38 special brass bulge question

[mohunter55]

Hello,

I recently purchased a bunch of once fired 38 Special cases. I'm thinking these are not once fired. So far out of 200 I've pulled out 4 with split mouths and bodys. not sure if that is normal for a once fired brass to split. Also quite a few of the cases are slightly buldged at the bottom of the case. My once fired brass shot in my ruger vaquero does not bluge brass, so it seem strange to me. A lot of these cases have +P head stamps and a lot of them are nickle plated. Also, most of the buldged cases appear to be w-w, star, and other strange head stamps. The winchester and R-P appear to be fine in most cases, although i can tell some is reloaded since the primers are different colors. What do you guys think about the bulge? Is this normal? should i trash these? they only cost me 35 bucks? I know many people say they reload them til they split...

 

[ReloaderFred]

In all likelihood, some of the brass has been fired multiple times. Nickel plated brass will split sooner than unplated brass will, due to the plating process. You also can't tell how many times a case has been reloaded by the color of the primers (plated vs. unplated).

As for the bulges, it depends on the severity. If very badly bulged, to the point you can see the brass stretching and causing stress marks, then it should be scrapped, but if it's just normal pressure expansion from +P loads, then it can be safely reloaded after full length resizing.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[mohunter55]

thanks fred. When i was saying i could tell it was reloaded based on the primers, I was refering to winchester cases having silver primers (any winchester brass i've ever seen has had brass colored primers) also, there were some Remington R-P cases with brass colored primers and everyone I've seen has always had silver...although i could be wrong.

 

[Cosmoline]

Maybe the previous owner just had an oversized chamber. Make sure to run them through your carbide die to resolve any bulging, or they may not chamber in your tighter Ruger.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Winchester primers in the past were nickel plated. I still have lots of nickel plated Winchester primers. I've also seen factory Remington .38's with brass primers. It's difficult to tell just from primers.

I look at the condition of the cartridge case, rim, mouth, etc. to determine whether I feel a case has been reloaded in the past. Once fired brass will normally be cleaner inside for one thing. Scratches and other marks on the case walls will also tell a story, as will the rims of the cases. There are usually some tell tale signs that will tell you.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[mohunter55]

thanks for the tip about primers, I was unaware of that...I've only used newer brass so far. I think what I'll do is cut a few cases open and check them out. any suggestions on the best way to cut one open? I'm thinking maybe just standard cutters and cutting down to the head, then bending, or possibly putting it in my vise and getting out some tools.

 

[Maj Dad]

Mo, I trash 38 spl brass when it splits or has some obvious defect (like big reddish tarnished areas). I have bought pigs in a poke in the past and included in the "once-fired" cases were nickel cases with the nickel wearing off and brass cases with coal-black interiors. Don't use the obviously much-fired cases for max loads, but don't worry about them for mild ones. If you want to load max (+P vicinity) use cases that you know are in good (once or twice fired is my guidline) condition. Inasmuch as you can, buy from reputable sellers, as I think most of the THR sellers are (I haven't heard any complaints; don't mean there ain't been none ). As always, caveat emptor...