Hello All,

Curious as to how you purchase your brass. Do you buy it factory new or once fired or use brass from factory loads fired in your guns.

-Lou

I find the winchester bags of 50 to be economical when on sale. I like the consistancy of it EXCEPT every now and then the primer pockets don't seem deep enough to accept my fed 210's. I do a "quick lube" and neck size with a hornady neck sizer then a low angle case mouth chamfer and it's ready to go. Most loaded rounds come out at about .003" runnout with this method--more than good for a hunting rifle.

I generally buy 2000 of the same lot of new factory brass.

I tried 1000 pieces of some "quality processed" brass a couple of years ago in 9mm. What a mess! This was advertised as being once fired, cleaned, deprimed, crimp removed, non-military and resized. Well the brass was everything from .380 to .40 S&W, half had been deprimed, none had been cleaned or resized, half were military, and about 1/3rd were not "once fired".

I was not a very happy camper...it appeard to be just brass swept from the range floor with no consideration whatsoever as to quality.

When I complained to the seller he promptly sent me 250 pieces of honestly processed civilian brass, in the condition advertised. He stated that his business had been so good that he had to hire "inexperienced help" to fill orders, and whoever filled my order sent me his cheaper grade of "unprocessed brass".

Never again...

New.
Unless I fire the loaded ammo it comes from, I want to know it`s history. I use to shoot skeet quite heavily and watched the trap boys pick up range brass. I knew the stuff I left was fired 1/6 dz Xs or more. I didn`t leave it unless the crimps started splitting.
They sold the stuff sorted only by ga. Lots of the hulls looked fine but crimping was a gamble, maybe they`d be fine, maybe they`d split in the press.... I`ve never trusted used brass since.
I`ve never understood why some one will use the best bullets, wgt each charge, check for run out, and then use brass of unknown linage just to save a $ or two / 100.

If you're interested in good performance buy new brass. If you just want it to go bang then used is ok. Brass has memory. Even when resized. If you want good accuracy. good chambering, and good extraction then buy new and dedicate the purchase to one particular rifle. At least this has been my experience over 40 years of reloading.

For rifle brass, I generally buy new, sometimes once fired if I can inspect it (.223, .308 for semi autos). For volumn pistol brass, I have never had a problem buying O.F. from a reputable source (ie, Midway, etc.). I have never had a bad exp. like Steve had.

Well, call me "Cheap", no call me "Thrifty", whatever...a reply like this one usually results in a lot of warnings about OPB (Other People's Brass), but here goes.
I've purchased a whopping 50 rounds of 45 ACP ammo, but I've picked up over 1500 empties at my local range, without trying too hard. The same goes for 9mm Luger. It's easy to identify once fired stuff, as it's nice and shiny and doesn't show excess pressure signs. A reloader probably isn't going to leave their well used but valuable brass lying around, so the stuff on the ground is probably new or may have been to one of the commercial reloading companies. If the cases look bad, I destroy them. I've literally dug up 45 ACP and 9mm brass and brought it back to life with a little elbow grease, and the cases work just fine with target loads.
As for rifle brass, I have no hesitation in using OPB, provided it looks once fired, with no excess pressure signs etc, and I can resize it easily. Then again, I'm only salvaging 30-06 brass. Much of the 7mm mag brass left on the ground has split necks and cratered primers, so I stick to new stuff and reload it till the brass starts to look a bit haggard.
Of course, when you work out the time and effort that goes into resurecting OPB, it may be cheaper to buy a bag of new brass, but I have more fun, and my wife isn't going to complain about all the money I'm saving.
Happy New Year, Cheeky.

Don't know where you shoot...but...



Part of the "rules of membership" at every range where I shoot, brass is NOT left lying on the ground. It is the shooter's responsibility to police the area when they are finished.

That is EXACTLY what the little sign says. Now, this might sound like a wild generalization, but it is my observation that the shooters who blast away boxes of new ammo, with often poor results, and stroll away, are the same ones who leave all their brass laying around, and ignore the signs. I find that kind of careless behavior irritating when they're leaving brass that I don't want.
Another rash generalization I want to make, is that people who shoot CCI 40 S&W are the messiest creatures, closely followed by the people who use "Wolf" ammo.
Cheeky.

the only brass i've ever bought new was the midway brass with my name on the headstamp (luckily mine was one of the 4 available. othewise i try to go to gunshows and pick out ww once fired brass for the .357 and .38 spl....



THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL........

All brass I purchase is new non primed. The once fired stuff is free at the range.

For the sake of discussion....The common practice is to size unfired rifle brass, but it has "memory", right? So the brand new stuff wants to return to its unsized and unfired dimensions. Salvaged range brass will have the same tendency, to return to some dimension between it's factory measurements and it's last chamber measurements. Why not make the last chamber dimensions your own?
Sure there would be extremely minor variations in dimensions, but would this be any more than, say, variations in sizing dimensions on a hot day compared to a cold day? If you were shooting some super long distance match, or sniping for bad guys, these tiny variations might amount to something significant. Provided you neck size only after initial use, and stick to using those cases in the same rifle, I bet you'd never know the difference.
All the other variables a reloader contends with will outweigh brass origin.
As for straight walled handgun brass, I can't imagine there would be any significant difference.
Cheeky.

I don't buy the memory theory as all new brass I size anyway...as stated above. If I can aquire free once fired brass from the range I can clean it and anneal it and use it. You could never ever tell the difference after it is fire formed from what started out as new brass. Truth be known I have had far more trouble with new brass than once fired free range brass. But thats just me.

My range is indfferent about picking up brass and on Sunday mornings one can load up on just about anything one wants. I had to buy a damn progressive loader just to keep up with my greedy gobbling of range brass. Maybe one day I'll even buy some pistols in those calibers! Packratism should qualify for the ADA. On the other hand, I always hunt big game with brand new, fully prepped and unfired rifle brass and my handloads. I think its as much superstition as anything. My Garand and AR are fed from the used brass bowl exclusively. The Garand does so-so but the AR can't tell the difference between River Valley Arms processed brass or new Lapua.

Brass without a memory is dead soft and no good.
Brass memory means is springs back .002"

If the last guy had a chamber with bent neck, that used brass has a problem. That is not likely.

If the last guy has already reloaded it and:
1) using an expander ball and gave it a bent neck
2) full length resized it again and again and shot it in a dry chamber that stretched the brass until it is ready for a case head separation that will jam your gun and muss your hair.
3) has been overloaded and the primer pocket is a loose fit.

That is not likely either, as if he reloads, what is he leaving brass for?

So brass left behind at the range or sold by re packagers is ok if I inspect it.

But old brass of unknown number of reloads at the gunshow is a different story.

--
A society that teaches evolution as fact will breed a generation of atheists that will destroy the society. It is Darwinian.