Eighty year old brass

[Texas by God]

Digging for 30-06 brass in the lard bucket, I came across 40 or so once fired clean FA 32- 36 headstamp brass. Is their any reason that I can't use these for cast bullet loads only? I've decapped them and they are in the tumbler now. They look good, but I'll inspect them closer.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[bimus]

I have shot a bunch dated 1942 with cast and no problem some I turned in to 308 or 7mm-08 all of it was factory when I lucked in to it .

[Winger Ed.]

The oldest brass I've shot was some GI .30-06 from the 50s and it did fine,
but I did have a great urge to anneal it first though.

[WinchesterM1]

I shoot FA-15 and FA-18 all the time, just anneal it and load it

[JimB..]

I don’t know, but I contend that neck tension counts as “working” the brass, so the older it is the more likely it is to split. So, as said above, anneal.

[Walks]

I've 5-600 headstamped DM 42, and some SL 53. Use them for Garand loads. 3-4 loadings and anneal. And repeat.

[Outpost75]

I am using FA34, FA37 and FA40 cases in my '03 Springfield and Winchester 54 with no issues. Good brass.

[Markopolo]

Definitely anneal them and clean em up Thomas … I have a whole bag of 45acp ammo that were headstamped from the 30’s.. several hundred… I disassembled everything, and deprimed them, then washed them in a mix of hot water, dawn and baking soda. They are now ready now to be remade as non corrosive ….

[Texas by God]

I figured as much but I wasn't sure if the mercurial priming of back then damaged the brass. I will put them to work, thank you all!

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Larry Gibson]

I've shot cases, both US '06 and other calibers with headstamps back into the 1917/18 range in pressure testing old loads. I've had some splits, but mostly necks, in milsurp cases. I've tested the FA Match cases from the '30s and '50s and had no problems with them. However, that doesn't mean the cases you have are equal. probably but always a chance they may have been mistreated(?).

It has always, so far, been with commercial old R-P and Peters cases that any serious problems have arisen. That problem was with the case splitting at the head just above the extractor groove. Make sure the action has sufficient gas control ability and wear glasses when testing the cases. Annealing the neck/shoulder area is a good suggestion but there's nothing to do about the case head area.

[NuJudge]

Proceed with caution. I bought some 6.5x54 brass in the 1980s from Midway, and initially it worked fine, but a few years ago I fired some more of it, and there were radial cracks that formed in the extraction groove of all the rounds I fired. Some form of age embrittlement or weakening did happen there.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve shot 30.06 rounds my father bought surplus before the Second World War and they worked well. However, that was over fifty years ago.

[Texas by God]

Well, so far so good. Even with the primer crimp chamfered away the new primers seated stiffly but ok. The fired cases look good and I'm planning on annealing them before their Third loading.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220210/5943bfa2e639f6c9f409080135b32d2f.jpg

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[243winxb]

80 years old beats my WRA69 brass.

[Outpost75]

Work hardening from repeated FL resizing in .45 ACP not at all unusual. As for cal...30 rifle brass, they pretty much had final stress relief figured out by mid 1930s at FA. My experience has been that any '06 military brass in which you can see visible mouth anneal color will be OK. Prior to 1934 more spotty as they were still experimenting. I've used thousands of WW2-era cases which have reloaded fine for use in Garands if decapped and washed to remove chloride residue, then process in the normal way. Use Dillon Auto-Swage on primer pockets.

[15meter]

I figured as much but I wasn't sure if the mercurial priming of back then damaged the brass. I will put them to work, thank you all!

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

Semi-thread drift, I aquired a batch of fired 30-40 Krag brass from the teens. First thing I did was polish and anneal the brass. Tried to full length size them and they fractured as if they were as brittle as glass.

I'm assuming mercury bearing primers were used.

Long winded reason for the question, when did they move away from mercury in primers?

[Texas by God]

I've read that .30 Carbine US ammunition has always been non- corrosive and that 30-06 changed to non corrosive in the 1950s before the 7.62 Nato and 5.56 arrived.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[reddog81]

80 years old beats my WRA69 brass.

I’m not sure old age is the issue. I’ve had 2 year old star line brass look exactly like that after 20+ loads.

[georgerkahn]

Digging for 30-06 brass in the lard bucket, I came across 40 or so once fired clean FA 32- 36 headstamp brass. Is their any reason that I can't use these for cast bullet loads only? I've decapped them and they are in the tumbler now. They look good, but I'll inspect them closer.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

The main issue, imho, is the brass's "condition" (not the right word, but best I can come up with ;)). I would do a few things, including the decap and tumble which you have astutely accomplished. Then, I'd take three cases and after applying some Ideal lub full length size them. My first "worry" being that the expanded, fired cases will have enough malleability to get formed to a size which will hold the hopefully-to-be-loaded cast bullet. If this turns to be a "go" -- found by the attempted insertion of one of your sized and lubed cast bullets -- this is good. I'd then take a good light and, complemented with a bent paper-clip, check out the cases' interior, paying special attention to the case bottom/flash hole; looking for any thin lines indicating possible case separation; and, general smoothness/condition of inside case neck.
Last, I'd prime the cases with spent primers -- making sure they're a snug fit.
If these all come out OK, I'd pull the bullets with an inertial puller; decap again; and proceed to load. In a worse-case scene my guess is the necks might split after firing (you can anneal, if you have the time/effort/tools to hopefully prevent this) -- but other than this, you should be set to go.
What I'd do...
geo

[Freischütz]

I used 1917 and 1918 cases and had no problems. However I did anneal them before use.

I did have trouble with some Peters 30/06 cases. Supposedly they were made in the early 1920s. Each case developed several small splits (about ¼” long) just in front of the cases’ solid heads.

[fatelk]

Semi-thread drift, I aquired a batch of fired 30-40 Krag brass from the teens. First thing I did was polish and anneal the brass. Tried to full length size them and they fractured as if they were as brittle as glass.

I'm assuming mercury bearing primers were used.

Long winded reason for the question, when did they move away from mercury in primers?

I'm an amateur cartridge collector, like to dig through the ever-present boxes of random ammo at gun shows, been doing it for decades. I run across surplus 30-40 Krag loaded ammo from time to time, usually dated 1917 or earlier. I've learned over the years to check, because more often than not the necks are cracked. This is unfired ammo, so I assume they were just made wrong, poor quality brass or something?

[fal_762x51]

I usually anneal the cases. Shot 1930s 30-06 brass with reduced cast loads without problems.

[john.k]

Cracked necks in old brass is called season cracking....its caused by locked in stress from the drawing and necking process,and often takes 50 years or more to manifest.........It happens in any brass thats been worked,bent,rolled ,etc..........I had the original fuel and oil syringes on my Indian motorcycle crack open ,and partially unroll ...they were made of rolled and soldered sheet brass.

[Texas by God]

I'm an amateur cartridge collector, like to dig through the ever-present boxes of random ammo at gun shows, been doing it for decades. I run across surplus 30-40 Krag loaded ammo from time to time, usually dated 1917 or earlier. I've learned over the years to check, because more often than not the necks are cracked. This is unfired ammo, so I assume they were just made wrong, poor quality brass or something?I have some 30-40s that are marked 30 Army that have cracks like you mention, and steel jacket rn bullets.

The 80 year old 30-06 brass is on its fourth drama free loading. I did anneal them after the 2nd firing( first firing 80 years ago).

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[uscra112]

john.k has it nailed. From what I've read, it seems to be more prevalent in military ammo, which suggests less stringent control of brass temper. Military ammo isn't expected to go unfired for decades, of course.

[missionary5155]

We have some 7.63 Mauser ammo from 1903. Last time I looked at them about 5 years ago the brass was not cracked.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've got a bunch of 8x57 dated 1929 and 1930's, occasional misfire, but no problems with the brass splitting in these military surplus cartridges. Accuracy not bad either. Cases are berdan primed, but I have used the cases to create various dummies to set loading dies and such. The brass has been sound.

[higgins]

It is important to differentiate between nonmercuric and noncorrosive primers in military ammunition. I have an old American Rifleman article titled "Nonmercuric, Noncorrosive Primers" that gives a through explanation of the subject. It states that "There has been no mercury in U.S. military small arms primers manufactured since about 1898." Mercury was phased out because it left fired cases unsuitable for reloading, which the military did back then. Corrosive (but nonmercuric) primers were widely used into the early 1950s in U.S. military ammunition.

The article goes on to state that a corrosive and mildly mercuric Winchester-Western primer was used in some .30/06 and .300 H&H magnum Super-Match ammunition, but the primer and ammunition loaded with it were dropped in 1960. Apparently that primer was also used in some .308 Win. "white box" match ammunition on a limited basis; the use of the mercuric primer was noted on the box, one of which I have.

298624298625298626

[nicholst55]

I have read about that specific lot of .308 Win Match ammo loaded with corrosive (mercuric) primers, but I have never seen even a picture of the box until now. Thank you, higgins!

[uscra112]

Corrosive and mercuric are mutually exclusive are they not?

And I believe the O.P. was describing unfired ammunition, so the kinds of priming isn't a factor.

[john.k]

I dont believe any US military ammo had mercuric primers post the 30/06 adoption......corrosive ,yes........British 303 military primers are both mercuric and corrosive,having about equal ammounts of fulminate and chlorate......typically ,reloaded 303 military cases crack on the 3 rd or 4th reload,however reloading fired and reformed 303 military cases was once big business here.

[jimb16]

I've been using WWII brass for years. I just anneal it after every trim. I almost never have split cases, but do occasionally get a neck split. But that is to be expected with the number of times I've reloaded them. Most of the loses are just worn out brass.

[Krag1902]

I have five Krags and like nostalgic headstamps, my favorite being REM-UMC and PETERS. i had dabbled with FA and commercial contract Krag brass but had bad experiences with the 1917-18 stuff. In Tulsa this year I found a bag o'brass so ratty looking that I couldn't even read the hs through the plastic bag they were in. I was allowed to open the bag and after some squinting I was able to make out Rem-UMC Peters and a lot of early FA cases, most of these had no primers. I figured I would get the cost of the brass out in cleaning up the brass and the fun involved in that. Soaked them in vinegar for a week, in the polisher a couple of days and then given the anneal. today I fired fifteen of the F.A. cases dated '02, 03 and o6. The cases survived without a bauble. I'll keep an eye on them for failure and potential for failure. In one of my guns i have an F.A. 08 case that has survived ten reloadings and still strong. Caution - stay away from those WW One time
cases. They tend to have or quickly develop cracked necks. Catch these before they catch you.