Chasing brass around?

[Plan-B]

Question for you reloaders. I've been reading about how serious reloaders seperate and organize/categorize their brass according to the number of times each batch has been fired. I've also seen many places offering "once fired" brass for sale. This leads me to my question. How do you know?

When I go to the range the guns I shoot and the guns my buddies shoot spit brass all over the place. Mix in all the brass lying around from other shooters and I can't imagine trying to keep track of what is what. I would think that the less common calibers (10mm & .357SIG) would be easier to identify rolling around on the floor, but when you get to the more common cartridges (9x19 & .45ACP) how would you know if it hasn't already been shot and reloaded 20 times by 5 different reloaders? I'm not sure if I'd trust brass lying around from someone else's earlier shooting session but obviously many people do.

Just for the record, I don't reload and don't plan on starting. I just don't have the patience to do it. I'm buying my first batch of reloaded ammo from Georgia Arms and although I've never heard (or read) a single negative about their quality, I just wonder how reloaders in general maintain brass QC.

 

[EJ]

Sometimes you know--Sometines you don't

First-- Not all once fired brass comes from public ranges--
Though granted most probably does-- In that case you can be sure that not ALL the brass is once fired--

You need to check the lot to be sure there are no mixed headstamps -- varying primer indentations--and bright or differed extractor marks--

If any of the above exist that it's too mixed to reallymatterr if it's once fired or not--the differences in the brass and it's previous use(s) preclude serious work--IE--Building up a load etc--

If you just want brass to load for range work and practice and want to be realitvely sure that the MAJORITY is once fired--Then you can trust the dealer to be mostly right.

Most brass left at the firing line is from factory ammo provided by the range owner--UNLESS HE SELLS RELOADS --'THEN YOU KNOW IT"S ALL NOT ONCE FIRED__BUT WELL USED

 

[motorep]

I don't use range brass. Sometimes I'll find other peoples brass in my bag, I just don't use it. I see some guys scrounging for anything, using brass that's so old the headstamp is gone. I just think it's a bad idea, brass isn't that expensive.

 

[Nanook]

Where I shoot, quite a few people use S & B ammo. If they don't reload they leave the brass lay. You can tell it's once-fired since you can still see the primer sealant that S & B uses on the fired primer. Once that's deprimed most of the sealant is gone. That's just one example of getting once-fired brass for free.

There's a range near my that sells range brass for $10 a five-gallon bucket. When I have spare time I sort through it keeping what I like and either trading or discarding the rest. I've got thousands of .45, 9mm, .40, and .38/.357 that way with no problems. You can cull out the bad brass, the dreaded Amerc garbage, etc while you sort it. My friend shoots .44 mag and we've found over 300 pieces of brass for him.

I know this files in the face of some reloaders, but it works for us. If it is old enough that the head stamp is gone, that goes in the junk bucket. But the other stuff has been good.

 

[Plan-B]

Most brass left at the firing line is from factory ammo provided by the range owner--UNLESS HE SELLS RELOADS --'THEN YOU KNOW IT"S ALL NOT ONCE FIRED__BUT WELL USED

Wouldn't that depend on the range you frequent? I mostly go to 2 ranges in my area and one doesn't sell a whole lot of ammo. I mostly see people walk in and pull ammo out of their range bag, back pack, etc. Even if I see them load up mags from a "factory" tray they may just be reusing the old box for storage of reloads.

Where do dealers actually get "once fired" brass anyway? And how do they determine that it's been fired once (roughly)? I suppose the exception to this question would be brands that have special characteristics from the factory such as the previously mentioned S&B.

 

[railroader]

I would think alot of the once fired brass comes from police ranges where they use factory ammo. Mark

 

[Archie]

Railroader hit it.

If you see advertisements for bulk offerings of "once-fired" handgun brass, it's typically from a law-enforcement training facility. Sometimes, from a manufacturer's test facility. This is good brass, as the weapons are all in good shape and maintained. All that brass has been proof tested.

Handgun brass is very forgiving. Even the 44 Magnum is less pressure than modern centerfire rifles, so for general use, range brass will probably serve. Do look it over and check for splits and odd bulges and creases. Berdan cases.

I would venture to say that for most IPSC and IDPA shooting, mixed brass will provide suitable accuracy for match shooting. For bullseye or PPC shooting, you'll want to sort your brass by headstamp and keep to one "pool" of brass.

For seriously hot hunting ammo in the higher pressure calibers, buy new brass. You'll know where it came from and even with maximal loads it will last several loadings.

Pay attention to the load books and the details.

 

[Sactown]

I use one of these to catch all my brass at the range so I know what is mine: http://www.cm-machine.com/item.jhtml;

 

[boing]

Direct link to the brass catcher:

http://www.cm-machine.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=6006|6007&PRID=97882

I'm getting ready to start reloading, and I've been wondering this same thing. Wanna keep track of what's mine, and what's "other".

I wonder if Dykem Blue will harm pistol brass...

 

[motorep]

Boing, regarding Dykem Blue: After taking my first .38 Super comp gun to the range-I ran about 300 rounds through it- I stripped it for cleanining. I had already put the brass in the tumbler, the primers were a little flat, but that's .38 Super, right? Anyway, when I took the firing pin out the tip was bright blue about 1/8" from the tip down. I thought "holy $%%#@, this thing is hot!". The blue wiped off ok, the firing pin wasn't pitted or damaged. It took me, as I remember, several weeks to figure out that the blue was from the blue Sharpie I used to mark my cases.