Buying question: New brass vs. Once fired?

[Shrinkmd]

I have just discovered the interesting world of purchasing once fired (presumably LE range?) brass. I haven't bought any yet, however.

For non-match purposes, just plinking and practice and having fun, is there any reason (besides for picking up the same amount for free at the range, which isn't such a great prospect these days) to buy new brass over once fired?

And can someone tell me more about TJ Conevera's use of the Scharch machine? What is it?

This brass has been processed using Scharch machines. They check the round for cracks and it removes the primer, and reams the primer pocket.

Are there any safety concerns using once fired? I remember reading something about partially unsupported cases in Glocks or some other pistol. Then again, the Lyman manual tells you so many extra steps that you are either loading virgin match ammo or spending more time than it's worth...

 

[Walkalong]

Some I buy new, but mostly, if I buy, it's once fired, a lot of it I pick up at the range.

So:

Range Brass #1
OF #2
New #3.

It's all good.

 

[Clarence]

I can get once fired for less than half the price of new.........its a no-brainer for me.

 

[loadedround]

I shoot a lot os 223 and 308 ammo in my two AR's and M1A and usually come home with half the brass I started out with so once fired brass is much cheaper to replace my lost brass than new factory cases.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I confess...I'm a "brass rat". I have no pride. You can find me on my hands and knees at any range picking up brass of any caliber...

 

[Spencer Hart]

I purchased some 40 cal from TJ Conevera and it seems ok to me, however I have only loaded 10 rounds so far..... Waiting on a digital scale and an adjustable powder charge bar to confirm load.

 

[RustyFN]

For non-match purposes, just plinking and practice and having fun, is there any reason (besides for picking up the same amount for free at the range, which isn't such a great prospect these days) to buy new brass over once fired?

I don't even use new brass for a match. I'm a brass whore like The Bushmaster and use brass that I don't have any idea how many times it's been fired. As long as there are no defects in the brass you are good to go.
Rusty

 

[Ky Larry]

I confess. I'm a brass monger. I even dig thru the trash cans at the range. Is there a treatment program for people like me?

 

[rcmodel]

The only new brass I ever bought in my life was .218 Bee, 25-20 WCF, 32-20 WCF, .44 Special, and maybe some .45 Colt.

You just don't find any of them in mass quantities laying on the ground in these parts.

rc

 

[Shrinkmd]

Looks like I will have to give it a try then. Obviously for 45 Auto rim or 357 magnum you aren't ever going to find it on the ground! For those I'm treating myself to some StarLine which should last me forever. The rest is scrounging city.

 

[bobotech]

I'm a shameless brass whore at the range. I take it all home with me. I also use brass catchers on my AR and my AK based guns so I don't lose that brass.

The only new brass I have bought was Swiss 7.5x55. It was new brass but sold used by my dealer. 100 rounds of Norma 7.5x55.

Other than that and the occasional buying of a new box of ammo for a caliber that I don't have any source of brass (460S&W for example), its all used or range brass for me.

 

[bobotech]

I think I figured it out.

New brass=buying a new car.

Old brass=buying a used car.

Depreciation kills the value of a new car badly.

You can pay a lotfor a new car and have one extra firing or buy used for quite often, less than half and only lose 1 or so extra firings.

So new brass=say 8x potential, but used brass=7x potential. Is the 1/2 savings worth the loss of one firing? Sure is to me!

 

[Canuck-IL]

Scharch processes their milsurp brass before sale - it's roll sized, decrimped and trimmed to SAAMI spec. Excellent brass - maybe 2 bad rims in a thousand. Unfortunately, they now mix headstamps in orders - used to be you'd get all LC of the same year in a 1000 piece order.
/Bryan

 

[freakshow10mm]

Roll sized?

 

[dirtman]

Shameless, If i see brass on the ground i jump so fast and hard i have lost my shoes..... I have always bought used... only once or twice bought new... because i could not source any used 7rem mag... back before the inter-net...

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Brass is brass is brass.... If it isn't split and the primers don't fall out it's good for me.

IMO if you can't find it at the range there's nothing at all wrong with once fired brass, especially if it's processed like you described in your first post. Why waste the money on new brass when you can get so much more with once fired? Yeas ago brass wasn't expensive, today new brass costs A LOT.

 

[Shrinkmd]

I like the new car vs used analogy. If brass is good for at least 5 or 6 firings, probably many more with mid range lead loads, why pay the premium for new, unless you can't find used on the ground or on the 'net.

For a hotter caliber like 40S&W or .357 Magnum, how many firings are people getting with hotter loads? Can you still count on 5 or so, or does it all depend and you can't say?

 

[freakshow10mm]

I get about 10-12 out of .40 I reload for local LE agencies before I scrap it.

 

[Canuck-IL]

Roll sized?

http://www.wolfbullets.com/rollsize.htm

/B

 

[freakshow10mm]

According to that link, roll sizing can only be done on rimmed brass, not rimless such as the .223 that you spoke of earlier that is full length sized:

ALL RIMLESS BRASS IS FULL LENGTH SIZED BEFORE LOADING TO RETURN CASES TO FACTORY SPECIFICATIONS - RIMMED BRASS IS ROLL SIZED

I've never seen brass that deformed like that. I've also never had an issue with my resizing dies not retuning the brass to factory size.

 

[rhubarb]

My guns haven't seen new brass in years.

My range doesn't have trash cans. Members pick up after themselves. It has crossed my mind to put a barrel marked "BRASS" out there.

 

[.38 Special]

Supposedly you can get once fired that has been through a machine gun and so is badly out of spec. Supposedly even if brought into spec. case life can be very short, with lots of head separations. This is second hand information because I have never tried it for myself.

I tend to use light to midrange loads most of the time. Most of my brass seems to last essentially forever. I have thousand pieces of Starline .38 Special brass that I bought about 10 years ago. I have lost count of how many times they have been loaded, but it's into the 20s, at least. A few have been lost under foot, in the weeds, or to various loading machine incidents, but none have yet shown any signs of impending demise due to natural causes. So I don't consider the cost of new brass to be at all noteworthy.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I've seen used brass like that. One of my "wonder nines" will produce brass like what they are showing after several firing and resizings. But that's after 10-15 reloadings.

It states that we should send the brass to them. What? They don't sell that contraption?

 

[bobotech]

Supposedly you can get once fired that has been through a machine gun and so is badly out of spec. Supposedly even if brought into spec. case life can be very short, with lots of head separations. This is second hand information because I have never tried it for myself.

The only brass that I have seen that was so bad was stuff fired from HK style fluted chambers. The worst fluted brass was shot out of a machine gun HK21 (I think) belt fed. I only had about 50 of them and I managed to small base resize them and loaded them up but I haven't shot them. I loaded them mainly as an experiment just to see how many firings I could get out of them. They were by far the worst brass I have ever seen for once fired.

On the other hand, I bought a box of 1600 LC 308 that was fired out of a military machine gun of some sort. That stuff was bulk DoD brass that someone was selling. I really LIKED that brass more than most. It had no dings/dents on it, the case mouths were mostly round, had no claw marks on the rim from the extractor, etc. I cleaned/polished and then small base resized it all and it came out beautiful. Looks like brand new. Since that batch, I prefer to buy DoD machine gun fired brass rather than some unknown civilian random brass, at least I know what I'm getting.

 

[Maj Dad]

Note on Scales

Note to Spencer Hart - if you get a digital scale, be sure you have a full set of check weights and a good beam balance scale to back it up. There is a generous margin of error on some of them, and all of them are suspect until verified by an accurate beam. An RCBS-type works fine, and the check weights will keep all of them honest.
- "Trust, but verify." - Ronald Reagan