Bad range brass

[PaFrank]

I belong to a pretty big club, over 5,000 members.. Brass doesn't lay around long at all... I pick up everything I find.. Usually it is only what has been shot that day.. I only keep once fired commercial rifle cases... everything else hits the scrap bucket... Brass prices are way down at the moment, .83 cents a pound, so I'm sitting on it.. It has been as high as 1.85 lb. I'll sit on it till it gets back over 1.25#... sitting on three 5 gallon buckets now..

[dave]

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.

A reason I do not own and will not own, any dam plastic gun!!

[Matt Anthony]

Too many new reloaders do not understand brass. There is great brass and then there is substandard brass. They soon find out when failures begin to happen. Any range brass left on the ground is subject to the weather which can start the process of degration. Also, you honestly do not know how many times the brass was reloaded. It is best not to use range brass unless you know for a fact that it's once fired. The major top brands are good, but then again Federal has had brass with primer pocket issues, however LC seems to be great brass. I believe Lapua is the "Rolls Royce" of brass and is the only brass I use.
If you buy 200 lapua cases for a particular rifle when new, the brass will out last the barrel. Also loading to less than full house loads will make your rifle and brass last much longer. Being cheap with your brass is a mistake that does not have to happen.
Matt

[psteinmayer]

I agree with you Matt... except for using Lapuna (far too expensive for me right now). Keeping your loads in the mid to low end of the loading tables will definitely help brass to last, and also will help prevent catastrophic failures. Besides, does anyone really need to squeeze that extra 100 fps from a bullet?

[Matt Anthony]

I have found as hundeds of thousands of reloaders have known for eons, you get what you pay for. Buying the best will actually save you money. Once you take the jump on Lapua you will not go back. Accuracy is improved by the consistant case dimensions and weight. I fought it too until I bought cases for my 222 benchrest rifles decades ago. Then I found out that the Lapua cases last much longer due to their strict manufacturing techniques and brass quality.
Matt

[RED]

LC military cases are great. All of their brass (except Match grade) have crimped primers. A PITA to remove, but a sure indicator that it has not been reloaded. Milsurp, with demilled primers is a bigger PITA because of the tar like sealant remaining inside the case.