Inline FabricationReloading EverythingWidenersMidSouth Shooters Supply
Titan ReloadingRepackboxRotoMetals2Lee Precision
Load Data
Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 71

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

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
    Tom W.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Phenix City, Alabama
    Posts
    3,855
    There's nothing wrong with the brass in the picture. My Colt used to mangle the case mouth regularly. A regular three die set will cure those minor dents. And I'll still reclaim and restore 9mm brass, even if it is cheap. It's part of my hobby.....
    Tom
    μολὼν λαβέ


    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

  2. #22
    Moderator


    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Just outside Gun Barrel City, Texas
    Posts
    9,484
    Quote Originally Posted by nun2kute View Post
    when I first started reloading, I used to pick "everything" I found up..
    Me too.
    However; even now, I still can't walk past, and leave a .45ACP hull on the ground.
    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. #23
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    82
    Trying to think of some part of reloading that is boring...*crickets*
    Don't want no one to git hurt, but if you're gonna have a wreck, I wanna watch.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Lynn Ma
    Posts
    825
    BTDT I have to physically stop myself on picking up brass that's been left at the range. There were times that saving that ONE case saved me a whole 5 cents now I have so much brass I just chuck in the scrap pile.
    And yes I know that there is no such thing as too much brass but I figure 4 standard foot lockers with brass for all the calibers I load should last me at least a couple of life times.

  5. #25
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    1,606
    every time i go to the range to shoot i always check the range pick up brass bucket, that is sold for scrap, and i pick out good and deformed/ pinched from stove piping, bring them home and try and save them to re load. if it fails i scrap them. i even take brass that i don't shoot and give it to people that does. WAIST NOT WANT NOT!! it is in the blood, thank GOD!.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Outside Rolla, Missouri
    Posts
    2,170
    I don't load semi-auto cartridges nor do I own a progressive. However, I'll work to salvage a case but for an entirely different reason. I shoot a lot of cartridges that the only way you get them is to form and/or turn them. I might have 1/4 hour or more in forming, turning and fireforming that case. If it takes a few minutes to salvage the case then I've saved not only the case but maybe 20 minutes time in making a new one and, perhaps not having to sacrifice another piece of hard to find brass for a parent case.
    "In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

    The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery

    NRA Benefactor 2008

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    New Market, Iowa
    Posts
    1,466
    Quote Originally Posted by dverna View Post
    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....
    I look at it as a challenge. I don't need to save it, but maybe I can? And if I can't, I'm out a few minutes of my time and I gained some knowledge.

  8. #28
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    New Market, Iowa
    Posts
    1,466
    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    Me too.
    However; even now, I still can't walk past, and leave a .45ACP hull on the ground.
    I have some .45 ACP brass and also some 10mm brass that I picked up. I do not even own a .45 acp OR a 10mm.

  9. #29
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Eureka MT
    Posts
    2,513
    It's my life. Making junk work again. It's fun stuffing a bent up piece of brass in a die just to see if it can be used again. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master

    skeet1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Enid, OK
    Posts
    1,214
    Quote Originally Posted by dverna View Post
    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....

    I guess I'm just odd, I still bend over to pick up a penny.


    Ken

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    2,794
    Same here, waste not want not. I picked up a bag of 300bo and 270win this weekend, oh and 243. I don't have a gun in any of the 3, but friends do! Can't stand waste, my Scottish heritage coming thru ,guess.
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  12. #32
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    S.W.VA
    Posts
    668
    My range almost never has anything but steel cased 223 and x 39, I do wish I could luck up on some 10mm ( got a new Kimber and have no brass yet) and 270.

    But next payday I guess Starline can fix me up! Aaron

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
    Tom W.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Phenix City, Alabama
    Posts
    3,855
    And I have been known to take a .40 S&W or .357 Sig and fill it full of lead while casting and use it for a projectile for my .44 RemMag, just because it works and shoots well. I sold my .480 before I learned that a .45 acp case full of lead will make a projectile for it.....
    Tom
    μολὼν λαβέ


    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Communism running rampant!
    Posts
    4,732
    The Me Too movement that makes sense!

    Me Too, I save what ever I can make a safe reloadable casing out of. That may be a converted casing or the original. An example is the 223.

    I shoot 223, 7mm TCU, 222 and 7.62x25mm. A 223 case is not the end of the line for me but the begining.

    In 30-30 which I also shoot, I also do 30 Herret and 357 Herret. The 30-30 case is but the begining of that story as well.

    You say it’s just one casing or two or three? I think back to Elmer Keith’s story in one of his books....

    It seems there was this law man that was taken captive by the crook he was pursuing. The crook gave the law man his revolver but empty. The lawman some how obtained a single cartridge of a smaller size and some scrap of paper. Carefully the lawman wrapped the paper tight around the undersized round until it fit his chamber. When the time was right the lawman used his hand fit cartridge to good advantage and escaped.

    Try telling that law man it’s just one casing!

    Three44s
    Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207

    “There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”

  15. #35
    Boolit Master



    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Alturas, California...where the west still lives!
    Posts
    2,255
    With me, recovering a case is automatic for some reason. I may have 1000 sitting there, but I'll desperately straighten a case mouth without even thinking about it. I guess it goes back to "the early days" when empties were precious to me. I'd only discard a .38 Special case when the mouth split from too many reloadings. I call it my "Depression era mentality".....save it, repair it, use it up and throw it out as a last resort......................

  16. #36
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    1,606
    i enjoy taking a case what ever it may be with a dent/crease especially 223's and reloading them and shooting them in my AR, and blowing uot the dent's, seams to work 99% of the time if not definitely on the 2sd. firing.

  17. #37
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    4,612
    I routinely buy large lots of once fired rifle cases. Many are bought at indoor ranges and have never been on the ground. However some have been stepped on or rolled around in a pick up cab for a while.
    I pick out all the mangled brass from these large lots and use the bad cases to make a small lot.

    I will wind up with 20 to 50 bent up and dented cases in a lot which I use to work up my loads. If I blow a primer or lose a case no big deal. When those cases get to be well used they are retired for spares. The best brass goes into storage until all my load work up has been completed and the junkers are worn out.
    If I take a rifle hunting I usually take loads using the junk brass if I have any left. A lost case while hunting is of little concern.
    EDG

  18. #38
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    England,Ar
    Posts
    7,687
    I do the same thing. I keep a 50 cal BMG bullet on the bench for straightening out pistol brass and a polished center punch for use on rifle brass. I even pick up the corroded and completely crushed stuff to go into my scrap bucket.
    Last edited by lightman; 06-16-2019 at 07:05 PM.

  19. #39
    Boolit Master
    Hick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Winnemucca, NV
    Posts
    1,600
    Guilty here too-- all 9 mm and 223 cases are all range brass-- and my 1909 Argentine Mauser (7.65 x 53) has never seen a 7.65 case-- all my 7.65 cases are formed from salvaged 270 or 30-06 cases
    Hick: Iron sights!

  20. #40
    Boolit Master
    Tom W.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Phenix City, Alabama
    Posts
    3,855
    Quote Originally Posted by lightman View Post
    I do the same thing. I keep a 50 cal BMG bullet on the bench for straightening out pistil brass and a polished center punch for use on rifle brass. I even pick up the corroded and completely crushed stuff to go into my scrap bucket.
    Hadn't thought of that, but I have a loaded 50 BMG round in my collection.......
    Tom
    μολὼν λαβέ


    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 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