Inline FabricationTitan ReloadingWidenersMidSouth Shooters Supply
Reloading EverythingLee PrecisionRepackboxLoad Data
RotoMetals2
Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 71

Thread: I take perverse pleasure in reloading/firing severely deformed cases

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    San Angelo, Texas
    Posts
    36

    I take perverse pleasure in reloading/firing severely deformed cases

    I load over 20k pistol rounds a year. 9mm, 40 s&w, and 45 acp make up 90+% of them. I have at least 3 5gal buckets of each type of brass... almost 5 buckets of 45acp.

    And yet, I cannot stop myself from trying to reshape and reuse ANY case that isn't torn, ripped, or cracked. Last night when she came out to the reloading room to tell me she was headed to bed, my wife saw the 2 cases in the attached pic, and said, "Why on EARTH are you going to reuse THESE? YOU told me these are all about a penny each!"

    I run everything through either a Casepro roll sizer, or a push-through resizing die, and and put about 1/50 in a Dillon case gauge, so I"m never worried about them not 'plunking.'

    But still, it brings me a simple feeling of satisfaction when I can reload cases such as in the pic below.

    What say you, Fellow Boolit Casters?Click image for larger version. 

Name:	uo+d6MPyS5KCxgWbItdrXA.jpg 
Views:	94 
Size:	50.6 KB 
ID:	240073

  2. #2
    Moderator


    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Just outside Gun Barrel City, Texas
    Posts
    9,483
    Me too. It sort of feels like I'm beating the system, and getting something for nothing.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
    This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
    EVERYONE!
    Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    New Market, Iowa
    Posts
    1,466
    I think most of us are probably of the same mindset. Can't throw it away until we know absolutely for certain that it cannot be salvaged or repurposed. I've encountered a few 9mm that were mangled, actually was able to save a couple.

  4. #4
    Moderator Emeritus


    JonB_in_Glencoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Land of 10,000 Lakes
    Posts
    15,832
    I'll do that with 41 Mag brass...But I ain't gonna waste 2 extra seconds on a 9 or a 40.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
    ― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Posts
    8,899
    Reloading is a boring tedious task as is, so why waste time salvaging a $.02 case or brass that can be pickup for free. But what every turns your crank....
    Don Verna


  6. #6
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    San Angelo, Texas
    Posts
    36
    Quote Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe View Post
    I'll do that with 41 Mag brass...But I ain't gonna waste 2 extra seconds on a 9 or a 40.
    I know I'm 'wasting' my time from a purely economics pov. I run an RL1050 w/a MarkVii Pro, so I normally load well over 1000rph...and in terms of the time it takes for these, well, I'm just silly. Still, it makes me feel like Winger Ed. above: I'm beating the system (out of a penny or 2, lol).

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


    frkelly74's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    SAGINAW
    Posts
    2,383
    Lots of times it seems necessary to get one more load out of a piece of brass that you picked up for free. When it finally fails it is still good for scrap, I love thinking that I have come out way ahead by using something up and then turning it in for a profit. I wish I could adapt this system to something with much more residual value.
    Quis Quis Quis, Quis Liberat Canes

    /////////BREAKING NEWS////////////
    Millions and millions of American shooters and sportsmen got up, went to work, contributed to society in useful and meaningful ways all over the nation and shot no one today! How do they controll themselves?? Experts Baffled....


    I LIKE IKE

  8. #8
    USMC 77, USRA 79


    Markopolo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Remote island in SE Alaska
    Posts
    2,999
    We are sick, penny pinching, never give up sorts.... plane and simple truth..
    Any technology not understood, can seem like Magic!!!

    I will love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy fatboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Mandan, ND
    Posts
    113
    i dont feel so lonely on this front anymore, i do the same thing, gives me a feeling of satisfaction in bringing something back to useable shape from the brink of destruction... and much cheaper than restoring old cars for the same feeling...
    Giving money and power to Government, is like giving Whiskey and Car Keys to teenage boys!!!!

    REMEMBER,,, Boys and Girls,,, An EMPTY gun is just an ugly club!!!!

  10. #10
    Moderator


    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Just outside Gun Barrel City, Texas
    Posts
    9,483
    Quote Originally Posted by Markopolo View Post
    We are sick, penny pinching, never give up sorts.... plane and simple truth..

    I prefer the term...….. 'frugal'
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
    This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
    EVERYONE!
    Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Farmerville,Louisiana
    Posts
    1,357
    Really I’m not a hoarder I’m a historian.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    206
    I do the same. At some point, we moght NEED evry piece of brass we can scrounge, so this experience will be valuable.

    Brass that is split, crushed, ect I save to melt down and cast into other things.

  13. #13
    DOR RED BEAR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    1 mile from chickahominy river ( swamp) central va
    Posts
    2,162
    You know for years i was the same way i just couldn't stand to throw one away. I am doing a little better lately i keep a plastic jar for all bad brass for scrap man. But before they go in i crush them so i wouldn't go back later and try to save them.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    Decatur county, TN
    Posts
    428
    Hi, I'm sureYnot. And I'm also a case-aholic. If I have a case, I feel like I have to use it up.
    On the .223 cases, if they're the right HS, I can't bring myself to throw it away, even after a mouth split.
    Those become 300 BLK and begin life anew in their second stage of my addiction.

    Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

  15. #15
    Moderator
    Texas by God's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    14,334
    Don’t fret. I’ve resurrected brass that the cows have stepped on. Why? Because I wanted to!

  16. #16
    Boolit Master



    TNsailorman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Northeast Tennessee Hills
    Posts
    2,565
    I ask myself why but I keep doing it. Something about reclaiming old stuff and its just not brass. I save and use old wood, glass bottles, and other things that others would call junk. I am just a pack rat and it doesn't have to be shiney either. james

  17. #17
    Boolit Master BNE's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    SC
    Posts
    1,205
    It’s not really a money thing. It’s to prove to myself that I can make that bent up piece of junk go bang again.
    I'm a Happy Clinger.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master trails4u's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Upstate, SC
    Posts
    1,364
    Quote Originally Posted by BNE View Post
    It’s not really a money thing. It’s to prove to myself that I can make that bent up piece of junk go bang again.
    Yeah, I think I'm here. If I can learn to 'save' them now, when I don't necessarily have to save them, then I will have that skillset if/when I may need it someday. And....I like the challenge, particularly when it comes to something like .348 Win or .43 Spanish. That does pay!! (Not to say that I try any less on a .40S&W)
    "Do not follow where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Logan, Ut.
    Posts
    494
    when I first started reloading, I used to pick "everything" I found up. Some of it was/is just midnight Black with tarnish and grunge. It would take DAYS to polish some of that brass. I'd just keep adding it back into the tumbler until it was acceptable to shoot. But now, I still pick up "most" everything I find, but the seriously old grungy stuff goes straight to the recycle bucket. My back wont take what it used to anymore, so on a good weekend if I find a lot, I'll pass on more of it. But I also like a good "Challenge" when it comes to bent brass. And If I can't reload it, I can most likely swage it into something else.
    Good Judgment comes from Experience, Experience comes from Bad Judgment !

  20. #20
    Boolit Master

    pworley1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    3,253
    We all load for different reasons and no one reason is better than any other. Time spent having fun is never time wasted.
    NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check