[John 242]

How many of you use brass that you use brass that others leave behind at the range? In several recent gun magazine articles there was mention of this being a bad idea due to the fact that you have no idea what you are dealing with. Perhaps the brass is once fired, or maybe it has been loaded 10, or 15 times? Another point was that the brass could have been overly stressed due to someone's over pressured reloads. I believe Glocks were mentioned as being hard on the case web in certain calibers, and that reloading Glock brass is a no-no.
How much is this myth and how much of this is fact?
I have 5 gallon buckets full of pistol brass that I have policed up from the range. I would bet that 99% of it is once fired brass. Few shooters at my range reload. Those that do, are quick to hunt down their cases. I am sure I have picked up a few, but again probably less than 2% of what I have.
I am slowly stockpiling a large amount of rifle brass including .30-06, .30-30, .243, and some .223. Not the military stuff, but factory Remington, Winchester, etc. I am nearly positive that this stuff is all once fired.

What say you?

Take care,
John

 

[RetiredRod]

John, I scrounge all the range brass I can find. But, after I tumble it I examine it carefully for signs of over-pressure or misuse before I will reload it. As you said, most range brass is once-fired because reloaders pick up their brass.
Rod.

 

[primersinmyshoe]

I'm with Rod,
I scrounge all my handgun brass (mostly 45acp) from the floor of the local indoor range, and I've accumulated lots. After tumbling, I carefully inspect every case before it goes into the "ready to load" box. I toss the Amerc, S&B, WinNT, and several other headstamped brass. I've got enough brass that I can be picky. As for Glock fired brass, I haven't had a problem with brass fired in an unsupported chamber. I think the Lee Factory Crimp Die resized the cases back to factory specifications.

Rifle brass is a completely different story. I wouldn't use range rifle brass because I reloaded for bullseye accuracy so I bought a large supply of quality brass and only loaded rounds from that source. Perhaps if I only wanted plinking rounds I would use range brass, but I rarely went "plinking".

Just my 2¢

 

[phil_h]

for 45acp i take it all, clean, look, look again, load. when they show anything out of the norm throw them out.

and yes i've had a few split on me, but most of my loads are very soft.

 

[Houston1944]

For me it depends on the caliber. 45 & 9mm I pick up everything, throw out the known bad labels and check after cleaning for cracks. 38 Super I only pick up my own brass. I do not pick up range brass for my rifle calibers. Since I only have bolt action rifles it's easy for me to keep my own brass.

 

[jmcneil]

I scrounge all the brass I can find----even for calibers I don't shoot (for trading stock). Finding .45acp brass is the pinacle of brass finds for me. I take 'em home, tumble and inspect. The awesome .45acp is a low pressure round and brass can be reloaded for longer than most gunwriters would suggest. The key is to keep tabs on your brass through consistent inspection.

 

[LZHome]

Up to this point I have reloaded only once fired brass and brass I have purchased. But now I'm getting setup to load .45 ACP I should be collecting some at the range. I just passed on several hundred CBC cases since I didn't know what it was (BlackHill possibly??).

Would some one list the common bad stuff that should be left on the ground? primersinmyshoe listed some above.

 

[BigDog(RE)]

I just passed on several hundred CBC cases since I didn't know what it was (BlackHill possibly??).

CBC Brass is good brass. Its Magtech ammo out of Brasil. The stuff I leave on the range is AMERC, S&B (tight primer pockets), WIN NT (small primer), and CCI small primer.

I usually run the range pickup stuff through the media seperator to get the dirt out, then I tumble and inspect. So far so good.

 

[Walking Point]

Where I normally shoot, I will not pick up .38 Super, 9mm, and maybe not even .40 brass. We have too many Open shooters torturing their .38 Super and 9mm brass. If the .40s are marked, then I tend to think someone has loaded it 10+ times and left it there for a reason. Unmarked .40s get looked at long and hard, then trashed if there's any doubt at all.

Mostly I shoot in a restricted access area of the club. The folks who can shoot there are hardcore competitive types and we all pick up our brass. So I rarely find any brass to worry about. Generally speaking, if I go to the regular range area on a brass hunt, it's OK. Mostly once fired factory stuff.

 

[Jeeper]

The only time I pick up brass is when I shoot in practice. At matches and evrywhere else I just leave it. Why bother when once fired is so cheap.

 

[brickeyee]

I pick up my own but never anyone elses.
I buy large lots (10,000) of once fired as needed and manage to loose more than I can wear out, even with 1000 rounds a week.
The risk is simply not worth all the extra trouble to inspect the stuff, and even then you are not sure how many times it has been fired. Brass work hardens with each firing and there is no good way to tell if it will hold or split if you have no idea of the number of times it has been up the pipe.
Most splits are at the case mouth for .45 and more an irritant than a hazard, but when the once fired is $0.05 each, why bother?

 

[Whofan]

I pick up and use .45 ACP brass without a second thought. I even use the S&B without any problems.

.223 Rem is another story. I usually see the guys shooting and can tell fairly well if it is factory ammo or not. If I don't see the ammo fired, I carefully inspect the heads. You can tell, with a little practice, if they have been thru the firing cycle more than once. The ejector leaves marks. Shiny primers are a clue, too. Remington and Winchester and LC factory loads use brass colored primers.

If I find military brass and the primer crimp has been removed, that tells me that it has been fired at least twice.

BTW, I have been finding a lot of Win and Fed brass lately that have crimped in primers (besides the Lake City (Fed) brass).

 

[doctor j]

I use range brass in 45 ACP, 9mm, 38, 357, and 44 Magnum and have had no problems. I toss the small-primer and steel-case (Wolf) brass in 45 ACP. If I'm preparing hunting loads for 44 Magnum, I use new brass. Like everyone else, I inspect the brass during the processes of scrounging, cleaning, de-priming etc. and toss the questionable hulls when I encounter them.

A-merc is not the best; although I once loaded 50 of them in 45 ACP just to see what would happen, and they performed OK. Flash holes on the A-merc are sometimes off center, which can cause problems during depriming, and the case wall seems to be thicker than others. The thick case wall is really noticable when I pass the round through my Lee Factory Crimp die in 45 ACP.

I can't comment on rifle brass as I don't reload for my rifle.

 

[Maj Tom]

I no longer shoot range brass as I have tossed what I thought was mine into my brass catcher (it doesn’t snag a 100%). I then noticed some head stamps that I don’t load and tossed those. Then I found some that where noticeably shorter. So then I had to check them all for below minimum length (impacts crimp and accuracy) and I founf some "Really" short ones and not GAPs either. Also another area of concern is with pistols being sold (plastic and others) that have unsupported chambers . I know my chambers are good and my loads are not hot, but brass does strain harden and I would hate to have a case failure near the rim. I shoot IMI Match and I’m the only one at my range that does, so if I find one outside of my brass catcher, it is mine. I’ve also noticed that Remington shrinks the fastest and that some Winchesters are below .888 after just one firing. I have IMI’s that I’ve loaded more times than one would think possible and they split prior to getting to short. Just my penny and a half…

 

[John 242]

Thanks everyone.
I inspect my brass fairly well before loading. I measure every case to check OAL and if it's not between .888 and .898 I toss them into my scrap bucket.
Deep scratches, major dings, and chewed up rims end up scrap.
I don't reload nickel plated brass either. They seem to split quicker than unplated brass. What else should I be looking for? How likely is a case failure?

I feel reasonably sure that the cases I am reloading are in good condition, but I am here to learn so any advice is well appreciated.

Take care everyone, and thanks for the imput;
John

 

[WESHOOT2]

finally 'caught' (thankfully is wasn't MY gun LOL)

I have hundreds of lbs of 'range' brass; made some 45 for a friend but he got a case-side-wall split (heard it fitzzzz, didn't send one behind it; pretty good for during an IPSC match).

"When in doubt throw it out", but THAT one got by my fairly rigorous inspection process.

Okay for games, but that's all.

 

[ranger]

I don't see the difference between buying "once-fired" and scrounging range brass, in the sense that, how do you KNOW it's only 'once-fired' and what if it was fired in a Glock or whatever?

I sort my tumbled cases by headstamp, so that give me a chance to inspect and toss. And I always guage the finished product. Haven't had a problem yet, and still haven't bought any brass. Usually I leave the match with a slight net gain in brass.

 

[WESHOOT2]

"...in a Glock" (or not)"

I have seen case guppies :barf: created by other brands of handguns; NOT NOT NOT just a Glock thingie......

 

[Walking Point]

That's why I run all my .40 "once fired" brass through a EGW "U" die.

 

[brickeyee]

"how do you KNOW it's only 'once-fired' and what if it was fired in a Glock or whatever?"

Know your seller.