308 Brass ID

[golfish]

Hey fellas, about 3-4 years ago I bought about 75# pounds of brass. Lots of Winchester and Federal 308 brass, 10# of 45 acp, 3-4# of 40 cal, 10# 9mm, but mostly once fired .308.

There's a bunch of this brass in there as well. I see LC and think lake city but there's no caliber markings on it.

What is it?

[kris smith]

[BIGOX]

What he said

[golfish]

Thanks guys.

So it's 40-50 year old military brass probably not worth using.

Maybe I'll sell it on the market place for double scrap prices. There might be 100-200 peices of this brass in a 16-17# grocery bag full of other military brass.

[kris smith]

[golfish]

Why wouldn’t it be worth using ? Resize it and cut or swage the primer pocket and load it.

Thanks for the info. I wanted to know what it was before selling.

From this deal I've got 4x1 gal size ziploc baggies full of Winchester and Federal marked 308 brass, its already cleaned, sized and trimmed. That's after loading a bunch of it.

I don't want the unmarked stuff. I'll sort through this bag (16-17#) and put it on the market. I wanted to know what it was. I don't want to RIP anybody off.

A lot of it has berdan primers..they're a pain to punch out

[Benne231]

What do you use to get the berdan primers out? I haven’t had much luck.

[baih777]

Thanks guys.

So it's 40-50 year old military brass probably not worth using.

Maybe I'll sell it on the market place for double scrap prices. There might be 100-200 peices of this brass in a 16-17# grocery bag full of other military brass.

Its fine to reload.

[golfish]

I think a cutting torch would work

Hey guys, another question about the same bag. There's a bunch of 7.62x51 brass cases in there marked 80 and AFF. Any idea what the AFF is?

[BIGOX]

Australian Munitions' 7.62 mm F4 ball ammunition

[40calfunk]

I use that type for my M1A (7.62 NATO)

It's Lake City with the year "lot" headstamp. Safe to reload; however, be mindful that Mil brass is thicker (has less case capacity than standard commercial .308 brass) and is constructed of a harder alloy to withstand "sloppy" headspace growth in a wide range of 7.62 chambered platforms (especially machine guns).

DO NOT use a standard load developed from one case brand (i.e., Remington-Peters) and expect the same velocities/pressures in the LC cases...chances are it will be much higher. You'll have to develop the load up to what you need. A good rule of thumb is a powder REDUCTION of 1 gr per 11 gr of case weight difference (LC brass is heavier). Also, be sure those cases are lubed (except shoulders) before you throw them through the sizing die. I've had my fair share of stuck cases in small-base sizer dies with that brass type

[bergmen]

Also, the "military" brass has thicker walls than commercial hunting brass. This (I understand) is for field durability. Maximum powder loads that would comfortably fit in commercial brass could easily be a problem with "military" brass.

Also, as mentioned, the primer pockets will need to be swaged (there are specific tools for this).

I have kept all of my 7.62x51 brass from shooting my M1A but have not started to consider reloading it. I have built up so much factory M1A ammo (Winchester, Federal, Lake City, Remington) that I will probably not need to.

I have piles of commercial .308 Winchester brass for my Browning X-Bolt so that is where my reloading efforts are going to go for this caliber.

(I see 40calfunk posted just before me with a much more authoritative description of the brass thickness issue).

Dan

[golfish]

Thanks guys, I have no interest in loading these. Like I mentioned above there was 25-30# of Winchester and Federal 308 marked cases that will last me, my son and his sons.

There's about 7# of berdan primed 7.62x51, 2.5# of the LC and another 2.5# of other boxer primed stuff that I'll sell at scrap price. If anybody local wants to pick it up, it's your for free.

[Sailormilan2]

As was stated, USGI 7.62NATO/308Win brass. The Cross in a Circle designates a NATO Spec load. Good brass, with annealed case necks.

[bazineta]

LC is normally what I use. Others have mentioned the details of case capacity, swaged primers, etc. If this was recent vintage LC 7.62 brass, I'd echo the sentiment of 'use it'.

However, the years you have there are typically going to have been fired in a M60, and you'll often find them to be very, very long after sizing, and checking for incipient separation can reveal a substantial separation valley already starting inside the case. Ends up often being not worth the trouble. Current surplus once-fired LC 7.62 is almost always going to have been fired in an M240B, and it's usually not a problem.