Would you shoot this brass

If it has turned green the only shooting I would do with it might be at it

If it is vintage 1942/43 a collector might be interested in it but I don't collect so not sure on that.

My motto- when in doubt throw it out!

NorthBorder said:

Obviously I need to cull the pile, or should I just throw it all away.

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I've had many cases with the green oxidation that I've deprimed and tossed in the tumbler and used. My rifles never noticed.

I more care about split cases and primer pockets getting loose.

If you do decide to "throw them all away", I'll be happy to take them.

My rule of thumb is is to cull and pitch any brass exhibiting areas of corrosion especially if the corroded surface areas are pitted. That’s an indicator of possibly compromised metal strength.

Bayou52

Brass is cheap, why take the chance of possibly ruining your gun using crap brass?!

Tarnish is one thing but pitting and other corrosion is a bad thing on brass! If you have to ask, you already know that it's no good.

I know with things being the way they are right now, no one wants to throw stuff away. But, brass is still available and tossing a few pieces is no big deal.

Better to err on the side of safety than take a chance of having a bad blowout by being cheap! If you have a case split, it could be no big deal. Have a blown primer and flame cut your bolt, cost you a few bucks to replace. Worst could be a kaboom and you lose a rifle and possibly you get hurt.

Your stuff, do as you please, be safe.

I'm not certain, but I think those 1943 dated Mk I cases are from Mk 32 blanks for a Mk I line throwing gun.

I would not use it. It's good for the scrap bucket.

I probably wouldn't shoot those. The corrosion would be a cause for caution. The primed ones may have corrosive primers and some of them may be old enough to be ballon head cases. I have some loaded ammo in cases like those in my collection.

In my opinion, the age and condition of that brass should have been posted in the for sale ad. I would be wanting a refund!!!

If it looks like that on the outside, what does it look like on the inside?

If it is surface tarnish only there would be no problem with me using them. I would wet clean them with SS pins and inspect. If they cleaned up with no coppery red spots or show pitting they would be good to me. It is ultimately your call as to safety though.

Keeping them for the collection is probably the best way to go. If they are collectable, people will still pay good money for them despite being fired.

Condition is always the biggest factor in collecting. Don't clean them as that will ruin any value, look up the cartridge collectors website. You can find info on Keeping brass safe from corrosion. That and removing it and devaluing it while trying to protect it.

After you clean them look for any pink on the cases. The cases with pink bordered in silver then the brass color has lost the zinc and is not structurally sound.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/dezincification

You can read up on dezincification here.

I shoot ww2 and early cold war surplus all the time, way sketchyier.

Would I shoot them, not unless the world was ending and then who cares. Would i clean them up and add wax to the tumbler to protect and keep them nice and corrosion free you bet. A cool case can be a discussion item or a reloading room trinket.

I would scrap them

I would bet most of them would crack if fired. May not be an issue, but 45-70 packs a punch and it could be dangerous. I'd toss the bad ones and do a minimum load on a few good ones and shoot a few. I shoot a lot of 1950's ammo and most of them crack at the neck, but no issues and the velocity is the same as a brand new one.

As FROG said, wet tumble with ss pins and inspect for pitting. I’ve had some pretty ugly brass turn out to be perfectly fine.

I have loaded plenty of brass that looked much worse prior to wet tumbling.

Swampman said:

I'm not certain, but I think those 1943 dated Mk I cases are from Mk 32 blanks for a Mk I line throwing gun.

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I was going to mention this.

Weigh each and every case. You might find some wildly different weights.

https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t/45-70-line-throwing-blank-mk1-mk32/686/5

bfoosh006 said:

I was going to mention this.

Weigh each and every case. You might find some wildly different weights.

https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t/45-70-line-throwing-blank-mk1-mk32/686/5

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I believe the old balloon head black powder weigh a lot less due to having no real meat in the case head...

Junk it