Collecting Brass

[anonymouscuban]

Hey all.

I've been collecting my brass for the past several months. I don't reload. Just storing it in case I decide to start. I may depending on what happens to ammo prices with the new laws next year.

I try to only pick up my own brass, but often I get other shooter's brass mix it with mine and I end up collecting it. I always ask the shooter next to me if its cool. A lot of these guys shoot reloads they buy at the range.

Is it OK to reload an a cartridge that was previously a reload?

[Sapperforward]

Pistol cases can be used over and over and over until the brass fatigues. Generally pistol cases are not high pressure unless they are +P. Rifle rounds are higher pressure and don't get as many reloads unless you anneal the cases. Either way yes, for the most part you are good to go unless the necks are cracking. Just look over the brass and if it looks good load it.

[lakersfan]

My 4x fired pistol brass still looks good. Load near max as well. No trimming needed so far

[MaHoTex]

Is it OK to reload an a cartridge that was previously a reload?

Yes. Inspect for crash, deformations prior to reloading. You'd do that anyway, just be extra cautious with it.

[CoopsDad]

Rifle brass tends to crack at the neck and sometimes just forward of the base, around the circumference. I reload my .308 Win/7.62x51 brass at least 4 times; if I see any weakness, it gets recycled. I haven't had any case separations or split cases yet, and some are on their 6th reload.

[Divernhunter]

Yes especially pistol brass.

[racinjason233]

load away for now toss when a cases is cracked or something doesn't look quite "right" IMO. If you are using a single stage you will catch the issues during brass prep, if not the issue will be caught before it gets a boolit.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

7.62x25 Tokarev is a necked high pressure pistol round.

Just be sure to toss any steel, zinc plated steel, aluminim cased or Berdan primed cases.

[blubullett]

Backflow valves are brass and every business in CA is required to have one, usually right next to the street. Alot of the time they are just connected to PVC underground too so all you have to do is run up to one and stomp it over on its side. Voila! You now have 15lbs of brass.

[-hanko]

Pistol cases can be used over and over and over until the brass fatigues. Generally pistol cases are not high pressure unless they are +P.

That depends on the case...e.g. the Tokarev as noted above and magnum revolver cases.

.45acp, .38spl, etc. are low pressure. The "+P" designates a load 10% higher than SAAMI normal maximum pressure for the same round. Not a big deal with a 20kpsi round, but maybe with a 35kpsi cartridge.
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[Turbinator]

Get a case gauge, it'll help you spot cases that have expanded too much with unsupported chambers. Use the case gauge on every piece of brass you intend to reload - I case gauge after resizing. Anything that doesn't fit quite right into the case gauge, gets tossed.

Turby

[aspenvalley]

I got a lot of 45 acp brass from an estate sale. In the lot was brass from 1953. No idea how many times it was reloaded before but I have reload them 3-5 times already and they reload just like new.

I loose brass before it starts to split. I resupply when I go to a group shoot with people that don't reload.

[diveRN]

I have .40 and .45 cases that I've reloaded at least a dozen times or more. I used to be super meticulous about cataloging reloading batches, separating that brass in it's own container, counting and recording how many times it had been reloaded, etc. Now days, it gets cleaned in walnut hulls, visually inspected, thrown in the case feed hopper, and visually inspected again once reloaded.

In short, inspect it after your fire it and then reload it until you can't.

[IVC]

The core concept of reloading is precisely to reuse the brass that was previously fired/loaded/reloaded.

Look at the prices - if you reload just new brass, you'll pay more per round than if you bought ammo from a store. It's like everything else - if you buy individual components it will cost more. Brass is the most expensive part of a round (except for some specialty rifle rounds with very expensive bullets) and it also happens to be the part that you amortize over multiple reloads. That's where the savings kick in.

[langss]

If your talking .357 mag, you can reload them until the neck splits and then trim it down to the max length for .38 Special, anneal the new case neck and presto, you have a whole batch of new brass. Be aware that Nickle Plated brass is hard on the case cutters, but still less expensive than new brass. Doing this, you can shoot for the price of the components for a very long time........