Reloading question - "Once used brass"
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I'm just now getting into reloading. I have a small amount of .38 and .357 brass that I have kept from shooting factory ammo. I also have a small amount of .357 new Starline brass in .357. Pretty much, I have enough to start with.
However, I have seen on the gunbroker auctions people selling 'once fired' and cleaned brass for some fairly good prices.
Compared to, say, Grafs.com, here's a quick match up:
500 .38 casings, brand new
Hunting Shack brand
$59.80
Starline
$66.45
This is one I found in the auctions, it says it is, cleaned, MIXED brands, and 'once fired' and deprimed.
1000
$14.95
Now, if one is simply going to use a lot of this for plinking rounds, would it be a better buy to get the once fired? Has anyone done this?
I understand if you were wanting to make very accurate, custom loads you may want to go with a specific manufacturer.
So what's the consensus? Thanks for ya'lls input!
However, I have seen on the gunbroker auctions people selling 'once fired' and cleaned brass for some fairly good prices.
Compared to, say, Grafs.com, here's a quick match up:
500 .38 casings, brand new
Hunting Shack brand
$59.80
Starline
$66.45
This is one I found in the auctions, it says it is, cleaned, MIXED brands, and 'once fired' and deprimed.
1000
$14.95
Now, if one is simply going to use a lot of this for plinking rounds, would it be a better buy to get the once fired? Has anyone done this?
I understand if you were wanting to make very accurate, custom loads you may want to go with a specific manufacturer.
So what's the consensus? Thanks for ya'lls input!
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Once fired, but if mixed, you may have to separate them out by brand, etc. since there can be enough variation to cause pressure problems... 0 -
Understood, iwannausername. But if you seperate it all out, or, say, buy a lot that is already seperated out ( of course you would want to verify it ) would it be advisable to use it?
I know there sounds like not much difference from using 'once fired' from your ammo and 'once fired' you buy from someone else, but has anyone had problems doing this?0 -
meunke - you have to be careful buying "once fired" brass online. Now I do believe that most of the sellers out there are honest guys, a lot of them sell range pick-ups and sell them as "once-fired". However, how do they actually know they are once-fired? When my brass is shot out, I leave it at the range I shoot at so that the guy who owns the place can sell it for scrap. I routinely see guys picking through the brass barrel.
Also, if it is already de-primed, then there is no way to tell from the pictures if it truly is once fired. I love it when I see an auction for once-fired military brass that all have silver colored primers.[;)]0 -
For making up casual target and plinking rounds for the .38 and .357 calibers you mentioned, don't get too concerned about sorting the brass by brand. You'll never notice the difference. The only sorting I do is to throw out any military, Wolf brand (steel), or aluminum cases that show up. The variations in commercial brass cases from brand to brand are NOT enough to cause pressure problems unless you are loading maximum or maximum+ rounds. Similarly, you won't see much if any difference between once fired brass and that that has seen several reloadings. The more times the brass gets reloaded, the more likely it is to develop cracks starting at the case mouth. If you adjust your dies correctly so that the case mouth does not get excessively expanded and then crimped, you should get good case life. I have thousands of .38 Special cases that I have reloaded over 20 times and are still going strong. 0 -
never had any problems with once-fired brass. Picked up a lot of brass of all various makes, ages, loadings, etc. from the range or from shooting with friends and it's never given me any fits, regardless of any of the above variables. The biggest thing to watch out for is the condition of each individual case. That has more to do with problems or lack thereof than what headstamp it has on it or how old or new it is. 0 -
I have yet to have any problems out of once-fired brass. I usually only sort the cases by headstamps to separate commercial from military becasue I use two different loads in 223Rem. so while I'm at it I separate brands but have not notice much of a difference in it for my ARs. I always deprime, swage, clean, size, and trim my brass when I purchase or pick up fired brass regardless if it has been "prepped" or not just to get it to the lengths I want it and just in case they missed a mil-crimp. And watch for crimped primers in some of the Federal cases, I ran into some here a while back in some 223Rem. TRU loads.
Now however if you get into shooting for accuracy/competition especially in rifle cartridges I do recommend sorting by headstamp and "cull" the case to match for weight and case capacity. When you start getting under the .5" mark on load workups you CAN tell the difference.
But as far as plinking/blasting ammo goes, purchasing and reloading once-fired brass is the way to go. You usually don't load blasting ammo as particular as ammo you want to perform, so particulars other than berdan primed, aluminum, and steel cases being weeded at aren't as important.0 -
Beware of some of the guys selling 1X brass....Some people can be fooled by shiney brass and that is what they count on. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by jtmarine0831
Now however if you get into shooting for accuracy/competition especially in rifle cartridges I do recommend sorting by headstamp and "cull" the case to match for weight and case capacity. When you start getting under the .5" mark on load workups you CAN tell the difference.
But as far as plinking/blasting ammo goes, purchasing and reloading once-fired brass is the way to go. You usually don't load blasting ammo as particular as ammo you want to perform, so particulars other than berdan primed, aluminum, and steel cases being weeded at aren't as important.
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But I do separate Mil brass from factory stuff.0 -
If I buy once fired brass I do not want it deprimed.
If the primer is still in the case you can tell with out a doubt if it is a factory once fire due to the coating on the primer..
If they sell deprimed how would you ever know how many times it has been loaded?0 -
Reloaded 300 .357 rounds for rifle. This is a hotter load then the same round then a pistol. Then I loaded 200 pistol rounds .357 a much lighter load.
Well needless to say thats a long day for a rockchucker one round at a time. I was tired and pitched all the rounds in 1 box. (MY BAD)
One slip like that can and will cost you. Blew the top right off a hawes western .357....... Ouch, hand hurt for a week and some.
Had to decap all 500 rounds and start over.
Guess what I'm saying is keep your mind on what your doing.
Good luck and have fun. Used brass is ok just eyeball each and every one as your reloading before and as finished, each round0 -
i have about 20,000 once fired brass cases of various calibers, but i know who i bought most of it from, culling and inspection is a must, you will get different velocities from different manufacturers, i personally will not buy new handgun brass again, if you reload your one brass will be fired several times anyway 0 -
I have a lot of extra 38 special brass. If you want some, email me your home address, and I will ship you as much as will fit in a flat rate box. When you get it, just send me a check for the postage. 0 -
quote:Well needless to say thats a long day for a rockchucker one round at a time.
I know what your sayin there! I had to start loading for my 38 and 45 again on mine cause someone decided they should have my dillons more than me. I had them off the bench when I was upgrading my bench and someone decided they wanted to have a go in my back room. Luckily they couldn't get through the other door into the house.0
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