60 yr old unprimed ,unfired brasas

[chief3]

I have two boxes of remington 8x50r lebel brass . This is unprimed , unfired stuff. I guess you can call it new/old stock . I think it is from the 1950s. My question is, should i anneal before sizing and loading?

[mac60]

I would.

[georgerkahn]

My "test" requires a set of Vice-grip pliers. Take a piece of your brass, and -- with jaws of vice-grip pliers closed -- turn adjusting screw until the brass case snugly -- with no deformation -- just fits (enough to hold the case; no more). THEN, open the jaws, and turn adjusting screw 1 to 2 turns in -- just enough to deform (oblong) it. If the brass is "good", when you close the jaws, it will be squished in a tad, and RETURN to roundness when jaws are reopened. If the brass does not return -- then, I'd anneal it. Perhaps you might try this trick with other known brass you have, first, to see the difference. If I was a "guesser" -- not necessarily a good trait for a bullet caster / reloader ;) -- my guess would be your brass should still be OK. I have some WWII .30-'06 military brass which still is OK (LC43 and LC44 headstamps), so... again my guess would be similar for yours. Good luck!
geo

[earlmck]

My "test" requires a set of Vice-grip pliers. Take a piece of your brass, and -- with jaws of vice-grip pliers closed -- turn adjusting screw until the brass case snugly -- with no deformation -- just fits (enough to hold the case; no more). THEN, open the jaws, and turn adjusting screw 1 to 2 turns in -- just enough to deform (oblong) it. If the brass is "good", when you close the jaws, it will be squished in a tad, and RETURN to roundness when jaws are reopened. If the brass does not return -- then, I'd anneal it. Perhaps you might try this trick with other known brass you have, first, to see the difference. If I was a "guesser" -- not necessarily a good trait for a bullet caster / reloader ;) -- my guess would be your brass should still be OK. I have some WWII .30-'06 military brass which still is OK (LC43 and LC44 headstamps), so... again my guess would be similar for yours. Good luck!
geo


Ha! I've been using almost the exact same test as you George but my interpretation is opposite. If it is soft enough to stay dented I figure it doesn't need annealing. If it is hard enough to return to round I anneal. One of us is probably wrong.

[chief3]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will just go ahead and anneal. I have never regretted doing that. Can't wait to see how my old berthier shoots.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

A Berthier! How cool is that! I've got one myself, full length rifle, unaltered. Looks like it was dragged through many trenches. I'd very much like to hear how yours shoots, and what it shoots (cast, jacketed, type of powder and load).

Click to enlarge.
249963249964


DG

[georgerkahn]

Ha! I've been using almost the exact same test as you George but my interpretation is opposite. If it is soft enough to stay dented I figure it doesn't need annealing. If it is hard enough to return to round I anneal. One of us is probably wrong.

And, indeed it is ME! My apologies -- I was "multi-tasking", and as a matter of fact as I went out to bring in a needed load of firewood, it "hit me" that I may have expressed it backwards. I came in to read what I had written, and am happy you picked this up! My apologies again to all, as well as thanks to you for picking it up, as well as posting it!
(very quite embarrassed) geo

[samari46]

1963 Lake City M72 match still have about 250 loaded rounds I use foe accuracy testing. If an '06 won't shoot with that something is wrong. So far all have passed the test. My Sako 75 Hunter thinks it's a match rifle the way it shoots. M72 versus my load 165 Nosler ballistic tip.55.5 grains IMR 4350, CCI 250 magnum primer and Federal case. Chrono's at 2800 fps. Plus a few boxes of
never fired virgin 30-06, 7.62 nato bought those when the gov't was doing their demil programs. Frank