Once fired brass?

Like most things, it doesn't always come as advertised. Recently bought 1000 .223 once fired at a gun show....ended up pitching about 25 rounds in the trash. Crushed mouths, a .243, a .204 case, and two Berdan primed cases. Guess it's still cheaper than new......just look em over close.

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I buy once fired brass all the time, still cheaper to load and shoot than buying ammo at the store.

Nothing wrong with once fired brass, once it resized its good to go as long as it has no splits or other defects. Dents usually are fireformed when being shot. Watch for the bright ring just forward of the case head in rifle brass, might indicate case head seperation.

Almost all the brass I reload is once fired and thats not a smarta55 remark, I have new unloaded brass in some calibers thats still waiting for its first loading.

I've never bought any, but I've been using once fired .45ACP, 5.56, 7.62 and .38SPL since the seventies.

I have reloaded a lot of once fired brass in .40S&W without a problem. I also shoot on my property. I put down a old sheet to my right and it catches 95% of my brass.

How does one know it's once fired?

good brass but can't reloaded more than once

How does one know it's once fired?

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primer crimps are a good sign

EddieNFL said:

I've never bought any, but I've been using once fired .45ACP, 5.56, 7.62 and .38SPL since the seventies.

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You're saying that Eddie-cause You made it once fired!!??

351 WINCHESTER said:

How does one know it's once fired?

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There is no way to tell for sure unless you shoot it yourself or watch someone shoot it. All you can do is take their word for it and inspect for damage. There are several web sites that offer once fired brass that was collected from police ranges or they get it direct from ammo testing facilities (Winchester, Federal, etc.,). I have bought brass from several of the folks offering brass on the "for sale" board here with good results. Most state if it is once fired or if they aren't sure if it's once fired or not.

billybob44 said:

You're saying that Eddie-cause You made it once fired!!??

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Acquired in a former life.

Oscar, what are you shooting? If you are reloading common handgun rounds, don't buy brass unless you have to. Most ranges will have a bucket behind the line---you'll be able to gather enough .45 or .38 to get yourself going.

Brass is brass is brass for the most part. I like leobrass.com. Good prices and good service. All it is is literally brass that someone picked up at a range and sells cheaply. Beats the heck out of buying new brass.

LEOs get the best stuff. My last trip to a police range I did more picking up than shooting! Nickel plated Speer was on the ground by the thousands. Wow!

you are right, wobbly. I hit my range after some fine officers a few weeks ago. They were throwing Speer, as well.

OFB is generally a bargain, even with a few toss outs.
I have loaded, reloaded and sold many thousands. You can't go wrong if you buy at a decent price.

What caliber(s) were you particularly looking for?

Best thing I could suggest is to deal with someone that can at least reference a number of people here happy with what they received. Partly selfish comment admittedly (heh) but honest nonetheless. I'm by no means a 'big timer' but do have a number of calibers I really, really need to thin out on according to the wife.

Check out Gibrass.com. Jeff Bartlett is a good man to do business with.

Thousands and thousands of brass bought and sold.
One way to tell 1X fired is CBC (Magtech) brass. They imprint a sort of "V" shaped mark on their primers. If you see that, you know it was factory loaded.

Everything I load is once fired, at least. I'll either pick up range brass, or build up my stock by buying loaded ammo.

I have 9mm that's on its fourth or fifth go, and completely indistinguishable from the first. I suspect I'll loose it before it fails.

There are some honest vendors around. You just have to ask around for references. I use blue-star inc. He isn't always the cheapest, but he has been reliable for me. I've ordered thousands of rifles cases from him and never felt like I'd been had. With the "once fired" your best bet is to find someone with a decent reputation and stick with him. Otherwise any savings you might have had are gone with one bad order.

Here's a question that's probably been worn out on this forum. I have noticed that I lose functionality with old brass in my 625 revolver, but what about 1911? Does reloading brass dozens of times make a difference? My really old brass still functions 100 percent in my 1911, but I wonder if I'm sacrificing accuracy to save a few cents. How many times do you reload your brass? I've been going until it splits or won't go into my case holder, or otherwise looks bad for 1911.