Bad range brass

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  • joem
    Senior Member, Deceased
    • Aug 2009
    • 11835

    #1

    Bad range brass

    I have always in the past picked up brass at the range. Over the years I have accumulated a buch to reload. Recently I picked up a bunch of .308 empties. Reloaded them and they are real crap. Brass is super soft, rims under size that tear off on extraction, primer pockets so soft the primers fall out after shooting. I'n done picking up range brass, I hope. Now I have to sort through a bunch of reloads to find them, pull down and scrap.
  • bruce
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2009
    • 3759

    #2
    Don't know what the headstamp might be on the problematic brass you found. Once upon a time I had similar problems using Federal Gold Medal Match .308 Winchester brass. Never tore off a rim, but the primer pockets opened up after being fired only two times and that was with relatively mild reloads. Had similar problems with the brass when fired in a very nice tight Remington 700 in .308 Winchester. Ended up having to scrap the brass. Never had a similar problem w/ Remington or Winchester brass. Lake City brass is very excellent for reloading. Sincerely. bruce.
    " Unlike most conservatives, libs have no problem exploiting dead children and dancing on their graves."

    Comment

    • PhillipM
      Very Senior Member - OFC
      • Aug 2009
      • 5937

      #3
      Originally posted by bruce
      Don't know what the headstamp might be on the problematic brass you found. Once upon a time I had similar problems using Federal Gold Medal Match .308 Winchester brass. Never tore off a rim, but the primer pockets opened up after being fired only two times and that was with relatively mild reloads. Had similar problems with the brass when fired in a very nice tight Remington 700 in .308 Winchester. Ended up having to scrap the brass. Never had a similar problem w/ Remington or Winchester brass. Lake City brass is very excellent for reloading. Sincerely. bruce.

      I leave Federal or FC laying at the range.
      Phillip McGregor (OFC)
      "I am neither a fire arms nor a ballistics expert, but I was a combat infantry officer in the Great War, and I absolutely know that the bullet from an infantry rifle has to be able to shoot through things." General Douglas MacArthur

      Comment

      • DaveL
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2010
        • 180

        #4
        What's the head stamp on that bad brass? I'm guessing S&B?
        Last edited by DaveL; 08-08-2015, 06:47.

        Comment

        • slamfire
          Senior Member
          • Aug 2009
          • 221

          #5
          If you find Amerc, I would recommend tossing it. I found the stuff, used it, had a number of primers fall out because the primer pockets expanded. Finally culled that brass, but I have seen AMERC rifle brass, and I tossed it. There were reports of factory new AMERC blowing up guns, this was an example.

          Comment

          • joem
            Senior Member, Deceased
            • Aug 2009
            • 11835

            #6
            I always toss Amerc brass. Stuff is crap for reloading.

            Comment

            • psteinmayer
              Senior Member
              • Sep 2011
              • 1527

              #7
              I'll only pick up range brass in 30-06 if it's LC or HXP. I don't even use civilian 30-06 brass anymore!
              "I was home... What happened? What the Hell Happened?" - MM1 Jacob Holman, USS San Pablo

              Comment

              • Jim in Salt Lake
                Senior Member
                • Aug 2009
                • 854

                #8
                I pick up all the range brass I see. It all goes in the recycling bucket. The last bucket I took in got me almost $150 which paid for a great end of season party for our junior team. I just can't trust something picked up off the ground, who knows how many times fired, what chamber size fired in, etc.? I just like to know that stuff and keep track. So, pick up all the brass you find, fill your bucket and recycle it, and use the money to buy some new brass.

                Comment

                • psteinmayer
                  Senior Member
                  • Sep 2011
                  • 1527

                  #9
                  Now that sounds like a great idea Jim! Going to start doing that now...
                  "I was home... What happened? What the Hell Happened?" - MM1 Jacob Holman, USS San Pablo

                  Comment

                  • mikld
                    Member
                    • Oct 2013
                    • 69

                    #10
                    I'll pick up every piece of brass I find, except rimfire. I inspect every case before I process it and, perhaps luckily, I haven't had any problems. I used to shoot at an organized, well constructed and very well run outdoor range in So.CA. (Angeles Silhouette Club) and only picked up a few cases, from non-reloaders I bet, and almost all brass cases were just newly fired factory stuff. Where I shoot now, a "range" up in the hills outside of town, I pick up all kinds of brass but, I inspect it all very closely. I'm just an average reloader and don't expect 1/4" groups outta my .308, and if I did I'd only use the best, purchased new by me, brass I could find. For my handguns I sometimes shoot mixed brass, but most of the time sort by head stamp (outta a habit I formed in '69-'70.), and rarely have a problem with range pick-ups...
                    Last edited by mikld; 08-10-2015, 11:15.

                    Comment

                    • RED
                      Very Senior Member - OFC
                      • Aug 2009
                      • 11689

                      #11
                      Well, there is range brass... and then there is range brass and most of the time I can tell if it is once fired brass by just looking at it. I arrived at the Apple Creek Range in SE, MO one afternoon and picked up once fired .40 S&W brass literally by the bucketful! The local PD had just got new .40's and were qualifying that day. They were packing up and leaving when I got there and I asked, "Say guys are you going to pick up your brass?

                      "Naw, he says not today, Somebody will probably pick them up (wink, wink,)." That was years ago and I not only did not own a .40 S&W and had a 5 gallon bucket nearly full of them... probably 20 lbs or more. I traded them to a local gun dealer for Milsurp M-16 mags that he had priced at $25 per case of 12.

                      Comment

                      • joem
                        Senior Member, Deceased
                        • Aug 2009
                        • 11835

                        #12
                        A few years ago the SWAT/ HRT was shooting at the club. I asked if i could have the brass and the answer was a flat NO. They policed the range and picked up every case. They told me they return it and get a bit off ammo orders.

                        Comment

                        • Sunray
                          Senior Member
                          • Sep 2009
                          • 3251

                          #13
                          You really should assume all range brass is bad regardless of the head stamp. You know absolutely nothing about it.
                          Spelling and grammar count!

                          Comment

                          • StockDoc
                            Senior Member
                            • Jun 2014
                            • 1189

                            #14
                            Our local ranges, recycle and get pissed if you pick up more then your own brass. Besides, I had one case head failure, learn me lesson about brass I don't know the history of.
                            liberum aeternum

                            Comment

                            • joem
                              Senior Member, Deceased
                              • Aug 2009
                              • 11835

                              #15
                              The range I go to doesn't seem to have many reloaders. It's a outdoor range so they just rake it under with a tractor. The indoor range sweeps it up and sells it to a guy that cleans it up and sells it to reloader shops.

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