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View Full Version : once fired brass...uh huh.



mozeppa
03-04-2017, 09:27 PM
i bought a bunch of 44 mag brass about 2500 to 3000 ....seller states "once fired"

they were all cleaned real shiney!

so i decapped them ...sized and flared them.

i'm "o.c.d." so i like sorting brass by head stamps up to a point....8 or 9 separate jugs... one for CBC
one for W-W SUPER ...one for PMC .....R-P ....FC you know, nice and neat.

so on to priming....

i use the RCBS bench mounted "APS" priming machine ...its good and it can be fast!

but the primers were going in way too easy....thought it was my imagination.

after priming about 1200 i had a few jugs with all their respective headstamps
all finished ..........when i spied a couple free loose primers in the bottom of the jug.

****....worst fears confirmed.

so i poured out the contents of that jug .....cbc brass....and examined a couple...they look okay.
let me try putting a skinny ice pick inside the shell case ...thru the primer hole ...onto the new primer's anvil on the inside ...and push....no it didn't detonate...it fell out.

so i sat down and did the same over 1200 times ...they all fell out ...of every brand of brass i had.

thought i had a bad batch winchester Large Pistol primers....as they measure by my mic's at .2094
which is only 6 ten-thousandths small.

then used pin gages on the brass .....almost consistently a .209 pin fits in with very little looseness.
my guess is not a half a thousandth loose.

.210 will not go into any of them.

they are supposed to be so tight that you cannot push them back out with a probe ...right?
of course i'm right!

so i looked even closer to the primer pockets.....8 out of 10 has a faint red ring close to the heads surface.

red paint[smilie=b:

my "once fired" brass has been fired so many times the primers pockets were loose for him...so he painted the primers in.

then cleaned them in ss pins so well you could hardly tell without using a microscope (which i have)
evidence of red paint on the pocket wall where the flash hole is ...(likely used a q-tip)

also on the winchester brand they were shiney too. except the rim and head stamps were pretty scratched up.

i imagine that my "once fired" 44 magnum brass has probably seen more than a dozen re-loads
maybe more.

i have maybe 10,000 rounds of 44 mag....and that's more than i'll be alive to shoot...but that's not the point.

it aggravates me to be taken by a huckster.

i can't say who i bought from because i bought from multiple sources....that info is lost on me.

spent the last 2 days painting in primers in brass i know i won't want to reload.

i'll leave time capsule notes in the ammo instructing my son in law what's up and why they are painted ....and to not try to reload them as it is more of a time waster than its worth.

ratz!

rant over.

Nueces
03-04-2017, 10:24 PM
I've seen cases with remnants of red paint about the primer pockets, but they had been factory proof loads. Fired just once, but at very high pressures. Could be what you got, hey?

Texas by God
03-04-2017, 10:31 PM
I wish you did know the vendor so you could confront the Bass turd. I bought "once fired 7.62 NATO " brass once and I had to stand to fl size them with lots of lube. In a rare case of rational thought I only loaded 3 rounds and they would not chamber in my rifle. I called the seller & after reporting my problem he admitted they might have been once fired in an M60. He refunded my money and didn't want the brass back. I hammered it flat-ish and gave it to the scrap yard. Thank goodness it was only 100 rds.

JimB..
03-04-2017, 11:43 PM
Threw away about 1,500 "once-fired" .357mag cases earlier this week. Not the worst though, last year I tossed about 3 gal of .38 special that must have been used by a bullseye shooter for a decade, even found loaded misfires in with the brass. Most vendors are good, not all.

GOPHER SLAYER
03-04-2017, 11:58 PM
I bought some once fired 38-55 cases and when they arrived anyone could tell they had been fired multiple times and without cleaning. Once fired brass should look almost as bright shiny as new brass. Some people just can't resist lying over a few dollars .

ShooterAZ
03-05-2017, 01:08 AM
Live and learn. I will never buy brass on this forum again ever. Buyer beware.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ford SD
03-05-2017, 01:48 AM
Are you using Win Gold primers (newer)
or Win Silver Primers (Older)
You can check the size of primers with a Mic
I have found CCI are a bit bigger when I Checked My last batch :)

I was priming some of my older rifle Brass and the primers were seating easy (Win Gold)
switched to CCI and they went from easy--------> to these are OK :)

Iowa Fox
03-05-2017, 02:35 AM
This primer thing has me scratching my head. I had several hundred Winchester 243 cases that I loaded using white box silver primers, went in nice and tight. That made them 2x fired after I fired them. When I went to load them for round three I switched to a blue box gold color primers. They were so loose they fell in the pockets and you could tap the rim and they would fall out. Tried more of the white box silvers and they were so tight I really had to pull hard on the Forster lever to get them in. I opened a brand new bag of Winchester brass and the gold Winchester primers just fall in and out. Talked to another guy and he had the same thing with Brand new right out of the bag Winchester brass and Winchester gold primers. I didn't ever pull out the calipers. Winchester has problems. Wish I could find some Tula's. Now those go in tight.

54bore
03-05-2017, 05:10 AM
mozeppa, What a bum deal! I'd be smokin mad. People around my area know to NOT pick up my brass if i leave it on the ground, its very well used. Bummer somebody would cheat ya like that! Pretty sad world we live in these days, there are Con artist crooks that do nothing more everyday than strategize how to steal your credit cards, bank cards, etc. i wish i could have lived in my Grandparents time, where a handshake and your word was all that was needed.

44deerslayer
03-05-2017, 05:28 AM
Boy that sucks iv had that happen to me on 308s from the gun shows

mozeppa
03-05-2017, 09:03 AM
using anything but winchester brand is not an option...

only because i have over 160 thousand.

OS OK
03-05-2017, 09:26 AM
Sorry for you mozeppa...good rant...I too am as OCD about brass.

I would start looking closer at the information provided by the seller in his avatar...how much they want to reveal about themselves is probably indicative of their trustability level.

I too have also noticed an increase in claims of 'Once Fired' and it has run the red flag up for me.

"We are getting a pretty low grade of stock around here!"

w5pv
03-05-2017, 09:40 AM
I may get taken once by a person but I try not to let it happen again.

1johnlb
03-05-2017, 09:41 AM
Mozeppa all is not lost. I've fixed many 308 and 8mm Mauser cases without issue and see no reason why 44 mag can't be done the same way. I used a process layed out by Larry G. In his tread converting Berean primed cases. It involves the use of an arbor through the case and lightly striking a ball bearing sitting in the primer pocket. Yeah it adds a one time step to the process but it better than scrapping all the brass.

Sorry wrong thread he used a swagger

myg30
03-05-2017, 10:04 AM
Now I understand why some guys ONLYwant dirty,non- deprimed brass. I think a while back there were Polls on dirty or clean preferred.
I'm no expert here but I find if a seller has "brass for sale", you have to ask history.
If they say tumbled,de primed, resized etc... you have to guess, or check seller history?
If they state range pick ups,most looks to be once fired, you have 75/20 chance it is. (5% ?)
If posted, My once fired, should be go to go !
And the old guy," These were loaded several times", still life, look good etc...You get what you bought!

I do believe most on here are all good folks. If you wait a month or two to open the box and inspect then I think it's your own fault ( I guilty of this) because I think you would loose your recourse to return or question the seller.

I prefer to buy on here mostly. I Have bought on other forums,vendors and only a few times got some mix of **** brass with the good.

I like dirty brass !

Mike

C. Latch
03-05-2017, 10:09 AM
If it's that old, you should start seeing mouth splits as soon as you start belling the cases.

mold maker
03-05-2017, 11:12 AM
I've made numerous purchases of brass from forum members. I've never been disappointed with either quantity or quality. Sure there have always been a few that I culled, After all it's USED brass. I have never had reason to question the integrity of the seller. It's up to the buyer to immediately inspect and affirm the expected product.
I feel sorry for those that have been wronged.

farmerjim
03-05-2017, 11:24 AM
I got one batch of brass from here that was terrible. Will not buy anything from them again. All others have been great.

winchester85
03-05-2017, 11:52 AM
I have sold a bunch of brass over the years. If I do not know the history, I state that. I do not clean it, I always thought that cleaning brass before selling it was a way to hide older brass.

RogerDat
03-05-2017, 12:31 PM
Range brass is range brass, new brass 1x fired by me is 1x fired. I clean mostly because I don't want to store dirty brass and I run it through a bucket with citric acid wash to clean out lead compound powder residue from primer. I may give it a trip through the crushed walnut to further clean it. It lets one easily see if that is a surface stain that will easily clean off since it is gone or deep tarnish since it is still there. I leave the primers in. Far as I know most commercial brass uses brass primers so the silver ones are almost certainly reloads.

I am sorting range brass for my own use, I will snag anything that I think others can use, a lot of times I sell/trade it at gun show where buyer can inspect. For unusual calibers I'll offer it here. Things such as 35 Rem or 45 Win Mag and other stuff that isn't commonly available used. Once I had a bunch of commercial 30-06 that looked good so I sold it here. Not having staked primers seemed like it was worth passing on to members rather than selling to brass vendor.

Recent brass was sort of rough shape, so I offered it at a low price to allow some rejects, with offer to refund purchase price if shipped back. I'll eat shipping to you if you think condition warrants you eating cost of shipping back to me for a refund of brass price. I don't think what I do is somehow "special" most here who sell brass are people who are unwilling to diminish their good name over the amount of money involved in a typical brass deal. I would also say it is on the buyer to check condition on arrival in order to give them a chance to make explanation or good on your order.

All the brass I have purchased here has been as expected, I make it a point to add my comment to straight shooters and deadbeats reviews or suggest them as a source. Better than slamming the lesser suppliers is promoting the good ones by providing your positive reviews.

psweigle
03-05-2017, 12:48 PM
i wonder if the op didnt accidently over clean the primer pockets? i had a friend of mine who had the same problem with fed. american eagle brass that was bought, fired, and reloaded by him. turns out, he over did it with a frankford arsinal case prep center and ruined the brass.

toallmy
03-05-2017, 01:22 PM
Trying a different brand of primer may work in this situation , to salvage the brass .

fatelk
03-05-2017, 01:34 PM
On the other hand, I had one incident that turned me off on selling any brass. If I ever sell any more, I'm overly careful about close photos and accurate description.

I had a bunch of rifle brass I got from a hunter who had been accumulating it for a decade intending to someday reload. He never did so he sold it to me. I had it for a couple years and never started loading that caliber so I sold it here. It was all the same brand, all bought at the same store over a decade or so. I put it the description that it wasn't all shiny, had been sitting around for years, and several of the boxes were dog-eared, but I had no doubt that it was once fired. I didn't decap and wet-tumble because I thought that most people want it unprocessed.

After he gets the brass he send me a nasty-gram, saying it was clearly many times fired and worn out; his "expert reloader" buddy told him so, because it wasn't all nice and shiny like some he'd got before. I tried to explain it to him, even offered to take it back or do whatever to make him happy but he disappeared. I have no doubt that had I processed it beforehand he'd have been totally happy. It left a really bad taste in my mouth to know that he thought I'd ripped him off.

I don't buy and sell a lot but over the years that's the only negative experience I've ever had here.

bouncer50
03-05-2017, 01:53 PM
Just my opinion on buying brass in S&S. So far it been 90 percent good. I been shorted more rounds then bad brass. Some people need to learn how to count seller said 105 rounds i got 95. This has happen a few time miss count, But i never receive more then they say they have. I have bought range brass that some of it looks like they dug it up JUNK. Just be honest with other on what your selling. My words are worth more then a few dollars to be honest.

bouncer50
03-05-2017, 02:01 PM
On the other hand, I had one incident that turned me off on selling any brass. If I ever sell any more, I'm overly careful about close photos and accurate description.

I had a bunch of rifle brass I got from a hunter who had been accumulating it for a decade intending to someday reload. He never did so he sold it to me. I had it for a couple years and never started loading that caliber so I sold it here. It was all the same brand, all bought at the same store over a decade or so. I put it the description that it wasn't all shiny, had been sitting around for years, and several of the boxes were dog-eared, but I had no doubt that it was once fired. I didn't decap and wet-tumble because I thought that most people want it unprocessed.

After he gets the brass he send me a nasty-gram, saying it was clearly many times fired and worn out; his "expert reloader" buddy told him so, because it wasn't all nice and shiny like some he'd got before. I tried to explain it to him, even offered to take it back or do whatever to make him happy but he disappeared. I have no doubt that had I processed it beforehand he'd have been totally happy. It left a really bad taste in my mouth to know that he thought I'd ripped him off.

I don't buy and sell a lot but over the years that's the only negative experience I've ever had here. So people will ***** if you hung them with a new rope. I know a guy that gave a friend a car so he could go to work. A few month later the brakes went out. He call the guy up and told him he gave him a junk car. And he wanted him to pay for the brake job.???????????

dragon813gt
03-05-2017, 02:07 PM
I'm very careful who I buy from. W/ pistol brass I prefer to buy new Starline. The extra cost is worth it in the long run. But there are a few vendors here who sell from indoor ranges. The brass I've gotten from them has been good.

Now bottleneck brass I will only buy new, still in bag or military. Anything else and I've had to many cases on the verge of case head separation. A simple paper clip confirms this rather easily. I don't trust people when it comes to bottleneck brass. I've been burnt on this site multiple times.

The following are my opinions. Once fired should never be said unless it's military brass w/ the crimp still intact. Anything else and you don't know. Many reloaders are honest. But if you're selling brass you picked up from the range you don't know how many times it's been fired. The lone exception being a range that only allows new factory rounds to be fired and they require you buy from them.

SS pin cleaning should not be used when selling fired brass. It hides all sorts of bad things. And let's be honest. People use it to hide these defects and maximize their profits. I don't want any brass that has had the primer removed. I will take care of this step on my own.

Love Life
03-05-2017, 02:09 PM
Ya'll better hope nobody is selling my leftover brass here, lol. I only leave brass on the range when it is at the end of it's useful life.

james23
03-05-2017, 02:14 PM
When I buy brass advertised as range brass I know what I'm getting at a good price but almost all brass at gun shows is sold as once fired and the guys really don't have a clue what they have. Many are cleaning up brass bought through estate sales, trades etc and there is no way to know how many times fired. I have been burned a few times but have been happy most of the time. I would rather buy unprocessed brass and inspect it myself than the guys that polish the hell out of 50 year old brass and ask new price for it

dragon813gt
03-05-2017, 02:18 PM
Ya'll better hope nobody is selling my leftover brass here, lol. I only leave brass on the range when it is at the end of it's useful life.
You don't take it to the scrap yard? That's the worse place to get brass from. That's where all my worn out brass goes. And I've been scolded by other reloaders for not crushing the cases first. I'm taking them to the scrap yard for a reason :laugh:

dverna
03-05-2017, 02:18 PM
I got burned on a 5 gal pail of .38 Spl. Most was OK but some was pathetic. It was not worth the hassle to return it and the price was really cheap. One thing I like about 9mm and .40 is that almost all of it will be once fired as there is so much coming off LE ranges. I prefer buying military 5.56 and .308 as it is easy to tell if it is once fired and with the Dillon it is easy to swage the primer pocket.

The red flag goes up if someone is selling a large quantity of brass in .357, .44, or most of the rifle cases. It is unlikely that anyone shooting that much will have large quantities of once fired.

Love Life
03-05-2017, 02:30 PM
You don't take it to the scrap yard? That's the worse place to get brass from. That's where all my worn out brass goes. And I've been scolded by other reloaders for not crushing the cases first. I'm taking them to the scrap yard for a reason :laugh:

Nope, I toss them in the brass scrap bucket on the range. The bucket says scrap, it's for scrap brass. The range takes it's brass to the scrap yard to help keep our fees low. If a dumpster diving thief gets my brass from the bucket...well...sucks for him.

Let me get back on topic, lol. Hopefully the OP wasn't intentionally ripped off.

higgins
03-05-2017, 05:55 PM
I have never bought brass on the site, but I have sold a ton over several years to many members on this board and others without a single complaint. All the brass I've sold or traded has been described as brass "I believe is once-fired (unless I know beyond a doubt that it's OF), clean but not polished, not decapped, sized, or otherwise prepped".

Once brass is polished you can't really tell whether it's OF. OF brass has a certain patina to it, and very few of them shine like they just came out of the tumbler. OF will usually have smudges of residue around the mouth, and primer crimps or sealant will be in place. Of course there are always exceptions, which is why I'm hesitant to ever say "always" or "never" in matters pertaining to ammunition and components.

fatelk
03-05-2017, 07:41 PM
I prefer once-fired brass unmolested, as do most of us who know what to look for, but I'm convinced that the brass-buying masses have a strong preference for shiny, inside and out.

I obviously don't go through near as much brass as many of you all, so I'll just stick with my random range pick-up brass that I sort carefully myself, and neither buy nor sell.

koehlerrk
03-05-2017, 08:03 PM
Well, this is why I tend to buy my brass from orisolo.

Love Life
03-05-2017, 08:19 PM
Starreloader is an excellent source of brass as well.

Budzilla 19
03-05-2017, 09:05 PM
The brass I have sold on here is just SS pin tumbled, primers left in! Mozeppa, I hope you didn't get burned too bad on this deal! I guess I'm as guilty as the next person, as I got that pin tumbler, and it was like," oh, look, it makes all brass beautiful!!"
Not realizing what I was doing. Live and learn I guess! Other than some LC 13 7.62 brass I don't deprime till time to reload,exception to this rule is processing 5.56 military brass. One of reloading so most hated chores!

JWFilips
03-05-2017, 10:35 PM
You have Indoor range pickup Most times it is once shot: You have range pick up and it can be 50 /50 or better

Then you have the sales from the scrap barrel guys....easy to go to the scrap dealer pay him for the barrel and then get a price adjustment when you bring it back! You really have to be wary about these type guys..... They say once shot but who knows; could be very bad
Just things to think about when buying brass on the internet!

tinsnips
03-06-2017, 12:00 AM
Starreloader brass is great. Have ordered brass from him more than once. Great guy to do business with.

Texas by God
03-06-2017, 12:40 AM
I corn cob & mineral spirited the last batch I sold. I figure it easier to spot flaws this way but I usually sell it uncleaned. I won't size/deprime it. Maybe the op can Super Glue the primers in. I probably would and label them as ONE USE.
Best, Thomas.

rondog
03-06-2017, 04:06 AM
When I sell brass I never claim that it's "once fired". I pick the stuff up off the ground at my gun club, I have no idea of the history of any of it. Granted, the vast majority of it LOOKS brand new and once fired, and probably is. There's a lot of pistol and carbine classes and competitions held out there, they shoot hundreds and leave 'em. Always new rifle brass around too, especially during sight-in season.

But I don't claim any of it is "once-fired", because who knows? I didn't shoot it, that's all I know.....

Tackleberry41
03-06-2017, 09:22 AM
Its pretty hard to say 'once fired' unless your the person who did the firing from new brass. Stuff picked up at the range, there's no way to know how many times it may have been used. The 9mm, 40, 45 brass seems pretty safe, most don't mess with it where it gets used more than once and left on the ground.

But even actual once fired brass can be messed up. Guy I knew had bought this huge box of 7.62 nato once fired, 2k or more easily in the box, he was gonna load it, but never did. All lake city military stuff, it sat in the garage collecting dust. I skimmed a couple hundred to mess with. About half have loose primer pockets, must have gotten carried away with the swage removing the crimps.

rond
03-06-2017, 10:05 AM
I have never had primer pockets all loosen at the same time, there must be more to the story. A lot of factory rounds have a red ring around them now, more so with the non USA ammo.

Triggernosis
03-06-2017, 11:37 AM
SS pin cleaning should not be used when selling fired brass. It hides all sorts of bad things. And let's be honest. People use it to hide these defects and maximize their profits. I don't want any brass that has had the primer removed. I will take care of this step on my own.
Can you explain how SS pin cleaning can hide defects in brass, please? I still tumble mine in walnut hulls, but I thought SS tumbling was the new wave of doing it.

white eagle
03-06-2017, 11:44 AM
Range pick up is just that
you don't know their history
however if someone claims its once fired and its not
and sell it here they should be held accountable

RogerDat
03-06-2017, 12:59 PM
Can you explain how SS pin cleaning can hide defects in brass, please? I still tumble mine in walnut hulls, but I thought SS tumbling was the new wave of doing it.

SS Pin cleaning polishes the brass so brightly and cleans all the nooks and crannies. Makes it hard to see stretch marks or defects with all that shine. Things such as tarnish, staining, pitting would all be tough to see. With primers out (typical for SS Pin washing) you can't see original primer type or condition. Typically not going to be silver CCI in 1x brass, and won't be flattened, flowed, or backed out which can indicate the condition and use of the brass.

I know some commercial or semi-commercial outfits use SS pin wash so that customers receive nice shiny new looking brass. I guess in that case you are depending on the sellers reputation for the brass having been inspected before cleaning.

There is one person in S&S here that sells fully prepped military brass, including re-rounded to true it. I assume his reputation depends on people being satisfied with the brass he sells. Which is one reason I encourage people to provide feed back in the straight shooters and deadbeats, although I would also consider it proper manners in the event of a problem to start with a PM to see if the issue can be sorted out to mutual satisfaction. Followed up by reaching out to the moderators to well moderate. Easy to really hurt someone's reputation with a hot tempered and ill considered rant. Sometimes how a person deals with a deal not working out can be as important as the "quality" of their product.

I too have purchased from orisolo & from Grumpa and was completely satisfied. There have been others I don't recall, which is why I make sure to record it in the straight shooters & deadbeats at the time. CRS disease strikes often here.

fatelk
03-06-2017, 03:08 PM
Guy I knew had bought this huge box of 7.62 nato once fired, 2k or more easily in the box, he was gonna load it, but never did. All lake city military stuff, it sat in the garage collecting dust. I skimmed a couple hundred to mess with. About half have loose primer pockets, must have gotten carried away with the swage removing the crimps.

I bought a bunch of bulk 7.62 NATO brass one time, all once fired, at a small gun shop. It was nearly scrap price so I wasn't worried too much. About half of it was LC and the other half French GI (boxer primed). I ended up scrapping most of the LC because it had been fired in a very loose chamber and most of them had the beginnings of case head separation on the inside. The French military stuff was indeed boxer primed, but it turned out the boxer primers they used were slightly oversized and regular large rifle primers were loose.

44man
03-06-2017, 03:21 PM
I have no idea what happened. Did the stainless pins eat brass? I am still shooting .44 brass from 1980, over 42 loadings of hot loads with no loose pockets. Loaded hot with 296. Fed primers.

mozeppa
03-06-2017, 04:34 PM
i've been trying the ball bearing trick...seems to help.

sit the case on top a ball bearing ...put a steel pin inside the case and hit the pin with a hammer couple times.

not real hard ....kinda sharp tho.

DO NOT hit the pin more than once!....i found out that this DOES work,BUT if you hit it twice or three times, you'll move too much metal and the pockets will be too small and impossible to seat a primer in...had to use a pocket uniformer cutter to open up the holes enough to get a primer in.

one medium pop of the hammer does it.

mold maker
03-08-2017, 11:57 AM
To Whom It May Concern. At my demise there will be bounteous amounts of de-primed, acid and SS pin cleaned, beautiful brass available. If ya want only dirty, stained, ONCE fired virgin brass don't buy it. There are literally multi buckets that look like new, but don't be fooled, it's all been fired, at least once.
Most were picked up off the ground or bought here on this sight. I've culled the obvious that didn't meet my satisfaction, but my standards may not equal yours.
Until that time I will state that I have been grateful for the quality and quantity, of every purchase from our members and couldn't have expected better.
To those who are so critical of "used" brass remember, even the original mfg. didn't guarantee "flawless" products. We just learned to expect it.

shooterg
03-08-2017, 03:56 PM
I've had brass I KNOW was once fired with pockets the newer Winchester primers weren't tight in, but Wolf primers made a difference in force of seating and worked.
As to machine gun fired brass - I've used lots of 7.62 and 5.56, usually use a small base sizer for first reload and "factory" after, worked for me.
Never been ripped on this site and hope no one feels ripped on anything from me !

mozeppa
03-08-2017, 04:23 PM
i don't feel too bAD NOW... i've been enlightened on how to fix the situation with the ball bearing trick.

in fact... i'm coming up with a tool to do the ball bearing trick really fast and more repeatable on tension.

mozeppa
03-08-2017, 04:26 PM
it's really hard to switch primer brand use....when yer sittin' on 160+ thousand winchester's

376Steyr
03-08-2017, 04:33 PM
I got a bunch of "once-fired" 38 Special brass from a major online retailer one time. Somebody must have swept out the reloading room at a olde-timey range, as I got wadcutter cases older than I am with the nickel worn off, deprimed cases, belled cases with live primers, and a few live rounds. This is another reason why I always put on safety glasses when I step up to the loading press, you never can tell if a live primer might be lurking in that "good deal" you got on fired brass.

alamogunr
03-08-2017, 04:49 PM
I've bought lots of once fired brass here. A lot is still sitting on the shelf as I was stockpiling before the election('s). Of the brass I've used, I don't recall any problems.

Last fall I happened to be at the range when the sheriff's department and police department were qualifying or practicing. I found out what days over the next 3 or 4 weeks they would be there and arranged to follow them the next day if I could. Picked up several thousand 9mm brass. They had just changed back to 9mm from .40. I got the impression that .40 would start being somewhat less common over the coming days.

This thread has been very informative. If I run into problems, the ball bearing trick may help salvage some rifle brass. Like some have stated, I try to buy Starline for my .45 Colt, .475 L and the like.

woodbutcher
03-08-2017, 06:20 PM
:D One caliber that I can probably for sure say they were fired in a MG.That`s the .50BMG;).A guy that I know bought a bunch a few years ago for his Barrett.Not to mention the 10K loaded rounds.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

country gent
03-08-2017, 06:44 PM
I bought once fired brass (308) by the pound from springfield armory for several years during the Nationals this was mostly WW. I got LC from the military teams during this time also.

lightman
03-08-2017, 07:42 PM
I've sold a little brass on this site. I advertised it as range brass. A small bit I advertised as once fired because I KNEW the history. I did not clean any of it except when it comes home it gets run through a plastic bottle with hot soapy water. I did sell quite a bit at a gun show last year that was tumbled. Gun show buyers seem to like it polished. I use loading blocks to count brass with. Sorry you had a bad experience, its sad to even think we have scammers on this site!

Just Duke
03-19-2017, 09:06 AM
In the years I have bought brass, I have accumulated a 5 gallon bucket "once fired twenty times brass". Most were so overloaded the pimmers were flowing and the head stamp was no longer legible.
I figured the guy needed the money so we just kept adding to the bucket and shaking our heads. Came close to $500.00 loss.

My only real complaint is when I have a 70 pound item for sale that's half the size of a washing machine box and he demands I ship it for $20.00 from literally one side of the planet to the other. (I'm 30 minutes to the CA border)
Or it says "plus shipping" in my add. He says "I'll take it" then notifies me that we are now splitting the shipping cost because he wants a better deal on a $500 item I have used for two months and selling for half that. <eyes rolling>
I end up throwing my hands up in the air during the 20 PM litigations and selling it to the next guy in line that will gladly pay shipping.
So then I get turned into the mods and now I'm supposedly the bad guy.