All of my rifles up to this point have used civilian cases, 45-70, 25-06, 243, etc. I've acquired an AR10T using the 7.62 NATO. I'm looking to reload for this rifle, finding the best bullet and powder charge, etc. Jeff Bartlet has a real good price on this LC brass fired in a machinegun.
What's the potential downside of resizing etc. this brass rather then buying other lots of LC, at twice the price, brass fired in a rifle.
Does the machinegun really stretch the brass or some cause some other problem, that makes this brass unsuitable?
Jim

arkypete

The only real draw-back is that you will have to use a small based sizing die. A regular full-length just won't do.

I know from personal experience.........

Rick

Rick
I had planned on using the small base dies (Redding)any way. Not having much experience, four boxes of 308 for a buddy 25 years ago, in loading for a semi auto. All of those rounds had been fired in his rifle, so there was not much trouble in getting them to chamber.
I, more or less, asumed I'd use the small base dies to head off any problems in the sizing of these or any of my 308/7.62 brass.
Thanks for your response.
jim

Jim:

I bought 500 rounds of 7.62 LC74 from Midway for $30. Nice brass but I found that I then had to buy a small base die.

Live and learn.........

Rick

I have had case head separation in brass fired in my M60 and then used a couple of times in my M1A.

I now throw away cases fired the second time in the M60 rather than try to use them in the M1A.

I'd suggest that you watch for the formation of case stretch if the cases have ever been fired in an M60 or MAG.

For the price difference, I'd go with non-MG stuff.

MG's really tend to be hard on brass. Stretching, beat up necks/mouths, banged up in general.

Nothing that can't be fixed, most of the time, with some time at the press, but you are also very likely to be sacrificing case life. If you don't mind buying cheap brass more often, go for it. Myself, I'd just get better stuff to begin with.

If ypu want to stick with mil-spec brass , take a look at IMI 7.62 nato stuff . Brand new and unfired , available at Weidner's and other vendors .....

My Remington VSFS takes the Midway brass just fine. But my M70 Winchester Featherweight won't chamber them. I haven't tried the small base dies. I don't need to use that brass in the M70. E

I have loaded for two different M1A's and five M1's, (two of which were match grade rifles built with snug chambers) and fired thousands of rounds through gas guns. Have never found it necessary to use a small base die on cases which had been fired in rifles.

The MG brass, as has been previously stated, will be stretched and probably require the SB die for the first sizing, but once brought back to original specs should not require SB sizing subsequently.

GI service rifle chambers are generally a little on the sloppy side to make them reliable under adverse conditions and use of SB dies can shorten brass life considerably due to excessive working of brass, especially in these rifles.

If you wish to extend your case life in a gas gun, get an RCBS or Mo's cartridge case headspace micrometer and check a once fired case from your rifle. Then set your full length sizing die to reduce the headspace of that case by .002 to .003". This works your brass much less and adds useful life to the cases. After several firings, it is a good idea to check inside the cases at the web for a groove which is a warning of imminent case separation. This can be done easily with a bent paper clip, feeling for a groove.

One word of caution on headspace in gas guns. Remember brass work hardens with each firing/resizing. Be sure to check each time you reload to be sure brass has not sprung back after resizing to less than the .002-.003" clearance.
A once fired case will come out of the sizing die somewhat smaller than one that has been fired multiple times due to workhardening of the case.
An oversized cartridge can contribute to a slam-fire on either the garand or the M1A.

Regards,
hm

Cold Bore:

I don't consider Mil-Spec brass to be "cheap stuff". In fact, I've found it to be superior to most commercial brass.

If it has been fired in a MG, one only has to use the SB die once. After that neck or FL size away.

I've gotten over 25 loadings with LC65 30-06 brass and tossed them even though they showed no sign of failure. Try that with Remchester. Additionally, I routinely have 5 to 8 culls per 100 of commercial brass.

$30 for 500 rounds of polished and swaged 7.62 is a bargain.

Rick

Rick:
Agree that GI brass is heavier and lasts longer than commercial and IMHO is better than some commercial as far as uniformity is concerned. I have never liked commercial brass in the gas guns. Usually the rims get roughed up pretty badly on the lighter brass.

I have never had a case head separation in either gas guns or bolt guns resizing as described in previous post. Since I do a lot of case prep. such as neck turning, flash hole uniforming, primer pocket uniforming and separating by weight, I try to get the maximum case life. Usually, I discard my cases when they start to smoke up the neck indicating hardening of the brass sufficiently to cause failure to expand quickly enough to seal the chamber completely. Some anneal cases at this point and continue to use them but I prefer to prepare a new lot at that time.

The last batch of 300 Win Mag brass I got (Winchester-Western) was extremely uniform
and so far have fired them 9 times during load testing, some with quite warm loads. No sign of any ring @ web of case but am getting very slight smoking on upper neck. Figure this batch of brass doesn't owe me too much at this time so may start thinking about replacing.

Regards,
hm