Buying primed brass

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ccctennis

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
357
I just bought a 243 wssm. I won som brass on gunbroker. It arrived today and almost all of it is primed already. What do you guys normally do in this situation? Resize again and deprime and start over? Just load it up and give it a go? I can check to see if it chambers fine then use it? Just curious how safe or unsafe this could be?
 
I just bought a 243 wssm. I won som brass on gunbroker. It arrived today and almost all of it is primed already. What do you guys normally do in this situation? Resize again and deprime and start over? Just load it up and give it a go? I can check to see if it chambers fine then use it? Just curious how safe or unsafe this could be?
pick 5 or 10 random pieces, load em, see if they work. if so load the rest, if not dump the primers

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk
 
I would personally resize them. If they deprived in the process I would keep the primers to reuse. In my press I can remove the deprimer pin.
 
First thing is to try them in your chamber ... if the bolt closes like it should ... load a few up and give them a try ....

Your CHAMBER is the case gauge that the brass has to fit .... simple as that ....
 
Did the auction list once fired brass, sized/primed brass, mixed brass/some of it primed? Did it mention primers at all? Such as what type? Not all are primed? Are they sized? How many pieces total?

Sounds like a mess. Clean them, size/decap them, and then toss the primers unless you want to use them for non critical plinking ammo.

Still interested in the answers to the questions above.
 
Here is what the listing stated on gunbroker:
Here we have Rare hard to find 218 ROUNDS OF 243 WSSM Brass, 30 new 188 once fired, do not bid if it is not Legal to own in your state! If you are paying with a credit card and your address matches your gun broker account address please use gunbroker checkout! thanks for bidding!!
 
OP, the ad didn't state primed. So, the question is are they new from pulled rounds?
Or, are they someone's partial reloads? In any case, I'd recommend sizing them with decapping pin removed, and then working up some loads.
Since you don't know which primers they are, then the recommendation of using them for plinking loads is a good one.

Oh, and I love the obligatory gunbroker listing description of RARE! Hard to find!
 
Really isn't a big deal. Using an unknown primer isn't a safety issue. I'd just take out the decapping pin, FL size 'em(the once fired will need that anyway.) and carry on.
"...Rare hard to find..." The guy's right about that. Isn't currently available through Graf's or Midway. Not being made by Winchester according to both.
 
If it was me I would remove the unknown primers and replace them. 200 primers = <$8. A primer failure and a messed up bolt is a lot more $$, possible safety issues as well.


Using an unknown primer isn't a safety issue
:confused:

I would think a SP primer in a High pressure rifle case using small primer could become a safety issue real quick.
I have never tried seating a LP primer in a Mag rifle case to see if it's possible and would fire, but I would think that would be bad news as well. (I know LR and LP are a little different height/depth wise)

Again just not worth trying to save a few $ IMO
 
Last edited:
Yes rare is correct. I have tracked down these 250 cases and 3 new boxes of ammo for now. I'm a bit of a hoarder. I have 500 plus cases for my 220 swift and at least that much for my 6.5-284.
 
A primer failure and a messed up bolt is a lot more $$, possible safety issues as well.

How, pray tell, is a primer failure going to mess up a bolt? Also, please explain what "safety issues" you're imagining if you can think of any.

I would think a SP primer in a High pressure rifle case using small primer could become a safety issue real quick. I have never tried seating a LP primer in a Mag rifle case to see if it's possible and would fire, but I would think that would be bad news as well. (I know LR and LP are a little different height/depth wise)

Large rifle primers will fit in large pistol primer pockets and large pistol primers will fit in large rifle primer pockets and they will generally fire dependably. Large rifle primers are a little harder than those for pistols so some handguns won't touch them off dependably but it's not a safety issue.

Also, consider the 500 S&W Magnum cartridge with a SAAMI maximum pressure of 60,000 psi. Did you know that when it first came out cases were used with pistol primers? I think the same was also true for the 460 S&W Magnum that has a SAAMI 65,000 psi pressure maximum when it first came out. Cases for those cartridges now are used with large rifle primers but the reason isn't a safety issue but more for reliable powder ignition.
 
I guess one way to test would be to load Rifle ammo to the max with pistol primers and see if there are any issues, however I am not volunteering any of my guns for this test.
Anybody want to test?

No one needs to test it. The test has already been done; read about the 60,000 psi 500 S&W Magnum cartridge again. That's as much pressure as most rifle loads generate.

I bought some Sellier & Bellot "Large Rifle" primers. Right on the box it says for rifle, pistol and revolver cartridges so someone else also thinks there isn't much of a difference between the construction of rifle and pistol primers.
 
Thanks dude. I tried some of the primed brass and it chambered like butter! Going to load some Sunday and hit the range for some test. That is if my scopes arrive I'm time.
Some of the brass is nickle plated. :)
 
As mentioned if the brass had pulled bullets you might want to at least run them through a neck sizing die with the decapper removed. If not, you might not get good holding tension on the bullets.
 
Good advice pccu. I didn't think about neck tension. I will try and seat a pulled to see.
 
Contact the Seller and ask what was done to the brass. Might have just started to reload and switched to something else. They should at least be able to tell you the primers used.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top