Aged brass

[Milt1]

I'm getting back into reloading after a long layoff and picking up components and reloading equipment a little at a time (wow, this stuff is expensive). I have some old brass from my previous reloading days, some that may be 50+ years old. I have a mixture of .38/.357.44Special/.44 Mag.

I was looking at this brass the other day and although it looks good I thought I'd run it by you guys at THR to see if you thought it was safe or if I should just discard. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Walkalong]

As long as nothing has gotten on it that corroded it, it's fine.

 

[WestKentucky]

Even if it's tarnished and funky it will clean up in a tumbler. Should be good for at least 1 shot. If it cracks on that first shot, oh well pitch it and keep going.

 

[Reefinmike]

I have a few pieces of 45 and 38 brass from the early 40's... it shoots and loads just fine.

 

[au_prospector]

Some times old brass takes on a dark peanut butter type color, tumbler wont clean it...
Its called 'chocolate brass' and it is good to go.

 

[ksimons]

Old brass is just like the rest of us, gets better with age

I also restarted reloading after a thirty year absent and started with all my old brass. Cleaned up nice.

 

[rchery59]

I'm a little short on 357 brass, so if you aren't sure if it's ok, send it to me I can check it for you.

 

[TooManyToys]

Brass tarnish is ok,.. basically as long as your brass isn't covered with fuzzy green or powdery white corrosion, they should be ok.

 

[Blue68f100]

A lot of the older brass is better quality than some of the junk being produced today.

 

[blarby]

All old 44 mag brass is suspect.

I'll pm you my address for disposal.

 

[armoredman]

Don't throw it out if it's bad, save it for the scrap guy, make a few last pennies on it.

 

[M1GarandDeerHunter]

Old brass is fine as long as it wasnt stored in a corrosive atmosphere. Ive reloaded brass older than that and it was fine.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Same here...shot up a bunch (thousands) of .38 reloads my Father in Law loaded over 30 years ago and al of it went bang and was surprisingly acurate. Salvaged the brass and reloaded it at least 4X times again already with no problemo.

I think some of the older brass I inherited in .32, .38, and .357 is better brass than I harvest now from the range on once fired.

VooDoo

 

[FROGO207]

I got some once fired 270 brass from an old time reloader a while ago. I think it was from the late 50's. Even the FC brass had thick necks. That old brass was better than the newer stuff IMHO. I would not worry if it is not corroded. Tarnish is no problem, clean and reload.

 

[dickttx]

When I got back into reloading after about a 40 year layoff, I shot all my reloads from the early 70's without a problem. EXCEPT, 50 WW nickel plated 357's. Twenty eight of the fifty split down the side when fired.
I had no problem at all with the empty brass.

 

[Milt1]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I'm going to give this old stuff another try.

Milt1

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Some times old brass takes on a dark peanut butter type color, tumbler wont clean it...
Its called 'chocolate brass' and it is good to go.

I have plenty of it still in rotation.

 

[km101]

I've got commercial .38spl brass from the 70's and military .45acp brass from the 50's and it still loads/shoots fine.

Use it!

 

[gamestalker]

As long as the brass is in good condition, no corrosion or other obvious degraded issues, it's fine. I have used brass 3 or 4 decades old with no issues what so ever.

GS