old G I brass

[cowboyt]

Any one have experince with 50yr old GI 30-06 brass- I've got quite a few that I've had for a long time and never got around to using,now I'm wondering if the old brass is safe to use-most is 54 and 57 mfg and even some from 42 and 43- I think my brother scrounged it from his Natl guard days in the mid fifty's-all thoughts apprieciated

cowboyt

[dmen]

I use lc 1945 30/06 brass on a regular basis with no concerns at all. dmen

[StarMetal]

Sometimes that old brass will become brittle and crack.

Joe

[DrBill33]

That old Military Brass was USUALLY corrosive primed. This means greatly weakened brass.

Take Care!

[Tom Herman]

That old Military Brass was USUALLY corrosive primed. This means greatly weakened brass.

Take Care!

I have a pile of 1954/1957 dated 06 brass as well.. I load it and have had no problems. That late it is non-corrosive.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[Phil]

It wasn't the corrosive salts that weakened the brass, it was the mercury they used in the primers in the twenties. Except for some Win Match ammunition I don't think anyone in this country has made any mercuric primers since the late twenties or early thirties. Your old corrosive primed brass is just fine to use. I use a lot of it yet.

Cheers,

Phil

[hydraulic]

I'm still loading some Frankford Arsenal 1938, St. Louis 1943, and Denver 1942. I don't know how many times its been loaded over the last ten or fifteen years, but I've never had a problem besides the eventual split necks.

[Boerrancher]

If you are concerned about it being brittle, anneal it before you start loading it. I am shooting some Lake City 57's yet today, that I wore out as 30-06's and have cut them down and made 243 win, 308 win, and 300 Sav, out of. Call me cheap, but I make sure I get every shot out of a piece of brass that I can. It may take a bit of time to form it, trim it, fire form it and turn the necks and anneal it one last time, but If I get a half a dozen more shots from it then it is worth the time and effort.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[TAWILDCATT]

the old brass is fine decap and wash with soap and water and that will get rid of all the salts.I use it as did all the older reloaders.and I am not sure when mercury primers were stopped but us military 30/06 never had them.they had clorate primers as all the other countries.:coffee:[smilie=1:

[2Sharp]

I have some WWII military brass that I used and reloaded in my 30-06 and when I re-barreled for 25-06 I fire-formed and shot them in that rifle. I still use them today. I throw one away when I get an occasional split neck.

bj

[Char-Gar]

I reload some WWII brass and even some 1901 Krag brass (FA 6 01). I loads some WRA 30 US brass from the early 30s that was unprimed. I do anneal the necks of the really old stuff. Corrosive primers won't hurt the brass, but the old mecuric primers will.

The good news is that mercury went by-by in primers a little before1900. It was common for many years after, for ammo boxes to say "non-mercuric", but the mercury had been gone for a very long time.

It is common sense not to push old brass (or new brass for that matter) to the red line.

[Big Boomer]

In picking up my .45 ACP brass at the range, I invariably pick up a few other pieces that have been fired. I now have several FA, WW, & RA that date back into the early 1940s. It cleans up and functions just like all the rest. Not being into hot-rodding my ACPs, it functions just fine. 'Tuck

[Kraschenbirn]

Over the last few weeks, I've formed close to 200 rounds of WCC54 .30-06 into 7.65x53 Mauser to feed my '09 Argie. Annealed the case necks prior to setting shoulder back, otherwise, no special treatment of cases. So far have shot and reloaded most, at least, twice without a single failure.

Bill