Why once fired?

[CK_32]

I see a lot of reloaders talking about purchasing a bunch of once fired brass online or from another guy...


I understand fire forming brass for both and match rifles. But why do you spend for once fired if its not fire formed to your rifle?


As far as I've seen new bras and once fired are usually the same or with in $5 of each other per 250. Depending on caliber and brass choice.



So why do you guys search after once fired? What are you gaining? IMO your just losing one more shot for that brass' life span.


Hopefully someone can help me understand why or what I'm missing..

Thanks.

[SWalt]

I have never seen new and once fired even close in the same cost range. Like to know where you are looking. Last time I bought once fired 223 it was $30 for 500 cases.

[TimRB]

Once-fired brass often comes from police or military ranges where they get their ammo for free, don't reload, and just want to get rid of the stuff. This makes it cheap.

Tim

[FLIGHT762]

[Pauliedad]

In for wanting to buy new at once fired.

[stilly]

I see a lot of reloaders talking about purchasing a bunch of once fired brass online or from another guy...


I understand fire forming brass for both and match rifles. But why do you spend for once fired if its not fire formed to your rifle?


As far as I've seen new bras and once fired are usually the same or with in $5 of each other per 250. Depending on caliber and brass choice.



So why do you guys search after once fired? What are you gaining? IMO your just losing one more shot for that brass' life span.
Hopefully someone can help me understand why or what I'm missing..

Thanks.

Damn I was too late...

Once fired brass works for me because 1. It was already prepped, loaded and fired, 2. it was already USED so it should be decent, and 3. since I do not have to generally worry about trimming my pistol brass, I can throw it into the mix because pistol brass seems to work 99.9% of the time with me with only a cleaning and sometimes MINOR worth (removal of caked in dirt or something maybe.) but for the most part, pistol brass lasts forever and when it fails, it gets chucked...

SO, once fired brass = almost like new brass at half the price.

I have 1500 VIRGIN brass cases for 44 mag that I have never thrown into the mix and I got them shortly after I started reloading. I think at the rate of which I am going, I might not ever use them... (but I still have 1k loaded 44 mag ready to shoot and another 1k or so primed shells ready to load).

Another thing is that VIRGIN or NEW brass you have to wait for manufacturers, but once fired is ALL over the place. I lucked out getting 200 10mm brass cases for $56 brand new in the bag from starline, but did I really luck out when I could have gotten 800 once fired from gunbroker for $147 after shipping? Yeah I screwed up on THAT one.

As far as brass taking a shot or two from reloading, well, so if I buy brass for 9mm or .45 and end up losing 1 reload, I still have prolly at least 25+ more reloads on that piece of brass to go. I am NOT worried about it. That brass will either be lost or destroyed by me by the time it gets to reload number 18 anyways...

AND ANOTHER THING, While reloading and hunting down components, you- YES, YOU TOO, will come across pockets of sweetness in life. Take me for example. While AT the indoor range shooting my Deagle A guy a few lanes down struck up a conversation with me, that guy ended up being a user here, and he turned out to be a cool guy who saved a lot of brass and wanted to reload but has not gotten into it yet. He came over to my house and dropped off 7 FOLGERS plastic containers (the red ones) of mixed 44 and SOME .38/357 brass. I gave him 2 factory boxes of .45 and he was thrilled and did not even expect that. I was thrilled to get the brass and after going through it, I had a solid 3 containers of 44 MAG AND 44 S&W/Special, 3.5 containers of 32 S&W/327 mag/38 and 357, and about a half a container of mixed range 9/40/45.

Now I have about another 1k or so .44 mag to throw into my mix, but ALSO, I got 44SPL. Good luck trying to get 44 special, that is HARD to find and when you do it is expensive, even costs MORE than 44 mag. But it is the little things like that that will kick up your reserves. Now had I turned my nose up at it then I would have had to spend more money for new brass somewhere down the line perhaps, OR, maybe another cache will pop up in the near future as well... That is why as a reloader you are ALWAYS looking for brass even if you do not shoot it. I can trade my ten million 9mm cases for all other things if I need to. Yeah it is once fired, maybe two or more times some of it, but in 9mm, that means nothing...

That is why.

[Germz]

its like buying a used car vs a new car.

depeding on your application. lets say brass for an auto-loader (AR), which on average may get 5-10 reloads (obviously more considering other variables but go with it )

after that first fire, you know have to clean, lube, deprime and resize, clean, trim (possibly), chamfer and deburr (possibly). theres a lot of work involved.

Last time I bought once fired 223 it was $30 for 500 cases.

good deal! I paid 50 at a gunshow a few months back

[CK_32]

Oh ok I figured the savings were the main reason.

I was like I hope these guys know fire formed and once fired are not the same.

And midway had like 250 WWB 308 brass OF for like $15 and the same but new brass for like $19.

[3006mv]

brass is brass wether you fire it yourself or not, i.e. new factory brass, especially rifle should be run through sizing dies and trimmed first anyway.
new factory ammo once fired through your chambers is well, once fired so you can neck size those only but the cost of factory ammo is partly that brass which ups the cost.
once fired brass from any other source is factory spec once you size correctly and load yourself. second and third loadings who cares about the count down, just inspect for integrity and safety. i stopped counting how many times i have reloaded .45acp i just inspect them at loadings.
I have never seen 250 pieces of new factory .308 brass for as low as the cost you stated, i think you may have been mistaken, what you saw at that price was for 50 pieces, quite the difference.

[Swagman00]

Once-fired brass often comes from police or military ranges where they get their ammo for free, don't reload, and just want to get rid of the stuff. This makes it cheap.

Tim

...or free for some of us...

[bsumoba]

i am fortunate to live 10 min near a range where we see A LOT of new shooters and people who ultimately don't reload. they put money into those white paint buckets and like a catholic alter boy, i go and swoop it up.

its basically an unlimited amount of brass (to date at least). i pick up about 300-1000 pieces of .223/5.56 brass each session. it adds up. swaging/reaming is a pain, but you do it once, and its over. just need to come up with a good organization scheme to track what is what.

plus, mil brass is actually good stuff, IMO, or at least for the purposes i shoot. i dont go searching for 500+ yd MOA shots and shoot mainly less than 200 yards or tactical classes.

[stilly]

i am fortunate to live 10 min near a range where we see A LOT of new shooters and people who ultimately don't reload. they put money into those white paint buckets and like a catholic alter boy, i go and swoop it up.

its basically an unlimited amount of brass (to date at least). i pick up about 300-1000 pieces of .223/5.56 brass each session. it adds up. swaging/reaming is a pain, but you do it once, and its over. just need to come up with a good organization scheme to track what is what.

plus, mil brass is actually good stuff, IMO, or at least for the purposes i shoot. i dont go searching for 500+ yd MOA shots and shoot mainly less than 200 yards or tactical classes.

Yup.

If you are gonna shoot someone with your ammo then it is better to do it closer so you get to see them bleed and then taunt them before they actually die, maybe run over and kick them or something, give them a otk spanking for what they did. It is harder to do that at 1000 yards out. Plus a ***** to walk it...


Oh dear. I think that PC IS rather potent. I might have inhaled a bit much tonight...

[milotrain]

LC .223 brass is some of the best you can get at any price. In general it's pretty hard to find it new (there was a time). I like to keep my match loads all in the same headstamp, and luckily I've been able to keep the majority of my LC .223 in 09 and 10.

If I were to try and source 3k new virgin cases from a one year manufacturing lot it would be fairly hard, and certainly expensive.

[Witch Hunter]

Once fired brass is generally from law enforcement, or military, used for training. Since they use only new ammo, it is "once fired". (once). Range brass, on the other hand is brass from a public range that has been fired ???? unknown times at unknown pressures. OFB $50/500 versus new brass $250/500. If the price was only $5.00 difference, we would all just buy new. I got a deal on some .257 WM brass at a garage sale, guy said it was once fired. When I got home, I could push a primer in some of it with my finger. That becomes "scrap brass" at 1.05/lb.