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Old 03-25-2017, 02:31 AM
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Default once fired brass

I was looking at 9mm fired one time brass prices.
It is just for plinking and Chrony. testing.

I found 500 WCC cleaned and polished for $14.95 +
and 1,00 dirty from another place for $18 plus shipping ?
38 Spl. 1,000 dirty for $39.

First time for buying on line...... are these fair prices.
Acme is out of 9mm used. Xtreme will not give free shipping.

Thanks for any help.
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Old 03-25-2017, 08:05 AM
Ivan the Butcher Ivan the Butcher is offline
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Unless you are buying from a ballistics lab or police range, the brass is range brass! It may or may not be once fired!

I used to have a 9mm MAC-10 full auto, they fire from an open bolt with a fixed firing pin. During a session the chamber fouls up and resists the round entering all the way, this causes out of battery firing. Since the case isn't fully supported it expands. Much of my brass had a "Potbelly" all the way around up to 3/16".

I felt the brass was marginal for closed bolt guns (like my S&W 39) but was worthless for the open bolt. There was a jerk that demanded used brass so he could start reloading. I took 500 bulged brass deprimed and sized it then tumble cleaned it, that is what he got! yes, I was a bad boy, but it felt so good!

When I see class 1 (sized, unprimed, swaged & cleaned) or class 3 (unprimed swaged & maybe or not cleaned) I am leery of machine gun fired brass! Class 10 brass (some suppliers call this class 5) Is only swept up and often has 40 S&W or 380 and a few rocks in it, but you can see if the primers are original! This is the only brass I pay for. (I p/u range brass all the time, but scrap all reloads, but mine!)

Hope this helps you decide.

Ivan
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Old 03-25-2017, 08:44 AM
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oncefiredbrass.com I've never bought 9mm from them but have 45acp and 357mag. No complaints
From the web site - 9mm mixed headstamp $6.25/250. They ship by flat rate box and somewhere on their site they explain how much of what they can get in a box.
I bought 45acp brass off a forum add once (not here) and wound up throwing it all away. Half was nickel and badly corroded and the brass half had the rim twisted out of shape (full auto?). Won't buy from an individual anymore.

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Old 03-25-2017, 08:55 AM
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I've bought once-fired brass and have had generally good results. Technically, I guess all of it is range pickup brass. However, a lot of the people that deal in used brass buy in large quantities from police ranges, etc. The chances of having brass that's been loaded several times mixed in with this stuff is very small.

Prices are usually cheap enough that if you have to discard some of the brass for various reasons, you still come out okay. I always stick with one headstamp, not mixed brass.

I buy .223 once-fired brass with the same headstamp. After resizing, I check brass in a case gauge. If it doesn't fit the gauge, it was likely fired in a machine gun or other firearm with an oversized chamber. That goes into the salvage pile.

I've never used or found the need to use a case gauge for any handgun brass, but the practice certainly hurts nothing. However, I don't use range pickup stuff unless it's a sizeable quantity with the same headstamp as what I'm already using. That seldom happens.

Brass is more expensive than ever, but amortizing the cost over the number of times it can be loaded, it's pretty cheap, even if one has to buy it new.
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Old 03-25-2017, 09:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevada Ed View Post
I was looking at 9mm fired one time brass prices.
It is just for plinking and Chrony. testing.

I found 500 WCC cleaned and polished for $14.95 +
and 1,00 dirty from another place for $18 plus shipping ?
38 Spl. 1,000 dirty for $39.

First time for buying on line...... are these fair prices.
Acme is out of 9mm used. Xtreme will not give free shipping.

Thanks for any help.
Those prices for 9mm are really "cheap" be careful who you buy from.!!
I looked at Everglades and TJ Convera and their prices are much higher than that! But you are getting what you pay for.
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Old 03-25-2017, 09:45 AM
MyDads38 MyDads38 is offline
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Prices on once fired/range brass seems to be coming down to the point that indoor ranges (even small ones) sell their brass for scrap. I hate seeing this, as I've always been a scrounger myself. I haven't bought brass of any kind for years, the ranges I frequent allow you to pick up whatever is laying around or in the brass barrels. I deprime, tumble and inspect every piece, if it's good I use it; if t's bad I toss it. What I don't keep, I give away to my buddies. I've given away several thousand 9mm!
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Old 03-25-2017, 09:52 AM
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Ed pm me before you buy. I have plenty and it's decapped, inspected, and clean. I'd be happy to send you 500.
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Old 03-25-2017, 09:59 AM
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Since my 9mm's aren't precision target guns and virtually all I use them for is plinking at the range I just pick up what's lying on the ground. This way it is pretty easy to tell if it is once fired. How do I know? I look in the trash can. Most people throw the box in the trash, but are too lazy to pick up the brass. As for mixing head stamps or new vs old, I've never noticed any differences in performance. I give them the once over when de capping and re sizing and if not cracked or otherwise suspect they get reloaded. Personally, when it comes to plinking ammo I think some people get too obsessed with the brass. Loading up some precision rifle ammo is a whole different story. I use the best most consistent brass I can get. When I'm shelling out top dollar for match bullets that give me tiny groups I think using range brass is dumb. I'd shell out $14 for 500 cases any day if I needed them. That's not a bad price.

Last edited by patrickd; 03-25-2017 at 10:00 AM.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:27 AM
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Have several gallons of old range-picked-up brass on hand. Retrieving my own plus whatever else is laying about has served well for decades.

Recently the problem of 'Primer Suck Syndrome' has emerged in my little reloading project. Just when the other technical issues have been resolved now the 'crimped primer' problem emerges.

I'm reluctant to buy any used 9mm brass. When new factory loaded brass breaks below 15 cents/round it becomes easier to just buy the new stuff....although still seems odd to do such.

Hard to find such deals but they do pop up now & then.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:29 AM
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That's fine as we all have different requirements regarding the handloaded ammo we use. Many handguns aren't accurate enough to tell a difference if using mixed range pickup brass anyway. And, some handgun shooters see accuracy as secondary to just having ammunition to shoot.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:30 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevada Ed View Post
I was looking at 9mm fired one time brass prices.
It is just for plinking and Chrony. testing.

I found 500 WCC cleaned and polished for $14.95 +
and 1,00 dirty from another place for $18 plus shipping ?
38 Spl. 1,000 dirty for $39.

First time for buying on line...... are these fair prices.
Acme is out of 9mm used. Xtreme will not give free shipping.

Thanks for any help.
It's all relative to what your needs are. I started shooting 9mm in 1995 after getting a whopping military discount price on a 92FS from the Beretta factory. I have never purchased brass or fired a factory load through this pistol. All my brass has been open range pick ups, sometimes hundreds of casings at a time. I estimate I have over 6,000 casings that I have accumulated. A good time to go to the range for brass is after a shooting event or after a police qualification. I have noticed that old highly corroded brass has a shorter life, I will pick them up and shoot them regardless. I inspect casing while I'm reloading and discard any ones that show signs of fractures. Nearly 16,000 rounds down range and my Beretta still loves me.

Ten rounds slow fire from 28 feet, off-hand, two inch dot.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:49 AM
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I've bought allot of once fird 38, 357sig, 380 auto 45 acp brass on line. Generally speaking if it's all one head stamp, and from an established company that advertises it as such, you might be getting true once fired. Otherwise, it's likely just somebody doing what you can do . i.e. cleaning up their local range after others. Personally, I find 9mm and 40 S&W plentiful and for free at my ranges. It's as easy as bending down to scrounge it there. You might try the same before buying any.
FWIW, I also don't find any issue at all with using range brass for general reloading in these two calibers. I load and shoot thousands of rounds of it a year.
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Old 03-25-2017, 02:14 PM
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I buy all my brass from Sage Reloading Sage's Reloading Supply good product, good prices, and fast shipping. Can't ask for more than that.

Edit, his current pricing is $22.00 per K and he uses USPS Flat rate boxes. A large box will hold 3k rounds and costs $20.00. I don't pay shipping because he's local to me. Looking at this thread it seems that most people buy from local dealers.
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Old 03-25-2017, 02:55 PM
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"Once fired" is a term so overused that it has pretty much lost its meaning. I have had good luck with TJ Convera
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Old 03-25-2017, 06:43 PM
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Try Texas Brass. Cleaned and processed. ( sized and deprimed). Last I ordered was $43-$44 per K. Looks like new. I've ordered on Sun and had it by Fri.
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Old 03-25-2017, 07:18 PM
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Range Brass - 9mm Luger at $3.61 per 200 rounds, plus shipping. They do not offer tumbling.

LEO Brass - 9mm Luger is $3.50 per 100 plus shipping. They will tumble it for you for $2.50 per 100 more. They also have nickel plated cases if you want those for $8.00 per 100.

Pistol Brass – AardvarkReloadingBrass - 9mm Luger is $25 for 500 (mixed headstamp, same headstamp slightly more) plus shipping, but everything they sell is already tumbled.

I have no association with any of these sellers except that I have been a satisfied customer of each of them.
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Old 03-25-2017, 11:23 PM
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I have bought a lot of brass from OnceFiredBrass and never had a problem.
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Old 03-28-2017, 02:56 PM
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It is very common here in Iowa to find 1000 pc. bags of 9mm brass for $20 with discounts for larger purchases. This is unprocessed range brass. You should be aware that WCC and WMA headstamped brass has crimped primers. My Dillon machines de-crimp that brass easily, BUT you can have a nasty time at the primer station. I swaged and reamed 3000 9mm cases this winter and it isn't lots of fun. I had the time and the tools. I routinely leave my fired 9mm brass on the ground after a match. At my age and girth I prefer paying $20./1000 for someone else to pick it up.
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Old 03-28-2017, 03:07 PM
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Certified R-P brass

R-P Once-Fired Brass
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Old 03-30-2017, 02:03 AM
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At my age and girth I prefer paying $20./1000 for someone else to pick it up.


Ol' boy at the range I go to doesn't shoot... just sits on a stool with one of these snagging every piece that rolls his way.

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Old 03-30-2017, 12:49 PM
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Thanks for all the ideas and replies.

Mike from OR. sent me a box of 9mm brass to hold me over for a good while.

You guys a great.
Thank you all.
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Old 03-30-2017, 01:07 PM
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All my brass is range brass. I've gotten deals on guns that included factory ammo, and that is my for sure once fired brass.

The only virgin brass I've ever bought was 10mm.
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Old 03-30-2017, 01:22 PM
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I like the people at Just Reloading - range brass, prices close enough to everyone else as makes no difference. But, they're friendly, respond quickly to email, work hard and even shipped on Saturday.

And I bet if there ever were a problem, Rachel would fix it in a hurry.

Now, if they'd only get ahold of some 44mag brass ...
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Old 03-30-2017, 01:24 PM
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Quote:
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Thanks for all the ideas and replies.

Mike from OR. sent me a box of 9mm brass to hold me over for a good while.

You guys a great.
Thank you all.
Don't you love this place? A year or so back a member offered some 357SIG brass for the shipping and I ended up with the whole batch. Amazing people around here.
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Old 04-01-2017, 11:44 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevada Ed View Post
I was looking at 9mm fired one time brass prices.
It is just for plinking and Chrony. testing.

I found 500 WCC cleaned and polished for $14.95 +
and 1,00 dirty from another place for $18 plus shipping ?
38 Spl. 1,000 dirty for $39.

First time for buying on line...... are these fair prices.
Acme is out of 9mm used. Xtreme will not give free shipping.

Thanks for any help.
X-TREME has a FREE SHIPPING offer until the 2nd, 45 ACP reprocessed brass (unprimered) on sale, etc.

Just a FYI!

CHEERS!
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