Any Way To Tell if Rifle Brass is only 1X Fired?

[1KPerDay]

All the CCI primers I've used, vintage and new, are silver colored.

 

[BinRat]

After reading some of the responses, I think I should clarify something. I'm not buying any of this brass from my neighbor. I don't reload for rifle....just handgun. I don't have any issues with more than one time fired brass. I also shoot my brass until inspection tells me to stop using it.

He wants to sell his excess brass (if there is such a thing) because he's getting up there in years and feels it's just taking up too much room and he'll never use it all. He's my friend and I never realized just how much he had stored. It's nicely sorted in corrugated boxes by caliber and it's 7 stacks, each about 4 feet high.

I was looking into whether there were any ways to tell if it was once fired to help him sort it out because it seems to matter to some shooters. That way, he could properly describe it if anyone asked.

And again, thanks everyone. You've been a big help.

 

[Boo-Radley]

After reading some of the responses, I think I should clarify something. I'm not buying any of this brass from my neighbor. I don't reload for rifle....just handgun. I don't have any issues with more than one time fired brass. I also shoot my brass until inspection tells me to stop using it.

He wants to sell his excess brass (if there is such a thing) because he's getting up there in years and feels it's just taking up too much room and he'll never use it all. He's my friend and I never realized just how much he had stored. It's nicely sorted in corrugated boxes by caliber and it's 7 stacks, each about 4 feet high.

I was looking into whether there were any ways to tell if it was once fired to help him sort it out because it seems to matter to some shooters. That way, he could properly describe it if anyone asked.

And again, thanks everyone. You've been a big help.

On the subject of your neighbor's brass, I did not realize you were talking about such a large quantity. I wouldn't mind making him a deal on all the 44 mag brass he has. If we agreed on a price, I could just send him a money order and he could mail the brass to me.

 

[zxcvbob]

Who cares? Check your rifle brass every time for the bright ring it gets before the head separates. Crush it with a pair of pliers when failure is imminent.

With revolver brass, don't worry about it. Just shoot it until it splits or the primers fall out or (with magnums that have been overloaded) you notice a case-head-separation bright ring.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Unless you crimp the heck out of handgun brass, I have not had to throw any away yet from use. I have .38's that I have loaded a good dozen times by now. I'm not sure how many times I reloaded my first 100 .45ACP's. I keep thinking of trying to anneal some .357's but I don't make ultra magnums so I don't even crimp that hard. I have been told the Lyman M dies don't work the case mouth as hard and that Ranch Dog's rifle versions (the collet type) of Lee factory crimp dies for the revovlers work the case mouth less than most roll crimp dies. That might help with magnum revolver reloading.

 

[amlevin]

As far as I am concerned ALL brass is good when I pick it up until I decide otherwise. I clean it, inspect inside and out for signs of damage or impending failure, and load it.

Even if it's discarded after inspection I'm ahead $2 a pound.

 

[crkr]

Looking for a crimped primer has already bene mentioned.
Another way to tell if some brass is once fired is the discoloration left from annealing. Not all once fired brass will show discoloration, but any that does is almost certainly only fired once.

 

[BinRat]

$2 a pound for brass scrap? The place in this area is paying $0.75 a pound right now. Actually, that's probably good for reloaders in this case. If brass were going for a good price, my neighbor would consider hauling it all over for cash, and it would be such a shame for all this good brass to meet such an unfulfilled death when they have many more loadings in them.

 

[788Ham]

At our gun club, the 2 gents on range duty that day have access to the left brass, its a gentleman's agreement. The range duty is set up on a schedule, it seems to work out pretty well for everyone. Now if you're looking for a specific cal. of brass, they can be " bought off". Ha