Once fired brass
- Thread starter Hotfire
- Start date
Anchorite
Member
Never had a problem. You should, of course, check your brass visually before you reload it and then check once you load it with a case guage.
Lots of sources online. I’m sure someone will come along and recommend some vendors. Only one I’ve ever used was Wideners out of Tennessee and never any issues.
ballman6711
Member
When I started loading .223 I had no brass, so I bought "Top Brass" from Midsouth or Midway, can't remember which. They claim it's fully processed (no primers) and 100% ready to load. I went through all the steps anyway, starting with tumbling.
What I found was that the brass had been cleaned, sized, and deprimed. Not sure how they set their sizers up because when I sized it some sized easy and some were a bit harder, although not difficult. It was also supposed to be swaged. Some primers went in, some didn't, and I pretty much ended up swaging it all anyways. And finally it was supposed to be trimmed. I ran every piece through my trimmer and some of it got trimmed, but most were already short enough.
Also it was supposed to be once fired military brass, but it was a mix of .223 and nato cross stamps. Some of it may have even been stamped 5.56. I didn't think the military fired .223 but I could be wrong.
Overall I was happy with it, except for the price. Loading it the first time had me at a cost of about $75/100, which is what I paid (around the same time) for some factory ammo. Overall the quality of brass seemed good, with lots of IMI and LC headstamps. A few pieces had dents but were loadable, and of course a few had creases and I didn't load those.
For the price it cost me to load it the first time, I could have bought factory ammo and had truly known once fired brass, and it would have been all the same headstamp. Assuming I could find factory ammo, this was last year.
chris
What I found was that the brass had been cleaned, sized, and deprimed. Not sure how they set their sizers up because when I sized it some sized easy and some were a bit harder, although not difficult. It was also supposed to be swaged. Some primers went in, some didn't, and I pretty much ended up swaging it all anyways. And finally it was supposed to be trimmed. I ran every piece through my trimmer and some of it got trimmed, but most were already short enough.
Also it was supposed to be once fired military brass, but it was a mix of .223 and nato cross stamps. Some of it may have even been stamped 5.56. I didn't think the military fired .223 but I could be wrong.
Overall I was happy with it, except for the price. Loading it the first time had me at a cost of about $75/100, which is what I paid (around the same time) for some factory ammo. Overall the quality of brass seemed good, with lots of IMI and LC headstamps. A few pieces had dents but were loadable, and of course a few had creases and I didn't load those.
For the price it cost me to load it the first time, I could have bought factory ammo and had truly known once fired brass, and it would have been all the same headstamp. Assuming I could find factory ammo, this was last year.
chris
Cheesemaker
Member
How do you really know it is "once fired"?
You are on the right track - asking for recommendations. I would guess that lots of "once fired" are from military ranges and may have crimped pockets. These would be 5.56.
You are on the right track - asking for recommendations. I would guess that lots of "once fired" are from military ranges and may have crimped pockets. These would be 5.56.
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I used to sell 223/556. Never had a complaint. I had re-peat customers. What i do is look for matching boxes in the trash to the head stamp. I do this for all brass. Weather it's for me or someone else. Now that im into semi-autos i don't get much spare 223/556.
nettlle
Contributing Member
I do not reload .223 but do reload 308 and from what I have read once fired 308 out of a machine gun is something to be avoided. Also folks will pick up range brass and claim it to be "once fired" when there is no way for them to really know how many times it was actually fired. I research my brass sources to make sure I am getting exactly what I pay for on once fired. Once fired 308 brass is not cheap. Safest bet is to buy new but I'm too cheap (thrifty?) to buy new.
Charlie98
Member
Correct. If you look at the source, you will see why. 5.56mm gets shot in both M4's and machine guns, there is very little left in the military arsenal that shoots M80 7.62mm... except machine guns. The military does not shoot .223, unless it is some special order, special purpose ammo.
When I first bought my M1a, I ordered 2 lots of 1000 'once fired, processed' 7.62mm brass from Scharch (Top Brass.) It was complete garbage. I started having case failures on my first loading, and it only got worse. Besides the issues with being fired in machine guns, there is also the issue of reclamation and storage, and, finally, disposal... meaning when it finally gets auctioned off as scrap to the vendors, who turn around, process it, and resell it. I wound up scrapping nearly the entire lot of 2000 cases. Going forward, if I don't buy virgin brass, I buy factory ammos, shoot it myself, and recover my brass for reloading. That's my story... others have bought processed brass and had wonderful service out of it... it boils down to luck of the draw.
In 5.56mm, you have a better chance of getting decent brass because of the likelihood that it wasn't fired in a machine gun. It is still luck of the draw, however... you still don't know what it was fired in, how it was stored and transported, or if it was contaminated somehow in that lull between being fired... and you opening the box with your brass in it. I have never bought once-fired 5.56mm or .223 brass... I don't need to. I buy a case of ammo, shoot that, and recover my brass... just like most everything else I shoot. These days, with the high cost of reloading components, and the time investment you have to make to handload 1000 rounds of 5.56mm, it makes sense to just buy a case of factory ammo... you get one firing with no effort, and you get YOUR brass, fired through YOUR firearms to handload.
Thanks for all the words of wisdom. I will take all of this into consideration and come up with something right or wrong. Lol
I have taken this from all of you, if I go down that road, check it all twice an dont get mad if you end up loosing a bunch of brass you bought.
I have taken this from all of you, if I go down that road, check it all twice an dont get mad if you end up loosing a bunch of brass you bought.
nettlle
Contributing Member
When I first purchased my M1A I also purchased a several hundred factory loads loaded with Lake City brass. From what I have read Lake City brass has good case life. This gave me some ammo to shoot until I got my dies, etc. for the 308. The Lake City brass is giving me good case life. Don't know if Lake City brass gives good case life in .223 or not.
Mr_Flintstone
Member
I bout a bunch from Diamond K a couple years back, and they were truly once fired. I know because I had to swage all of the crimped primer pockets. Up until then I thought they only crimped 5.56, but some companies crimp .223 as well.
eddiememphis
Member
"Once fired" does not mean it has only been shot one time.
As in, once fired, it is no longer new.
nettlle
Contributing Member
"Once Fired" means buyer beware if it doesn't come from a reputable source.
LiveLife
Member
I like buying military 5.56 brass because if the primer pockets still have the crimps, I KNOW they were once-fired.
Since I have C-H primer pocket swager, I don't even mind crimped 9mm - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/swager-need-to-adjust-every-time.915206/#post-12530158Since I got the FART wet tumbler, I don't even care how grungy looking they are as they come out shiny (And I recently got an ultrasonic cleaner as backup insurance) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-unlimited-budget.912629/page-2#post-12726267
Last edited:
Blue68f100
Member
Top Brass had 2 or 3 types of 7.62 brass. In the mix he had some non MG brass. My neighbor bought the MG brass and had all kinds of problems sizing them. I had sent him a link for the non MG brass but he hunted around on the site and bought the cheap stuff, aka MG brass. So he did it to him self. Another friend of mine bought from the non fired MG brass and had no problems. I've bought several 1000's of 5.56 from him and have had very good luck with them. I also bout 2k of new LC ammo to shoot out of my guns to have all the same lot. Buyer beware as with all things, you need to read the fine print and Q&A. I've just started loosing a few to loose primer pockets, no splits since I anneal every thing.
Rollis R. Karvellis
Member
I don't mind doing the prep work on my .308 brass, but I just buy the fully prepped brass from Top Brass for my PTR. With only about a 30% recovery, I would rather spend the money, and concentrate my time on brass for other rifles.
tightgroup tiger
Member
You can tell with the ultrasonic cleaner what is truely once fired brass. It will come out of the cleaner looking like it just came from the factory.
I can always tell what was once fired in the brass I pick up from the range.
See the 4 on the right that look like factory new brass. Those are truly once fired. There are varying degrees of clean with an ultrasonic and the more the brass has been shot the harder it is to get clean.
Tell tale signs of what your loading. If they come out dirty like the two in the upper left, they get pitched.
I know that a SS rotary pin cleaner makes all brass look like new but at what penalty.
The brass in that bowl would go to the scrap bucket if it were mine. I know Live life is just illustrating for us the efficiency of the pin cleaners with this photo. And he's entirely right. BUT,
If I were buying brass and someone sold me brass like that, that was cleaned up in a pin cleaner, I would be very upset. So I won't buy any brass that looks like it came out of a SS rotary pin cleaner.
If I'm buying used brass, I expect it to be good usable brass, not some sorry old brass that has been compromised by laying on the ground while the minerals in the ground leached out half the zinc from the brass or some brass that had bad powder in it and has pin holes eaten through it. So now the green scunge is growing on the outside as well as the inside.
That's always been what I had against SS rotary pin cleaners. No one can tell the real condition of the brass that comes out of it.
The only brass I will buy is dirty brass that hasn't been cleaned. My ultra sonic will tell me the rest of the story with it. That's why I still use it for all my brass cleaning.
As far as once fired brass, I see higher concentrations of truly once fired brass in my ultrasonic, when things are really tough for us reloaders. Like now, because there are more people shooting factory loads due to the price of primers and how hard primers and powder is to get.
I have one source of pin cleaned brass that I trust, and that's the brass that Dude Dog sends me. Short of him, if I see pin cleaned brass I say no thanks.
CQB45ACP
Member
Don’t want to pick a fight but when I use dishwasher pods the inside (and outside) of 45acp cases are as clean as new brass. Not saying anything about anti tarnish longevity but clean as new. 100 cases in a FART lite for at least 2 hours. I’ll be doing it this afternoon.
DustyRusty
Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2020
- Messages
- 297
I started buying from Jeff Bartlett 20 years ago. I'm still loading it.
He demills government ammo for the brass, bullets, & powder.
He demills government ammo for the brass, bullets, & powder.
Chuck R.
Member
I buy it occasionally, but only .308 and .223.
I have bought "once fired" 7mm Rem Mg for converting to .350 Rem Mag and I've bought some 300WM off of GB.
My 1st step is always to clean using SS media, then check the primer pockets before I waste any more time. After that I always run it through my annealer.
So far I've been lucky and done well with my "once fired" purchases.
I have bought "once fired" 7mm Rem Mg for converting to .350 Rem Mag and I've bought some 300WM off of GB.
My 1st step is always to clean using SS media, then check the primer pockets before I waste any more time. After that I always run it through my annealer.
So far I've been lucky and done well with my "once fired" purchases.
Charlie98
Member
Most vendors who sell recovered brass usually have several 'grades' of brass... from 'just picked up and put in a bag' to fully processed. I suspect vendors get their fired brass from a number of sources, not just the US Military...
My 2K lot of brass from Scharch had all sorts of stuff in it... current LC, current PMJ (Korean surplus PMC,) WIN, and a few other odds n' ends, including match and LR brass. Some of it was headstamped in the '70's. Of the 3 big headstamps, each had it's own end...
1) The LC was compromised. I started having case head blowouts... like, blow the magazine guts out into your lap blowouts... not case head separations. I believe it was stored in a container that was contaminated.
2) The WIN brass all either neck or body cracked after about 2 firings.
3) The PMJ brass actually held up the best of the lot. I continued to use it without problems until just recently. I'm hitting 5 reloads on most of it now, so I'm scrapping it as it comes back from the range.
5.56mm is quite different from 7.62mm, much of it has to do with what it's fired in, and how it was treated post firing.
GeoDudeFlorida
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 11,155
The only truly once fired brass I had problems with was a bucket of 7.62x39 I was given by a buddy at the local gun store. It was all PMC shot through his AK’s and it virtually self destructed when I tried to resize it. It turned out his AK’s are post-sample class 3’s.
Even once fired can be miserable to work with.
Even once fired can be miserable to work with.
westernrover
Member
- Joined
- May 4, 2018
- Messages
- 1,613
I want to buy once-fired LC 5.56 brass. All my factory loads are LC so I'd end up with all the same brass. I don't have any prior experience buying fired brass. A couple sources I'm considering are leobrass.com because they appear to have it in stock. Another source is Bayou, which is attractive because they rollsize it, but they're out of stock. Another source that processes with a Camdex and roll-sizes is Fancybrassco. They're pricier and their sorted brass is WMA not LC. I want to buy at least 1000, but it looks like the price is better at 2500.
for the price of once fired brass in common cartrdiges .223 or 9mm, IMHO it isn't worth fretting too much about having to inspect the brass and having some crushed cases or throw aways, you have to inpect it anyways. If you pay more, you can get headstamps that you are looking for or if you pay less it will just be mixed with some odd stamps 5.56 NATO and .223 in a pile and probably a little junk mixed in. Time is money, so also consider how much your hourly rate is, if you are paying yourself to fret over it too long, worth the few dollars you might save? You can get deprimed and cleaned, but for me, I'm going to clean it and size it and deprime it anyway, so - to me just a pile of OK mixed brass for as cheap as I can get it works for me, never had any issues. If I toss 10% of it, whatever.
