Once Fired Brass-Is It Safe to Reload

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Twiki357 I have a question for you since you have so much experience - what kinds of case dents are dangerous and should be picked out? Or what other flaws in cases should you look for and pull out when reloading?
 
When I buy a new gun in a caliber I don't reload for yet, I buy new brass or just buy a couple boxes factory rounds to use the brass. All of what I load is used brass, once fired or fired 10 times, doesn't matter. Just inspect the cases before the reloading process and you'll spot the bad ones. Throw em in the trash and move on. That's one of the many advantages of reloading your own shells. Think about it, for each time you reload a pc of brass, your cost per round decreases drastically...Just make sure you inspect them all for safety reasons, you'll be ok. When I go to the range (at least 3/4 times per week) I come home with a bag full of 223, 243, and 40 S&W brass that people just leave laying there or throw into the brass bucket. Once in a while I even get a box or two of 7mm Mag brass that someone doesn't want to bother with (bonus!) Sportsmens show in town today, hoping to score some brass (44 mag) and small rifle magnum primers...
 
I shoot scrap range brass almost exclusively. Some of it once fired some of it maybe 10 times and i am still here :).
 
I use a lot of used brass.
A dent doesn't bother me--it will flaten out when you shoot it.
Cases with sharp deep scratches or cuts go in the garbage.
I don't reload range brass to the max--I have never had a problem.
 
As I recall the only new brass I have bought in the last ten years was 7.62 x 39 and 54r only because nobody leave that lying around at the range that often or sells once fired in those calibers online so buying new brass is about the only option. I prefer the Prvi brass in those two calibers which I stocked up on several years ago when it was relatively easy to get,not so much now.

For everything else I shoot both handgun and rifles in several calibers each all my brass is once fired range pickup,stuff I've bought on the cheap or friend that don't reload gave me. I have no problem using once fired brass.
 
As jim in Anchorage said, a reloader probably wouldn't leave his brass. If left by a non-reloader it would probably be once fired. Look at it after you clean it!!
 
reloads

918v You seem to have doubts to the statements made by JC Witt. 70 reloads for a bottleneck cartridge. Please read varmit al's fitted case's.What JC said is the truth. Reloading has many depths how deep are you willing to go. read,research,reload,relax and learn. May all your groups be 1 hole.
 
I pick up all brass left laying in the calibers I shoot. It gets inspected and what is kept gets run thru the tumbler before it is used. Rejects go in a can to go to the scrap dealer when enough gets collected to make the trip worthwhile. I have never had a problem using this kind of brass.
 
I'm not questioning jcwit's reloading his .223 cases 70 times, but I'd imagine that those cases need to have their necks annealed about now. Or maybe that's how he got them to this point!
 
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Once Fired Brass

Low pressure rounds like 45acp of unknow history i would use after inspection. Or any brass i watched a person pull from a factory box & shoot. I would no longer use LC range brass or commerical reloads for this reason.
The approximate shelf life of the ammunition is also tested here. "We place the ammunition in a chemical solution. This process allows for the brass imperfections to be easily identified" said Ojeda. "Any potential defects in the brass will become more apparent due to the reaction of the solution. Theoretically, the test makes it possible to identify flaws in the brass that under normal conditions, could only be noticed after a lengthy period of time." This brass is sold as scrap. http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/08/22/11859-ammunition-testingrigorous-process-well-worth-it/index.html
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Some of this LC brass will be roll sized to bring the web area back in to spec. as it has expanded from being fired in machine guns. This can stress the web area & possibly cause ruptures on reloading/firing.
joe1944usa
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B78:

This thread is not about fitted cases fired out of benchrest rigs. If the OP was a benchrest shooter he would not have posted his question.
 
OK leaving brass is a sin. Buying brass is painful. The brass is nothing more than a container for all of the components. It will affect a few things but it does not take all of the forces involve in firing a round. If you do not inspect your brass you might get case separation, case split and the primer may dislodge. In 25+ years of reloading I still have not seen a case separation (watch it will happen today) or a primer dislodge. I have seen a number of case splits.
In my world I would be more concerned with my loading mistakes. Double charges (never had one), squibs (had some) would be much bigger problems than using x number fired rounds. Sound like you are at least smart enough not to push to max loads when starting. Unless you need max loads why load them at all?
So join the rest of us and start cleaning the range in case at a time!
 
Jcwitt:

70 times???

Are you serious? I reloaded a 9mm case 30 times. 70 times for .223 is an outrageous claim.
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Not a claim, fact! Lake City brass stamped 01, loaded with 22 1/2 grains of accurate 2015, with a 53 grain Sierra flat base Match King bullet. These five cases have been reloaded over and over and over for years now with this load in a Remington 700 VLS.

Sorry if you feel its outrageous, but that is the facts. And no I have not needed to bump the sholder back yet at this time. And bolt is still easy to close.
 
This thread is not about fitted cases fired out of benchrest rigs. If the OP was a benchrest shooter he would not have posted his question.
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The above quote is true, but I made not of reloading .223 cases for knowledge as to how often some cases can be reloaded. Thought knowledge would be welcome, not criticized.
 
Knowledge is welcome when appropriately presented. Leaving the OP to wonder whether a 223 case can be reloaded 70 times out of an AR-15 is inappropriate. Qualifying one's statement by explaining a specialized process for a specialized firearm is appropriate.
 
Well golly gee, I'm sorry! Grovel, grovel, grovel.

You happy now?

Furthermore, I'll venture to say/claim "whatever one wishes to call it" that I have 45 ACP cases that have been reloaded many more times than 70 times. As long as the primer pockets are tight and the necks are not split why not?

But then you'all do as you wish, as I also will. Whether I go into a long explanation as to what firearm, how its loaded, what its shot at, climate conditions ect., ect, or not.

Been reloading since the 1960 and have yet to experience a problem concerning safety, sooooooooooooooo I'm either lucky, or dam good. I suspect the later!
 
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If I had an agenda, I would be challenging your every utterance. As it stands, I only challenge stuff I disagree with.
 
I only challenge stuff I disagree with.
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Which seems to be most everything is write.

How bout getting this thread back OT, instead of attempting to pick me apart?

Don't like my posts? I can easily handle that, but the constent nit picking of me is getting alittle old.

Course it does give me a reason to get my post count higher.
 
jim in Anchorage said "I can't even imagine buying .223 once fired, I can get buckets of it at the range. As far as how many times its been fired [1] reloaders generally don't leave their brass, so the odds are good it's 1x fired. ..."

Reloaders generally don't leave their brass...true but, they do leave it when they know they've used it past its safe/useful life. So range pickups are likely 1x or 2manyX ;)

ThumperACC
 
As others have said, once fired brass in most instances is safe to use. What the manuals may be alluding to is that it's hard for a new reloader to tell if range pickup brass is safe. Hardened/split case mouths, hairline case separation and loose primer pockets are all potentially unsafe to use, but are not easy for the inexperienced handloader to spot. Suggesting using new brass until one is familiar with the reloading process itself only makes sense.
 
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