Machine gun brass

[Zamble]

Does brass that was fired with an automatic weapon have a short reload life?

[mrkubota]

depends on the type of machine gun (or semi-auto) used and how well it was headspaced when fired, but generally, it'll be more stressed than brass from a bolt gun.

[bohoki]

you can generally tell by how much you have to trim

if its 308 and you are leaving a pile of shavings that would make a gold paner dance you can figure them bodies are getting thin

with 223 same thing but you need to pay better attention cause them little necks all seem to shed the same so do the flick test or bent wire test or just take your chances and retire them when the primers go in too easy

generally the belt feds are the ones you have to look out for

[Zamble]

I saw them at gibrass.com. I am assuming they were belt fed, 7.62x51.

[mrkubota]

you can get virgin demilled .308 from hi-techammo.com

[cpatbay]

LC brass are thicker. So they should last just as long as commercial brass even though they are fired from machine gun. But I have no real world data to back this claim up.

[Zarrinvz24]

LC brass is much better. First resize is going to take some "manpower" but after that they are like any other brass. Are you planning on using the same lot of brass in multiple firearms? Or can you dedicate casings to a specific rifle? Those questions/answers will have a major factor on your expected brass life.

[bohoki]

also sometimes there is extractor pull marks on the rims

[tiller]

LC brass is much better. First resize is going to take some "manpower" but after that they are like any other brass. Are you planning on using the same lot of brass in multiple firearms? Or can you dedicate casings to a specific rifle? Those questions/answers will have a major factor on your expected brass life.

Man power doesnt help... They swell soo much that it creates a ring around the body and wont chamber into anything

[cpatbay]

Man power doesnt help... They swell soo much that it creates a ring around the body and wont chamber into anything

I used a bunch (>1000) of machine gun fired LC brass. With proper resizing, they all chambered fine for my LMT MWS like a charm.

[Zamble]

I am looking for some for one rifle, my new M1A. I just want to make sure before I commit. A purchase of 500, and I want to make sure I don't get like one or two from it.

[tiller]

I used a bunch (>1000) of machine gun fired LC brass. With proper resizing, they all chambered fine for my LMT MWS like a charm.

Then they were not machine gun fired....

[milotrain]

Man power doesnt help... They swell soo much that it creates a ring around the body and wont chamber into anything

You process brass so I'll bet you've done more than me, but in my experience LC brass even saw fired (had link marks on the casing) took to my Dillon die just fine. Occasionally I do have a problem where I can't get a piece of brass to fit my gauge even after sizing, but it's the exception rather than the rule for my batch.

[tiller]

You process brass so I'll bet you've done more than me, but in my experience LC brass even saw fired (had link marks on the casing) took to my Dillon die just fine. Occasionally I do have a problem where I can't get a piece of brass to fit my gauge even after sizing, but it's the exception rather than the rule for my batch.

I get a lot of brass that has a bulge from being fired from a machine gun...

It gets the bulge from being pulled from the chamber before pressure has reached max.. Therefore it bulges out... While doing That it stretches soo much that when the die goes to squeeze the body it pushes all the extra slop in the brass down towards the head and creates a ring...

I use dillon carbide dies.... Happens in both 223 and 308.


I will have to take a picture of all the screwed up things I see with brass... It would be a good thing to see for the new guys

[Zarrinvz24]

I get a lot of brass that has a bulge from being fired from a machine gun...

It gets the bulge from being pulled from the chamber before pressure has reached max.. Therefore it bulges out... While doing That it stretches soo much that when the die goes to squeeze the body it pushes all the extra slop in the brass down towards the head and creates a ring...

I use dillon carbide dies.... Happens in both 223 and 308.


I will have to take a picture of all the screwed up things I see with brass... It would be a good thing to see for the new guys

I wonder if perhaps you were processing brass that was used in a GAU-17, although I don't commerically process brass I've not seen that in ~ 5K 7.62x51 LC brass. HS were between 68-08 and I believe it to have been fired in M60 & M240.