Would you use range brass?

[scythefwd]

"If you wish to use questionable brass, public range brass, or brass dug out of the dirt, go for it. You'll get no sympathy from me. "

I saw this in another thread. Is this a common attitude and could you explain not using range brass you just saw fired? I can understand not using stuff dug out of the dirt, or questionable brass (bright ring around the case head) but why not range brass? I recently took home about a box worth of .30-30 that was fired directly in front of me, from a rifle in good shape. It was ejected directly into the guys hand and placed back into the bullet holder that he was pulling live rounds from. He didn't reload, so I took them. I don't see anything wrong with it, but I would like the opinion of the more experienced here. I know I can be hard headed, but I generally learn in the end

 

[OYE]

If you saw it was new brass being fired. I would see no problem with that.

Keeping records of how many times your brass has been fired and trimmed is stressed in every reloading manual.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Yes, I would, and I have.
I do not, though, scrounge around looking for every casing that may have ever been fired at the range. If it is not shiny, or in good condition, I will not take it. It is pretty obvious when someone who doesn't reload shoots and just leaves a pile of once-fired brass on the grass.

Heck, I even took a bag of about 1,000 pieces a guy gave me, all mixed head stamps, all in reasonably good condition. There was one headstamp that appeared to have been made in China or the middle east. The cases wouldn't even fit in my shell holder and the primers were so loose they were literally falling out!

So, yes, I used those cases which were in good condition, chucked all the ones with the peculiar headstamp (with the loose primers) and have had no problem with the brass at all.

When I first started shooting and reloading, I got a 357 Magnum. Some guy sold me about 1,000 pieces of brass that were REALLY used, to the point of nickel plating being scratched by dies or something and wearing off.

I loaded that brass many times and never had one problem.

If I go to seat a primer and the primer pocket is real loose, I will either destroy the case then, or if the pocket is questionable, I will mark the case so I get one more firing out of it, then I will discard it after I fire it. When in doubt - DON'T!

 

[jr_roosa]

.38, .357, .45ACP? Yep, I'll shoot range brass all day long and twice on sundays, but I toss out any questionable headstamps or questionable cases. The winchester brass goes in the "match" bag, everything else goes into the mixed headstamp plinking bag for places where I don't want to bother picking up the brass again.

Rifle brass? It all gets carefully inspected. If I'm sure it's once fired, I goes into the rotation in the "once fired" bag. Good looking unknown brass goes in a mixed headstamp bag for one shot and toss-out plinking loads for when I go places where it's a pain to find the brass afterwards.

-J.

 

[qajaq59]

If I know for sure it is a box of new rifle brass and he is willing to give it to me then yes, I take it. However, I don't pick up any that are on the ground that I didn't see fired. When my reloaded brass is ready for scrapping I take it home and squash it, but a lot of guys just let it lie where it falls. If you experienced and really know how to clean it and check it then it's probably ok. But if you're new and really don't know what's good or bad, it's better to just leave it where it is.

 

[pcwirepro]

.38, .357, .45ACP? Yep, I'll shoot range brass all day long and twice on sundays, but I toss out any questionable headstamps or questionable cases.

That's me too. If it's laying on the floor/ground then it's most likely once fired. A quick trip through the tumbler and you would think it was new.

 

[Vacek]

My logic, probably flawed to a degree, is that in the case of rifle brass laying on the range.... if the shooter who left the brass reloaded then they would have picked the brass up. Otherwise they must buy preloaded ammo and therefore the brass is once fired. Sure, you thoroughly check out the brass via all the inspection regimen but that should be done even with brand new stuff.

 

[qajaq59]

You guys would hate our club range. Since I joined over a year ago, I've never seen one piece of center fire brass on the ground. I think all the members are loaders. And a lot of them seem to be casting their own as well. It's pretty easy to shoot the breeze about loading over there though. LOL

 

[PO2Hammer]

I try to reload my own brass only. Sometimes I will pick up brass that someone else is shooting if I know it's factory new and they are shooting with me.

 

[Rule3]

All the brass I have is "range brass" I load just about every pistol caliber and 3 rifle. All brass except the rifle was obtained at a public range when ammo was cheap and folks just left it there. The rifle brass is from a friend who sells brass on a very large scale. I can pick though hundreds of buckets and select headstamp or whatever.

Everything was washed, tumbled, checked with a magnet, and inspected.

 

[mohunter55]

i pick up whatever is in my shooting square. If the guy next to me is firing off a box of WWB 45 acp and they happen to all be flying into my area of course i pick them up. Where i shoot its easy to see the boxes of ammo everyone is shooting on the table. It seems most reloaders use plastic boxes although i've seen a few guys using factory boxes, but you can tell because they are well worn. I don't reload rifle brass, but pistol seems easy enough to inspect the inside and outside of the case. Just make sure you are looking for all the signs that were in your reloading manual.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Free range brass...

Vacek nailed it, mostly.

For my bullseye pistol shooting (low pressure, low recoil) ANY darn brass will do, except Amerc (no QC) and Rem (walls too thin compared with the other major makers; could cause a pressure difference). If it has no obvious damage, and the primer pocket is good, I load 'em and shoot 'em.

For hunting pistol rounds (relatively high pressure, snappy recoil) I keep one set of Starline cases separate, those cases are for the hunting rounds only, just like for rifle shooting.

For my "serious" rifles, each one has a dedicated set of cases, mostly bought brand new, and mostly high-grade brass, Lapua or Norma, and that's all they ever get fed.

For my "non-serious" rifles, it's like the bullseye pistols--Anything I pick up that's in good shape gets utilized. For example, my SKS, which is notoriously hard on brass, and flings the spent cases far & wide.

Years ago, I used free range brass for everything, but discovered through experiment that a really good rifle can tell the difference, and most of those do better with more consistent brass. The high-end brass is more consistent, case to case, than "regular" brass, even, say, 20 Winchester cases all once-fired, from the same box, through the same rifle.

If it were just "hunting accuracy", i.e. 1 to 1.5 MOA or so, then it wouldn't make much of a difference. If you want better than that, as I do from my "serious" rifles, then the difference is real.

 

[jcwit]

I pick up all the brass I find, or should I say scrounge. I take it home, deprime it, inspect it, resize it, inspect it, tumble it, inspect it, and reload it. I inspect it for neck splits, and cracks, overall length, and loose primer pockets, dents will fire form out the first time. This goes for pistol and rifle brass both. Have never had a problem, but then I reload in the middle of the power range, most of the paper I shoot at is not dangerous, and accuracy is what I'm after.

What are the reasons for not reloading range brass?

BTW, I've been reloading for 50 years, and up till recently have shoot thousands of rounds a month.

After reading Smoking Joe, I should add that I also for a couple of my rifles that I shoot off the bench I have dedicated cases for them.

 

[The Bushmaster]

95% of all (probably over 20,000) cleaned and trimmed cases in my closet are range pickups (once fired). The other 5% are new brass.

 

[Walkalong]

Same here. I use range brass all the time for general shooting.

 

[swiftak]

Been shooting range brass for 40 years. Even stuff dug out of the dirt. I don't throw anything away.

 

[rondog]

Me too. Never ceases to amaze me what people can be snobs about. "Ewwww, range brass? How gross."

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Most of the "brass" at the club I belong to is rimfire or steel casings. I have reused once-fired fresh brass that the user did not want. Everything else I have recycled as scrap brass, either my umpteenth reloads last fired or unknown brass picked up at the range.

 

[kk0g]

I literally have thousands of .45ACP brass and probably 98% of it is all range brass. I check for any defects as I pick each one up while I'm reloading, if it's split, mashed up too much, loose primer pocket etc. I just chuck it in the trash. I don't waste time tumbling either, knock off the big chunks of dirt and stick it in the press.

 

[qajaq59]

Me too. Never ceases to amaze me what people can be snobs about. "Ewwww, range brass? How gross."

That was rather judgemental. And I hardy think it's true anyway. Some people simply don't want to mess with brass that they have no history on. And how often do you use range brass that you found in the mud in a 30-06 or a .300 WM ?
Not every reloader is shooting hand guns. This hobby covers a LOT of ground!

 

[Walkalong]

Some range brass ready to run over the brush before tumbling.

 

[kelbro]

Lots of reloaders at the range I shoot at. You have to be careful because a lot of times the only brass they leave laying has exceeded their comfort level for resizing cycles.

If I didn't see it come out of a new box, I'm not picking it up. My guns cost too much to scrimp on brass.

 

[jcwit]

Lots of reloaders at the range I shoot at. You have to be careful because a lot of times the only brass they leave laying has exceeded their comfort level for resizing cycles.

If I didn't see it come out of a new box, I'm not picking it up. My guns cost too much to scrimp on brass.

Are you talking pistol or rifle brass?

 

[Walkalong]

When I have worn out brass, I pick it up and put it in the scrap brass bin at the house, more to keep people safe that to get a few pennies for it. Unfortunately, not all reloaders do. An experienced brass scrounger can usually tell once fired vs well used brass, although visually you can't always tell. To see the empty WWB box in the trash can to match the nice looking brass on the ground is always nice.

 

[jcwit]

And how often do you use range brass that you found in the mud in a 30-06 or a .300 WM ?

Have no idea about .300 WM as I do not own one. But as far as 30/06, reload them till they no longer meet spec's or split, same for .223, I've got some .223 that have been reloaded around 70 times now and still going. Same goes for 7.62 x 39. So the same with .30 carbine altho those do split at the neck more often.

If I didn't see it come out of a new box, I'm not picking it up. My guns cost too much to scrimp on brass.

Well, I reload for my Garand, and I didn't consider it cheap at $900.00, nor my Rem. 700 VLS at $800.00. My Kimber and Springfield .45's were not cheap either. And all of them digest range pick-up with no problems.