Getting M1 or M2 .30-06 brass ready to sell - deprime or no?

[Old School Big Bore]

Since 4895 is hard to find and I have .30-06, .308 and .243 rifles to feed, my stash of corrosive-era M1 and/or M2 .30-06 ball, AP and tracer is about to get pulled down - I intend to keep the 4895 (presuming it's M2) and surplus off the cases and j-words as I have plenty of M72 and FC GM brass for my own use and do not need the FMJs.
I don't think I'd want to decap live primers, especially corrosive ones, without neutralizing the pellets first. Would I be better off leaving the primers alone, killing them with some oil or solvent, or killing them and then decapping the brass? Is primed brass hazmat? Would I find anyone wanting corrosive primed brass? I'd value some input.
In the meantime I'm about to start reclaiming powder. I'll be running them in a seating die first, to just crack the seal, as long as I don't put them too deep for the collet to grab. Once I pull the first one, I'll examine the bullet to make sure which M the ammo is, and if it's M2 then it's 4895 and I'm in business, but if it's M1 then the powder is likely IMR 1185 and I'll have to either hunt data or figure on using the charge weight I find in the ammo in same-bullet-weight loads, kinda like push-pull but a bit more complicated. Some of the ball is in belts, 4:1 with one or another M of tracer. I think there's also some 4:1 AP/tracer - I'll have to figure out what powder is in the tracer and AP rounds or push-pull them into M72 brass with modern primers for SHTF stock.
Oh, and I'll have LOTS of Garand clips as well, and a few 1919 belts and links.
Ed <><

[Outpost75]

I would sell the ammo as-is and buy new components.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Sound advice. Save yourself a lot of work.

DG

[ShooterAZ]

I'll agree with the above two comments, with one exception. Finding new components right now could pose to be a bit daunting. I personally wouldn't pull them down until I completely ran out of powder and needed it desperately. As far as selling it goes, I also agree with selling it as is.

[TNsailorman]

If you have the primers to replace the old ones, I would pull them down and reload. I have down quite a few of the old WW II 30-06 corrosive ammo (2,00 +) and I weighed each and every powder charge as I pulled them down. Then took an average of the charges and loaded at that level minus one grain. I also trimmed the cases to correct length. Worked extremely well for me. But then, reloading has always been a hobby for me and just not a means to and end. You might be surprised at the variances in the weights of the powder charges and the length of the brass cases themselves. I have measure case lengths on LC, DEN, SL, etc. and almost none of them were in spec.. Many being longer than spec.. No wonder you see combat pictures of soldiers yanking at the bolts of their M1 Garand's. My pulled down ammo turned out to be the most accurate military ammo that I ever shot in my 1903's and M1 Garand's. Its your call though, you might not want to go to that much trouble. But finding components right now is a trial and the cost is out the roof if you do find them. my experience anyway, james

[Old School Big Bore]

If I could find IMR or H4895 I wouldn't be asking. I've held onto this ammo for decades precisely against running out of 4895. I recently pulled down some .444 I'd loaded with 4895 and have only about 50-ish loads worth. So, yeah, I am effectively OUT OF 4895.
So I've just returned from the bunker and I have 4 30-cal cans full of either M1 or M2 in Garand clips, one belt of linked AP/T 4:1 and one fabric belt of straight ball, probably M2, and an entire sardine can, unopened but unfortunately unsealed due to rust, of 1300+ M2 in bandos of clips. Four layers of 10 clips fit in a .30 can, so this is looking like about 3600+ rounds all up, at 50-ish gr/rd is about 27.8 lb of 4895, some of which (if I pull down the AP) may be IMR 1185, which seems awfully worthwhile to me, even if none of the brass nor projectiles were useful. I have very little money in the stash, and will come out to the good even if I sell the tarnished brass for scrap and take the bullets, clips and links and belt to a (gasp!) gun show in zipper bags.
Thanks for the comments.
Ed <><

[Old School Big Bore]

TNsailorman, I was typing when you posted. Thanks for the response. I too have push-pulled and otherwise recycled many elderly GI '06 loads for their components and kept my '70s M72 in reserve. While I was a competitive NG shooter I did the same with a lot of match M852/M118 .308 ammo - we shooters were loading the prototype of the M118LR before the armories did. Before the drought I obtained a good stock of MatchKings and upgraded much of my issue .308 stash from FA & LC 168/172/173 gr to the 168 gr MKs and intend to load essentially an M118LR clone in .30-06 with the MKs. I have a good bit of 4064 and realize it's a sister powder of 4895, but I'm not gonna pass up this in-house source of 4895 any longer. Of course if what I get ends up being smelly or otherwise spoiled, then all bets are off.
PS I was also gifted 2000 off-catalog 250 gr MKs (!) from when the NGMTU was experimenting with heavier bullets in the .300 Win Mag. They couldn't get them to stabilize in the R5 barrels of the M24 except in action-stretching near-proof loads, so we State-level shooters got a windfall. My M70 skinny barrel .300 needs a heavier tube anyhow so I'm looking to rebarrel it with a 1:8 bull if I can find one, since the 1:8 are more common now. If I can find someone who'll thread a 1:8 barrel for a Mossberg 810A and a 98, I may eventually have a .308 and .30-06 ready for heavy bullets too.
Ed <><

[Stewbaby]

Sell it as primed brass...that way the buyer knows it’s zero times fired and can use as is or deprime themselves. Primed brass ships non-hazmat the same as whole ammo...go UPS (no USPS) with ‘limited quantity’ label

[Outpost75]

I am still using WW2-era cal. .30 and .45 ACP ammo with corrosive primers and most has been sure-fire. My father taught me how to clean a Garand, '03 and a .45

Some ammo pics as "eye candy" typical of the "stash"

Attachment 274792Attachment 274793Attachment 274796Attachment 274797Attachment 274798

[too many things]

you have NO way of knowing what powder was used in those . you like many nuts here are playing with a fire you cant run from.
DONT try it

[M-Tecs]

Since 4895 is hard to find and I have .30-06, .308 and .243 rifles to feed, my stash of corrosive-era M1 and/or M2 .30-06 ball, AP and tracer is about to get pulled down - I intend to keep the 4895 (presuming it's M2) and surplus off the cases and j-words as I have plenty of M72 and FC GM brass for my own use and do not need the FMJs.
I don't think I'd want to decap live primers, especially corrosive ones, without neutralizing the pellets first. Would I be better off leaving the primers alone, killing them with some oil or solvent, or killing them and then decapping the brass? Is primed brass hazmat? Would I find anyone wanting corrosive primed brass? I'd value some input.
In the meantime I'm about to start reclaiming powder. I'll be running them in a seating die first, to just crack the seal, as long as I don't put them too deep for the collet to grab. Once I pull the first one, I'll examine the bullet to make sure which M the ammo is, and if it's M2 then it's 4895 and I'm in business, but if it's M1 then the powder is likely IMR 1185 and I'll have to either hunt data or figure on using the charge weight I find in the ammo in same-bullet-weight loads, kinda like push-pull but a bit more complicated. Some of the ball is in belts, 4:1 with one or another M of tracer. I think there's also some 4:1 AP/tracer - I'll have to figure out what powder is in the tracer and AP rounds or push-pull them into M72 brass with modern primers for SHTF stock.
Oh, and I'll have LOTS of Garand clips as well, and a few 1919 belts and links.
Ed <><

As you stated the M2 ball will be IMR 4895. The M1 Ball gets more interesting. See post #7. https://gunhub.com/ammunition/52133-...-used-ww1.html

[M-Tecs]

you have NO way of knowing what powder was used in those . you like many nuts here are playing with a fire you cant run from.
DONT try it

With a manufacture date on the headstamp and a little research is easy to find exactly what powder was used. With some of the older M1 Ball finding data will be the real challenge. Even with that as the OP stated he would "figure on using the charge weight I find in the ammo in same-bullet-weight loads, kinda like push-pull but a bit more complicated." That has been done safely for over a hundred years.

Glad Hodgdon did follow that advice. https://hodgdon.com/company/about-us/

The Hodgdon Companies, as they exist today, are an example of this tradition. Until he began the surplus powder business, Bruce Hodgdon was a salesman for the Gas Service Company, traveling local territory selling gas appliances. From a few dollars borrowed on the cash value of his life insurance policy has evolved a manufacturing and distributing company that has customers in all 50 states and many foreign countries.

All his life Bruce Hodgdon was interested in shooting, hunting, and reloading. He custom-loaded ammunition for friends during World War II while he was in the Navy and after, while working full time as a salesman for the Gas Service Company. Somewhere Bruce had heard that the government burned huge stocks of surplus powder after WWI because of the lack of market for them, and he figured that the same would be true after hostilities ended in 1945.


Even though he had no place to store gunpowder, and did not know if enough shooters would gamble to purchase unknown types of propellant, Bruce cut government red tape and soon owned 50,000 pounds of government surplus 4895. An old boxcar moved to a rented farm pasture served as the first magazine, the first one-inch ad placed in the American Rifleman, and Bruce was in business.

The first 150-pound kegs of powder sold for $30.00 each plus freight! Early shipments also consisted of metal cans with hand-glued labels sent out in wooden boxes made from orange crates and sawed on a homemade circle saw by Bruce and his grade-school age boys, J. B. and Bob. A little later, the boys delivered shipments to the REA or the Merriam Frisco train terminal each morning on their way to high school. The trunk of the family 1940 Ford served as carrier for hundreds of thousands of pounds of powder during this time. Bruce’s Wife Amy served as bookkeeper and saleswoman. Very quickly mail order sales grew to include other reloading components, tools, and finally firearms and ammunition.

As a kid I would go down to the Coast To Coast Hardware store and purchase surplus IMR 4895 out of very large keg scooped out with an ice scoop and placed in a paper bag.

Surplus powder sales are still very common. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...Powder-sources

[Old School Big Bore]

Thank you M-Tecs Outpost75 for the support, and Stewbaby for actually answering the original question.

The fabric belt of ball is SL 43, the linked 4:1 are LC 44 AP & LC 53 Tr. I have not started pulling it down yet (I have a more urgent 9mm-related task) but the weight and config of the bullets, and to some extent the charge weights, will verify exactly which "M" they are and I will have verified my powder ID.

Ed <><

[M-Tecs]

This info was still current as of a year ago. See post #6 http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...g-primed-brass

[samari46]

30 M1 tracer 4895
30 M2 AP WC852
30 ball M2 4895
30 grenade M3 4895
30 APIT M14 IM 11
30 ball frangible M22 SR4759
30 tracer M25 WC 852
30 ball match M72 IMR 4895
Sources-army ammunition data sheets small caliber ammunition FSC-1305 dated April 1994
Don't have any data for WWII 30 caliber cartridges but tracer, ball M2,APIT and match were loaded with IMR 4895. Just leave a little sample in a jar and compare. Not saying all of the above were loaded with IMR4895 but good chance. Frank

[10-x]

M-1 ball is quite valuable, collectable nowdays. Would urge you to sell or trade it and buy what components you need. BTW, M-2 is not cheap any more either.

[lonewelder]

you might try selling it on CMP forums.many collectors there,may come out to the better

[Monobill]

So what would be the going rate for selling WW2, 30-06 primed brass...

[smkummer]

I would encourage you to go to gun broker and see what that ammo is bringing these days. I was just looking at 38 special, and it’s bringing about .75 per round! A few years ago I sold some LC72 M2 ball in M1 garand clips and bandoleers at the going rate ( about .50 per round) at a mutual meeting place and the younger than I shooter was so excited like he struck gold. He wife just stood by and watched with her mouth open as her husband gloried in holding the clips and feeling the weight of the bandoleer. Don’t know if he ever shot it.
Anyway, compare what that ammo will bring and what sellers are asking for either IMR4895 or H4895.
You can also post a WTB on Craigslist for reloading components. I am on the Indiana side of Louisville. Tell me where you live. I may know where some is.

[RG1911]

If I could find IMR or H4895 I wouldn't be asking.
Ed <><

Where are you located? I have a bunch of IMR4895 left over from my competition days. I am in Laramie, WY.

Cheers,
Richard