.30-06 Brass

[sgtzach]

Hey y'all,
Bought some once fired .30-06 brass today for $90 for 100 pieces and had some questions. Most is LC NM and FA NM but some is marked EW( Eau Claire), DEN(Denver Ordnance), and SL(Saint Louis). Is this brass worthwhile? Most is 1942-1943 stamped. Also I know that primers were corrosive up until around 1953(?) would this affect the stregnth of the brass? Would any of this brass of this era 1942-1957 be Berdan primed? Just dont want to mess up any decapping pins. Finally, I know most reloading manual suggest a 10% reduction when using MilSurp brass. Have you found this to be true or just one of those things that everyone says but not neccesarily required?

Thanks in advance,
sgtzach

 

[Ateam-3]

Is that a typo, or did you really pay $90 for 100 pieces?

 

[sgtzach]

Ya i thought $90 for 100 was a pretty square deal...haha kidding absolutlely a typo but i do think that $90/1000 of once fired, mostly LC NM brass was a great deal...unless someone out there knows of anyplace cheaper...

 

[rodregier]

Mil-spec brass is typically thicker-walled than commercial, which reduces the available internal volume. That is why the recommendation to reduce powder charges with mil-spec brass.

Weigh some commercial (as a reference) and your candidate brass to determine if it really is heavier.

You can look inside the cases to see which priming system is used. I don't recall any US-made brass from WWII era being Berdan primed. Corrosive priming fired cartridge residues are more of a problem for ferrous metals than with brass.

 

[USSR]

...I know most reloading manual suggest a 10% reduction when using MilSurp brass. Have you found this to be true or just one of those things that everyone says but not neccesarily required?

While that's true with .308Win/7.62x51, it's usually not the case (no pun intended) in regards to .30-06. With identical loads in Lake City M72 Match and Lapua commercial brass, I get the same velocity/pressure. Only caveat is, if the load data was compiled using Winchester brass (it's lighter with more case capacity), then I would reduce the charge weight somewhat.

Don

 

[medalguy]

No US military brass has ever been anything other than Boxer primed. And yes the WWII dated brass was corrosive primed, but it doesn't hurt the brass at all. If you're concerned that there might still be any corrosive salts left in the brass, simly wash it in hot water and a little detergent, rinse very well in hot water again, and let it dry 2-3 days before priming it. You can spread it on cookie sheets when mama is out playing bridge and dry it in the oven at the lowest temperature for an hour or so. Low temp won't hurt the brass at all and will dry it quickly.

Many reloaders find that mil brass actually is thinner than commercial brass. Do a water capacity test if you're concerned. At a minimum, start low and work up each and every load.

 

[sgtzach]

thanks for all the replies...im in the process of cleaning it all now that its sorted...can't wait to shoot some of this stuff as i finally found a range that has an open enrollment period...now heres another question for all you M1 Garand owners..what is your favorite load?? Do you have a favorite "match" load that you use whether in competition or just for extreme accuracy??

sgtzach

 

[R.W.Dale]

I agree with USSR with reguards to commercial vs military 30/06

unlike 7.62x51 vs 308 or 5.56x45 vs .223Rem. 30/06 has always been 30/06

myself I really am liking the Greek HXP brass I have a small supply of.

 

[USSR]

My 144gr FMJBT Load is 49.0gr of IMR4895, and my 168gr Match load is 46.5gr of IMR4895.

Don

 

[sgte5]

30-06 brass

I wish I had a few pieces of the Eau Claire brass. My mother worked in that factory during the war. It was the Gillett Tire and Rubber company converted to a munitions factory for the war effort. My dad was in the Army, and I was just a thought, that came along after the war. Wow, how time flies.

 

[sgtzach]

sgte5,

Send me a PM with address and ill mail you a few pieces.

Semper Fi,
sgtzach

 

[rodregier]

Concur with USSR, IMR4895 is a good canister-grade powder choice for the Garand. IMR 4064 is supposed to be good too, although it is chunkier for metering usage.

I'm personally using a non-canister-grade powder in the Garand (Higginson Powders CF8506). Powder was chosen more for it's superior price than it's intrinsic superiority to the alternatives. Has a burn rate a bit slower than IMR4064.

Unless you are going to use an aftermarket gas metering system on the Garand, stay away from IMR4350 and other similar slower rifle powders for the Garand. The slow powders are incompatible with the required pressure curve for the Garand.

 

[Taroman]

I use a lot of GI brass loading for my Garand. It has always been very good once the cases are prepped. Recently, a friend gave me several hundred once-fired cases found in his father's stuff. These were DEN 43. The primer pockets on these were so undersize/heavily crimped that even after swaging and reaming the primers were extremely difficult to seat. Finally threw out the whole batch. Some flash holes were so far off center that they were impossible to deprime even with the hammer/punch method. Wartime expedient production, no doubt.

 

[john wall]

Some of your brass has corrosive priming. Throw those away. Check this list out.

http://www.odcmp.org/1101/USGI.pdf

Jeff Bartlett has good Natl' Match brass. It is new, and expensive, but is ideal for Military rifles. I personally do not use commercial brass in my Garand. YMMV

http://www.gibrass.com/

 

[ranger335v]

That's an interesting compilation of what was made where and when but it means nothing Sgt.Zach; his "one fired" primers have popped and gone.

Even if it was live corrosive primed ammo it would mean nothing other than the need to clean the bore properly and promptly. I still have some cases left of the hundreds of WWII ( '41 to '43 ) surplus 30-06 ammo I got from my gun club in '65. It has never caused any problem, I just cleaned the bore and have used the brass normally ever since. In fact, I loaded a box of DM 43 yesterday. (My -06 is a hunting rifle, I don't put a lot of ammo through it in a typical year and I do have a lot of other cases. I've never noticed a significant average difference between GI cases and most others.)

 

[rcmodel]

Some of your brass has corrosive priming. Throw those away.

Shirley you jest!!!!

There is no reason at all whatsoever you can't use old GI brass that once contained corrosive primers.

I've reloaded a bunch of them over the years with no problems what so ever.
Even made 25-06 and other calibers out of them.

rc

 

[sgtzach]

As far as the cases that had corrosive primers, I have been looking online and have gotten mixed reviews. As of right now I plan to give them some extra time in the tumbler and carry on as normal. But I do appreciate that list of what was made when and where. Right now I'm still cleaning(each load gets 2 hours tumblin' time) but am really looking forward to loading some of this brass up and shooting. Hopefully, on the 6th I'll get my club membership and my days of shooting the M1 at 50 or less yards is over!

 

[evan price]

Now if we were talkiing mercuric primers, that would be good cause to scrap out all brass with those primers. But we're talking 20th century, corrosive primers, which are not damaging to the brass like mercuric primers are.
Should be no problem reloading those cases with modern primers and enjoying them all over again.