I just came across 1800 rounds of once fired Lake City Ord 30 cal Match brass, circa 1962. I'd like to resize it for use in my 338-06 and 35 Whelen. I have not used resized military brass in the past. Can I expect anything unusual with respect to neck thickness, brittleness, trim issues, case life?
Many thanks for your input.

Often the military brass has a little less capacity than factory. So it is stronger. I've necked up Military 06 ot 338 and 358. It will get a touch shorter as you neck it up. Case life should be good. Is the primer crimped? If so you will need to clean the pocket a little.

That what I use in my 338-06 just be careful and work up your loads again.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
That what I use in my 338-06 just be careful and work up your loads again.

Good point.....the military brass won't safely hold the powder that commercial brass holds.

Just work up the loads.

I tumbled them first to get clean 'em up, then went to work. Primers de-capped and resized to both 338 and 358 easily. I made sure the pockets were cleaned out, and then tumbled again. Overall, the brass was easy to work. You guys are correct about the case capacity. This brass seeems to hold less than the remington & western that I've used before. For example, a full load of RL19 in the 338 looks like it would be a compressed load. I'll start back at the begining and work up new loads slowly. Many thanks.

Not much to add other than I have used military brass in my 35 Whelen for 30 years.

Trim the neck for consistency after your expand the case.

Tumble/tumble/tumble the brass and start any load work up at least 5% below anything you see in a reloading manual.

I get excellent case life.

Barstooler