Oddball Herders

[depoloni]

Curious if you folks, especially the brass rats, ever collect/keep any of the weird stuff you find - and for that matter, what do you all find?

I've found some interesting items over time, some perhaps more than others. Included are several brass (most recently CCI) with the headstamps printed backwards, several "idiot firings" like a 40SW fired in a 45ACP, 380 in a 9mm, and a few others like a 30-06 that I can only presume was accidentally fired in a 35 Whelen. I've also got the weird habit of saving split/damaged brass, at least an example of every "new" blowout location I see. So I've got an example on-hand of neck splits, side bulges/pops, web splits and even a near full head seperation. Also kept an example or three of primer pocket failures. Basically so on and so forth, etc, figuring someday I'll meet someone else my age that wants to learn to reload and be happy I have the "don't do this" examples handy.

Before you ask: No... I haven't blown any myself and have only witnessed one, but yes, I do have access to and pick up a fairly obnoxious amount of brass. Curious how many, if others, do the same sort of thing?

PS - when I win the lottery, I'll start collecting oddball guns but you've got to start somewhere

 

[loadedround]

Interesting post since I sort of do the same thing, only I'm not into case failures but old rounds, both loaded and empty cases. I enjoy old cartridges and am always looking for unusual and obsolete cases at flea markets, garage sales and of course the range. I don't catalog them and display them in drawers like bonafide collectors, but have put them in old printers type boxes and mounted them on my den wall. One box contains all the rifle, pistol, and shotgun rounds I reload. Outside of that, most of these oddball rounds life in 1 lb coffee cans and are very happy there.

 

[evan price]

I save pretty much any reloadable brass. I have found 458 Lott, 500 Beowulf, .35 Rem, 6.8 spc, boxer primed Nagant revolver, .45 autorim, .32 revolver of various sorts.

I sort it out in little baggies and keep it in tubs. When I get enough (usually around Xmas time) I run a "Brass Odd Lots" sale and list it all.


I also save some examples of bad stuff, like .40 S&W in a 9mm case, .45 in a .40 case, 9mm in a .380 case, etc. to show people why reloading is serious stuff.

 

[fatelk]

Here's a good one for you.

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

I scrounge the range buckets every time I go shoot (many times per week).

Since the Obamamania, I found very odd stuff..sometimes scary:

- Before, I was finding once in a blue moon unfired ammo. Now, I find 10-15 live ammo each time. I even found 60 9mm once. I never take the risk, I just extract the bullet, throw away the powder, weight the bullet and replace it with my powder. I know, I don't know what primer is in it, but my load is in the middle. So no much risk.

- I am assuming, there is a bunch of new reloader. I find OFTEN rounds with reversed primers, bulged cases, AND EVEN rounds assembled upside down

- The other day, a moron bought 9mm to shoot in his 40 S&W. :banghead: He found out after the first round that does not work nicely. It was HIS gun but he asked for 9mm.... Stupid mistake or he just wanted to try? I do not know...

- And now, the icing on the cake: I found out a 7.62x39 berdan primed steel case, having a flash hole drilled, loaded with a boxer primer, with a gas check 210 grains bullet wadcutter (per my scale). In the same bucket, I found out another of those case steel, blown open from the bottom to the middle of the case. I am assuming the guy shot only one and found out it was a bad idea.

And of course, I still see the stuff like guys trying to chamber 45ACP in 40 S&W or in 38spl revolvers, charging their gun with the finger on the trigger, shooting the lights out of the ceiling (this one is still a mystery for me because they are behind a steel plate).

Oh!! I heard the other day a guy walked on the range while people were firing. He had to lift up the tablet then open the half-door....:banghead:

Thank you

 

[ants]

Yes, depeloni, I save that stuff. Examples of failures I give to buddies who are just starting out. Very sobering to a beginner.

My favorite is a 308 Win that was cut down to 1.17" case length, then necked down to .40/10mm. The primer is flattened, and the priming pin strike is way offcenter. I have no idea what kind of gun shot it, but what a wildcat!

 

[Curt Blunt]

fatelk,

It looks like a 303 Savage fired in a 303 Lee Enfield...and the shooter's thinkin' "if it says 303, it must fit, right?":banghead:

 

[Randy1911]

I collect brass that I find. I have about 40 different calibers on my rack on the wall. If I don't have it, I save it.

 

[fatelk]

fatelk,

It looks like a 303 Savage fired in a 303 Lee Enfield...and the shooter's thinkin' "if it says 303, it must fit, right?"

We have a winner! I found this in with some old mixed brass, scratched my head for a minute, then compared it with a .303 British; perfect match.

Even scarier: somewhere in my stuff I have an 8mm Mauser empty that is fire-formed to a 30-06 chamber.