 54 30-06 cases and some WWII cases. Frank

[Ed Barrett]

65633656346563365634Here is a 1943 Dominion of Canada .303 Brit. I bought 100 of these in about 1978 from a hardware store, They reloaded were with soft points commercially by a Canadian company. If I remember right I paid $1.20 per box of 20. the other one is .45 case from Frankford Arsenal from 1935. I have some older ones out in the shed, I'll check in the next few days. I still have 80 of those .303 left, I just neck size them for the same rifle and anneal them after about 20 reloads. It's damn good brass.

Sorry, pictures uploaded twice.

[Bullwolf]

I was cleaning up some old steel case 45ACP today with a "43" head stamp. I assume that it's from 1943.

65638

- Bullwolf

[stubshaft]

Still shooting a bunch of LC 41 brass in my '06.

[fatelk]

The oldest I've ever loaded and shot was some 45-70 with a headstamp of '93 (1893), a couple rounds just for kicks. I have a bunch of WWII and earlier 30-06 that is new by comparison. The oldest factory round I've fired was a .45 acp dated 1914. It shot just fine.

[Chicken Thief]

Danish 11.4x51R Remington Rolling Block from 1896
German Mauser 71/84 from 10 month 1886.

Left Mauser 1886, middle Dk RB 1900, right Dk RB 1896

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/R0011338_zps5931226e.jpg

The chisel mark on the '96 case denotes that the charge of smokeless is weaker than normal and intended for the '96 RB made in the USA. The Enfield barrels usen on the original RB's made at Remington is weaker than the one made in Denmark with a Barrel made of Gussstahl-Werk in Witten steel.

[Ed Barrett]

Went out to the shed and picked these out. All 30-06
From left to right. WRA Feb 1911, Frankford Arsenal Oct. 1910, Frankford Arsenal 1921 (I don't know what the dash R means), U S C Co. 1918, WRA Feb 1912. All 30-06 all have silver colored cupro-nicol bullets, except the 1918-R which has a black bullet. I fired a couple of these 20 years ago and they did fine, just didn't like to clean with GI bore cleaner since they are corrosive.

[MT Gianni]

I was sorting my 32 long brass a while back and found some 32 New Police.

[Char-Gar]

I have a lot of 100 FA 03 - 06 30 US (30-40 Krag) that is still in use. It is 108 to 110 years old. I have a large lot (300 cases) of same caliber from about 1925, the are stamped WRA 30 US.

[glw]

The oldest I use is some balloon head 38 S&W. I have no idea what year it is, but I'm sure it is old.

Glenn