Hello AR Colleagues,

I just received some "new" brass from deal I made over on another forum, and it is very old Winchester brass (came in vintage yellow cardboard boxes). The brass is all unfired but a lot of it is severely tarnished (black spots and marks on the case heads), and the boxes looked like they were exposed to water at some point (soaked then dried). My question is if this brass is safe to use "as new" in working up loads for my Win Model 70 Safari .375 H&H. Any issues using old brass that has some tarnish on it? I am concerned that the brass may have become brittle in its age and that I could have case head/neck separation... or am I just being paranoid? Thanks in advance for all your wisdom!

-John

Yellow boxes are not that old, used well into 1960s.

Winchester brass is generally harder than Remington/Norma/Federal which contributes to long case life.

If they were mine, I would neck anneal them, full length size (don't hit the shoulder !), trim and chamfer.

Brittle cases exhibit cracked necks after decades as loaded cartridges, not empty brass.

The annealing will ensure the necks are not too hard.

The 375 H&H is a very easy cartridge to load, very flexible as to bullet weights, usually very accurate and cases last forever.

I have some that have seen 20+ reloads with moderate cast bullet loads and work as well as ever.(It is a wonderful cast bullet cartridge)

Others (regardless of brand) have seen 210 gr old Barnes Xs pushed to 3000 fps will no ill effects after 5 reloads.

If I had to have ONE big game rifle it would be a 375 H&H.

You made a good score !

If it is just brass, and depending on how much it cost, you might look first at cleaning it and then culling. With me, if there is very much corrosion/discoloration I cull simply because I have enough better looking brass and don't want to run the risk of something going wobbly.

The "old" Winchester brass is good stuff, and the black marks (if no pitting) is just tarnish.

If you don't wish to bother with it, quote me a fair price and I'll buy it.

Thanks !

Some of my "old brass":

Nothing as good as the old Yellow box even made today.







Still factory loaded and worth a lot:

Thanks for your feedback, everyone! I will look for some tarnish remover the next time I'm at Cabela's and cut my losses with those cases that look questionable. The good thing is that it doesn't look like there's any actual pitting- just lots of exterior tarnish.

I have never annealed any case mouths before and figure if I just watch a few youtube videos, I can get the hang of it real quick. Anyone have any annealing tips?

The boxes sure are neat, and that was an added surprise to find! I'm not feeling as badly now as I was when I first opened the box out of the mail...

Thanks all!

-John

Tumble them first and if you have some stubborn marks you can lightly try some fine steel wool to remove the marks.

A tumble with SS media would no doubt have them looking good as new.

I agree with AL above. Tumble them first, then take a look at them. I just received about 20 empty brass for a 454 Casull that were very tarnished and black looking. I tumbled them for 8 hours and now they look brand new. Should be no issue at all unless they are pitted or cracked.

Those yellow boxes were used into the early to mid 1970s. I have a bunch of them because I bought new rifles and brass then and still have all of it.

quote:

Anyone have any annealing tips?

1. Annealing takes practice.
2. Practice on junk brass - NOT on .375 H&H brass
3. Hold the brass with a Lee holder for the case trimmer. Get the one with a shank - spin the cases in a battery powered drill
4. Use a propane torch with about a 1" long inner blue cone.
5. Spin the case, move it until the flame inner cone is about 1/4" off of the metal.
6. Move the flame along the case from the mouth to about 1/4" past the shoulder. This should take no more than a fast count of 4 seconds or less.
7. Look at US GI 7.62mm cases for the annealing pattern (for monkey see monkey do)
8. Here is a very critical part. Adjust your flame distance and case movement to get the right color. In a darkened room the case will start to change color. You are looking for a wet appearing pale silver blue tint. Run that color per #6 above and dunk the case mouth in a water filled pan.
9. If you err, make sure you anneal too little rather than too much.
10. To be redundant - Practice on 20 or 30 cheap junk cases. Get the technique down really good before you work on your expensive brass.

quote:

Originally posted by AFRICAN LEADWOOD:
Tumble them first and if you have some stubborn marks you can lightly try some fine steel wool to remove the marks.

A tumble with SS media would no doubt have them looking good as new.

+1

I bet they are fine.

SR4759,

Thanks very much for the feedback! I will give this a shot on some junk brass. I used some Lyman brass polish in my tumbler and it shined up very well. I only had to pitch about 5 cases due to pitting.

-John