The biggest reason people go for the "range brass" is the thinking of if they were reloaders they would pick it up. This may or may not be true as some let it drop when they are on the last firing. Also indoor range as opposed to outdoor has something to do with what your going to get. I have an indoor range close to me and they sell the brass at a very reasonable rate. I never assume once fired though.Originally Posted by seagiant
Every round that I fire has a flat primer, except for the firing pin strike. And also, on primer color, we've already hashed that out. Factory rounds come with either yellow or silver primers, whatever the ammo manufacturer has at the time is what gets "pushed" in the brass case.
As far as how many times to reload a brass case = up to the reloader. I reload brass cases until they don't look safe to reload anymore. At that point, I squish the brass case and toss it in the scrap brass bucket. I have read several articles on how many times brass can be safely reloaded. One that comes to mind was a list of most brass manufacturers and the amount of reloads until the brass case began to show that it was failing. Aguilla 9mm cases were safely reloaded 20+ times.
=But= I definately agree that if you are not 100% sure that the brass cases were only once fired, you should not advertise them as once fired. Range Brass or Range Pickup, etc. will do just fine.
Shoot'em If You Got'em...
Id say give the scrap away if you don't want it. It is useable again as scrap. To send it to a landfill seems wasteful. I'm sure there are people near you who would pick it up. I save mine. I would rather trade it for a miniscule amount of lead than nothing. You'd be surprised what you can give away.
I use a lot of rb but no he man loads it helps keep us plinking.
I never assume that ANY brass is once fired, unless I fired it myself. And that is whether I am buying or selling. Anything I sell is "range brass" unless I fired it.
Anyone who thinks that he can tell if brass is once fired by looking at the color, primer, primer flattening, etc. is just kidding himself. If you have to have "once fired" buy only from a trusted source, or fire new ammo.
Anything else is a crapshoot!
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Buy new brass and ship me your "twice fired" brass.
I sell a lot of range brass on here. I look over the brass and if it has a cracked neck or the primers look like they are really flat, I throw them in the scrap bucket. If I know they are 1x fired I will say it. Some brass like 45acp I don't care if it is 1x fired or not. I am usually right there when they fire them so I know they are once fired.
Normally a person that reloads can spot a reload. One thing I look for are silver primers. I look them over extra careful as it normally means a reload. But not always. Now that ATK owns Federal and CCI, a lot of Federal brass has been showing up with CCI primers in them. I usually throw in extra brass if something looks funny.
If Anyone that buys brass from me have a problem with it, CONTACT me. Duke, I can't remember if I ever sold anything to you or not.
Oh ya, Hornady brass has been showing up lately with nickle primers as well.
It is a ****-shoot! I've purchased a lot of 9MM brass on here and other sites. I shoot it in a Glock with a custom barrel and usually leave it where it falls. Some people pick it up, and RE-use it and that's fine. When it comes to Rifle brass, I'm very particular. My match brass is minimally worked and may get loaded 15-18 times a season.It would be hard to tell it from new, especially after its been cleaned in SS media. Bottom line is, if you want premo, buy new. At least you'll know what you have. Oh, and I like Lapua...
Aim low boys, there ridin shetlands
I just bought 100 "once fired commercial" .30-06 cases from a seller on Gunbroker. About 1/3 of the lot was 50's military brass and all of it was so tarnished that 10 hours in a wet tumbler hasn't got it bright yet. Once fired? The GI stuff probably and the rest who knows.
There is a lot of factory ammo that has nickel primers.
There are a lot of ammo and rifle combinations that can produce flattened riveted primers in even low pressure rounds like the 30-30.
I don't agree with much of what Duke says.
I have been reloading much longer for more calibers and have bought more once fired brass.
It is rare that I get anything bad. That only happens when bought sight unseen.
If you rely entirely on the seller's word and judgment you are being foolish.
EDG
The really funny thing is that Professional Commercial Reloading companies don't care how many times brass has been fired. They just clean the brass and run it through their case checker machine ( Camdex, Ammoload, Skarcher, etc ) and if it passes, it gets loaded. No one visually inspects the brass at these companies.
Personally, I visually inspect every case, after cleaning, before I reload it. Thats my quality control...
Does military brass count as factory rounds?
I've seen flattened primers 9mm military brass with crimped in primers.
I'm assuming (dangerous, I know) that it was fired in a small machine gun.
For a lot of shooters, the quality isn't as important as price and quantity.
Early on, I was one of them. One day I traded for several boxes of factory wad cutters. After reloading those with swagged wad cutters range brass stopped looking like a bargain. After learning a lot more here...
To me once fired means the brass has only been fired once since it was last reloaded. If I buy factory ammo and shoot it myself then I might just believe it is once fired, but knowing me I can't be sure.
BB
Ya'll wan't to see cratered and flattened primers on 1X fired brass? Check out the primers on LC LR brass. That stuff is loaded stout!!
you forgot the lemshine lol 10 hrs .
Dave Biesenbach
port charlotte fl
About flattened primers. I saw the illustrations in the lyman reloading books showing different loads fired at 10000 difference between pressures, and you literally can't see the difference between them. This is a testament to the quality and safety factor that factories put into their brass. I can certainly tell you that I can't see the differences, so I won't claim to.
Darryl Holland (An expert gunsmith and shooter that I admire.) Says that if you want match quality ammo, you need to buy factory brass to start with and then cull the ones that weigh too much or too little, check runout, etc. I can agree to a point. If you're looking for 1/4" groups then this should be your rule.
But if you're like me and 1-1.5" groups make you happy, you can stick to sorting by headstamp, weighing, annealing and you'll get pretty good results as well.
The thing that clued me in to this is Federal Gold match ammo. It's considered the benchmark factory ammo that every rifle magazine judges the accuracy of rifles with. If you pull a couple factory loads of this factory ammo, you will notice charge weights vary considerably, sometimes up to 1-2 gr. difference!
I think the secret is in the annealed cases, which are softer than most brands. They probably use some sort of air gauge to check the case capacity and dispense the powder to match this. (My theory) The combination of neck tension, and proper powder for the case capacity is what works for them so well.
Some people got more time than money. Sometimes it just makes sense to buy quality brass and save yourself the time and aggravation that might come with using range pickups. Sometimes supplies are scarce, and you make do with what you got.
It's really an individual judgement call. Everyone has their opinions, but It's your time and treasure that's at stake.
Last edited by andremajic; 07-26-2013 at 11:05 PM.
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I have a few sources that I`ll pay premium prices for "reloading brass" & they know I`ll pay it & they sort accordingly & contact me & we`ve built a trust between supplier & consumer.
But for "once fired" from an unfamilar source it has to be priced rite so rejected cases won`t drive up the cost per case, if not I go on further.
1 of my requirements is to recieve brass "as is" no cleaning or polishing, I wanna see it in it`s fired state.
Another thing I don`t do is jump at a "too good to be true deals" when it comes to brass , I don`t even glance at bullets or boolits anymore since getting molds for the rifles.
I have some batches of annealed brass , even for revolvers !
GP100man
Federal Gold Medal brass has thicker necks. So it fills the chamber better. That is on of the main reasons it shoots so well. Most people that shoot the match bullets do not like the Federal brass as it is soft. Even the primer pockets. So at the speeds the go fast guys like to run these, They don't last very long.
If I tell you the brass I sell is 1x fired, IT IS.
For the life of me I can't figure out what he is swapping or selling.
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