For that extra brass you keep accumulating...

[wpage]

A good inspection of all brass is your best bet for reloads.

[JackEllis]

For .223 I use nothing but range brass. I have some .30-06 and .243 range brass but for those bigger calibers, I also have a bunch that's once fired, either through my rifle or purchased from an outfit that collects, cleans and resells it. Everything gets full-length sized. I get groups that I find satisfactory even if they aren't quite sub MOA.

I have a bunch of .223 cases I'll be looking to sell that have been cleaned (but not necessarily polished), sized, trimmed, swaged or reamed, and sorted by head stamp.

[kengotit]

Sell range brass to purchase new brass for precision stuff

[baih777]

I'm in NorCal, so not in competition for your brass! :-)

Which headstamps do you favor in 308?

I save hornaday for my 5R. hornaday is soft and is only good for 4 or 5 reloads and then the primer pocket gets loose. but I only shoot the 5R about 6 times a year.
for semi auto PPU holds up great. I have sinced used up my my 500 cases of PPU. reloaded around 9 to 10 times and started to signs of case wear all over.
thru the whole batch away.

now using for semi auto military surplus. bought on gunbroker. a little more pricey but I bought two batches of 1400 "same headstamp".
total 2800 pcs stored in 2 gallon buckets. I think this will last my life time. but I developed a good load for semi auto and has been consistant. I share this brass with my 308 savage bolt gun that is my regular range rifle.

I save any PPU, Hornaday, and Federal 308 brass.

if you reload 223, just buy on gunbroker. you can find batches of same headstamp also.

[tonyjr]

wpage
I agree , The only new brass is when one of us buys
a new toy and I don't have the cartridges for it .
I am set up for 15 calibers right now
Right now I am looking at a 10 mm pistol , but have the
cases and ordered 200 pills .
The brass is checked when decapped , after cleaned
checked again on case prep station , again when reprimed
[ by hand ] and again when loaded / placed in press
I / we wear latex gloves and bad cases jump out .

[longrange1]

im a pimp...i only use shinny new laupa brass

[Metal God]

Do you guys use other people's once fired brass (even when you specifically shoot for precision)?

Absolutely but that's not the same as stuff you pick up off the ground with out knowing the history .

I know it is once fired when I see the people opening the new boxes. Then I ask if they save the brass. Some do but the ones who do not usually are happy to let me have it. Especially when I let them shoot one of my firearms

This is my point . If I know it's once fired I'll scoop it up in a heart beat . I also have friends that are RSO as well as my self so I to have access to lots of unknown fired brass . I'll collect that as well but that brass just gets put into a bucket/container marked as such for SHTF rifle brass and when straight walled handgun brass becomes scares .

Right now I don't have much of the unknown stuff , maybe close to 2-5gal buckets of mixed cases . I need to get one of those three size/step separators for that before a get to much going .

[CSACANNONEER]

Is there a way to tell if range brass is "once fired?" Inquisitive minds want to know!

Primer crimps, primer sealant, educated guess, etc.

[RestrictedColt]

I use Federal even though others have stated it's soft.

PPU and GFL seems like brass I can set aside but there's some Hornady and Winchester mixed in my piles.

May just trade it off; wanted to see if others have bothered whipping up loads for several types of brass. Seems like a pain, but the brass is free.

Check those GFL (Fiocchi) for off-centered flash holes if you're wanting to use them. Seems to be the only brand I continuously find are punched willy nilly. Off-center holes can mess with accuracy.

[baih777]

Check those GFL (Fiocchi) for off-centered flash holes if you're wanting to use them. Seems to be the only brand I continuously find are punched willy nilly. Off-center holes can mess with accuracy.

I got some of those also. I just thought I got a bad batch.

[Meety Peety]

For pistol ammo and ARs, etc I have no problem shooting range pickup, but my precision rifles shoot Lapua brass and it would be of no use to me to shoot random range pickup brass in those rifles. I have plenty of older batches of Lapua with 10+ firings that still shoot just fine that I would rather use if it came down to it.

I have a fair amount of PMC, Federal and Hornady brass that I never use, but can't hurt to collect it up when it's free.

[roostersgt]

Generally, I find it's best to go to the range a couple of weeks before deer season opens for the best "once" fired stuff. Enormous amounts of factory stuff gets shot up and left. Generally '06, '08, 7mm and 300Win, but a few others surprised me. The guys sighting in their rifles with factory stuff seldom refuse your request for their spents, as they obviously aren't reloads. To answer the OP's question, I wouldn't pass up well inspected range pick ups, but I don't shoot precision either.

[RestrictedColt]

I got some of those also. I just thought I got a bad batch.

Nope, standard Fiocchi quality.

I had a few issues with their stuff before I was reloading and they didn't respond to inquiries so I stopped buying their stuff. Now I reload everything so it doesn't really matter, except when I wind up with their brass on my press...especially annoying when a decapping pin breaks. Some of the scariest was their "9mm Canned Heat" they were selling a few years ago. I assume they figured people wouldn't open them before SHTF. How that stuff could even slip past a legally blind monkey is beyond me.

If you wanna read about the effects of flash holes hit the link below. What's really funny is that Fiocchi was the only manufacturer involved in the testing, and they apparently didn't care about the results.

https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8415&context=masters_theses

[Dragginpanda]

Sell range brass to purchase new brass for precision stuff

[tonyjr]

Fiocchi quality control does not exist .
May lee , but when I break / bend a decapping
pin 90% of time it is Fiocchi . Does not matter
I break / bend a decapping pin , that case goes into scrape bucket