buying fired brass

If you're buying used brass, how many firings are acceptable?

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taliv

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why or why not? feel free to comment on what you think are appropriate prices?
(edit: particularly if your choice is based on brands... i.e. you believe some brass has a longer useful life)
 
As a general rule, once fired rifle brass is fine. If it's pistol brass, especially low pressure rounds like .38Spl or 45 ACP, it doesn't really matter how many times, as long as there are no obvious defects.
 
I typically buy once fired brass but I only buy same head stamp brass, it costs a bit more but I've found it to be worth it.
 
I would ONLY buy once fired rounds of any brass - rifle or pistol. I have seen too many bad practices of reloading - obviously dirty dies, primers not seated correctly, signs of pressure, etc, etc.
 
It can be tough to tell if the brass is even once fired, but if I'm paying for it I would want it once fired. Otherwise, I'm picking it up myself. If it looks to have been fired hot or too many times, I won't bother, but most times it's new looking and probably once fired stuff. Brass is not so rare at this time that I have encountered really used brass much.
 
Unless you buy military brass that still has the primmer crimped you never really know if the brass has only been fired once as claimed or not. Therefore, unless I am buying unprocessed military I buy the cheapest I can and sort it as if I found it on the range; so far I haven't had to scrap too much brass.
 
I've bought thousands of rounds of "once-fired" brass from Ebay sellers. It's a great source for major quantities. About $50 will routinely bring 1000 rounds of .45 ACP, and $20 generally gets a thousand 9mmP or .40 S&W. The search words I use are "reloading brass", which also brings up new brass along with the used stuff.

Obviously, we have to take at least a small leap of faith when the seller says "once-fired", but I have found that by buying from people that have several hundred (or more) positive "feedback" comments, there's not much risk.

All my transactions to date have left me quite satisfied, and I'll continue to buy from such sources.

For an example of one sale I avoided, an Ebay ad was placed to sell 41 rounds of "used" .416 Rigby brass. What in blazes is "used"???? Once-fired, or ten times, or worn out? No thanks, pard.
 
For an example of one sale I avoided, an Ebay ad was placed to sell 41 rounds of "used" .416 Rigby brass. What in blazes is "used"???? Once-fired, or ten times, or worn out? No thanks, pard.
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I'd be incliend to buy such a lot if the price was right. You might get the lot at scrap prices.
 
btw, if you guys search the archives, there are a couple interesting threads on how you can tell if brass has been reloaded.
 
I use a lot of used brass that buddies give me or I pick up at the range. If I have to pay for it I buy new brass.
 
I even take it one step further, if at all possible I only buy once fired originally factory loaded brass. I have seen too many examples of "once fired" that was "once loaded" so hot the brass was not safe. Even at todays high prices for new brass it is too dangerous to chance it with suspect "cheap" brass.
 
usually i just rat my brass, but on the rare instances i have to pay, i get whatever is cheapest.

i should mention the vast majority of my shooting that has required me to buy brass has been with pistols, and straight walled cartridges. if i were shooting higher pressure bottlenecked rounds, i might be pickier
 
Hey guys, Im saving up all my brass for you all.
(.45 ACP, .38/.357 and a few .44 mag.) I'll be posting in the future with quantities. I've got more shootin to do and when I build up more spent cases, I'll let ya know. These will be all first fired American Eagle (Red box) brass.
 
It all depends on what the brass is intended for. If buying something exotic, or hard to find, then I prefer new brass, but if it's for something I'm just putting downrange, like cowboy action shooting, then used brass will work fine in common calibers. I just shoot it until it wears out and then replace it with some more.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
As a general rule, once fired rifle brass is fine. If it's pistol brass, especially low pressure rounds like .38Spl or 45 ACP, it doesn't really matter how many times, as long as there are no obvious defects.
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I agree with this, although I voted for "once-fired." Even with low-pressure pistol rounds, brass life is finite, and if I'm buying used then I'd prefer only once-fired.

I'd also prefer that my rifle brass not have been fired through full autos, but there's not always a choice.

Either way, I watch ALL of my brass carefully. Better to toss out a $0.10 piece of garbage than have the case rupture close to your hands and head.
 
I voted for once

but the truth is I dont always know what I am getting so. . .

I try to go for no more than once fired as an investment. I dont go NEW because of the cost. Brass that shows signs of use or increased potential for failure I discard. Often, if I come up with a huge bag of brass, I sort it into classes, A and B, label ziplock bags with sharpie, and then have my target and plinking rounds preselected.


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