Nobody seems to have any, but I found this. I decided to buy some and it's decent looking Federal brass listed as "factory overrun", whatever that means. It came today and it looks like perfectly good brass, not factory seconds. Thought I would post the link for others unable to find brass for 38 Sp. Only $89 for 500. Beats most sites regular price.
Factory Overrun Brass 38 Special Box of 500 (Bulk Packaged)

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What could possibly go wrong?

I haven't bought new .38 brass since the first time I reloaded back in the mid 70's. There use to be so much of around.

Last time I bought .38 brass I was looking to just replace in total the batch I've been using since the 80's. Some have been loaded so many times you can barely read the head stamp, it's been peened out. It's starting to look old. There's some newer stuff mixed in now, some foreign stuff. Originally it was 1,000 rounds of Winchester head stamp.

Never did start using that new brass. For some reason I just can't throw out brass. But your post made me go look what I paid for it in 2014 on gunbroker. An instructor was selling all Winchester once fired, and tumbled, from his classes.

$50 for 1,000. Didn't seem cheap at the time. It's still sitting in the box it came in.

When all this is over I think I'll look for another batch. Can't have too much .38 brass.

There was a gun shop in the old post office in Dublin Ohio back around 1990, it only lasted about 6 months. The first time I was in there they had 3 5 gallon buckets of range brass. I ask how much for all of it? He said $20! My reply was, "Its 50% 38's.", He looked at me and says, "You're right they are close to worthless, $5 a bucket!" I took them all.

There are a lot of 38's in 5 gallons! I gave all the nickel plated to my F-I-L, I still had a few thousand and loaded them with a Lee bullet 146 SWC-HP. I still have half an ammo can of them loaded!

Ivan

But that is weird. "Factory overrun"? If there's a shortage of .38 ammo why is there a surplus of brass?

Maybe that means the supply is coming back. They have more brass than they need and are selling it off before the panic is over and it's not worth half that.

Or maybe it means it's getting worse. Lack of other components means they can't load it.

I have little need for 38 Special brass, I prefer to load 357 Magnum cases. Not a bad price in today's market, case head looks odd, maybe that's the reason for it being sold on the reloading market.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Good tip on the new brass!


Fired .38 brass is still available. Cost of the primers is about all that is keeping the small-time reloaders, and even some of the factory remanufacturers, from using it. At least locally.

Just cleaned, sized and deprimed about 600 pcs of brass .38 spcl brass separated it into winchester, military and mixed bags in preparation to sell it at a future local show after I get my vax. I’m keeping all the nickel .38 brass that I’ve got. Only came across a few split or stained cases. I never throw out brass, I’m starting on another 5 gal bucket for recycling.

At the range I shoot at, rarely if ever does someone leave 38 brass in the bucket, and never 357 Mag or 44. One time I found about 20 Blazer 38 brass casings. 9mm and 45 ACP however, is as plentiful as dirt.

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What could possibly go wrong?

Did you notice this description in the product overview?

"This Factory Overrun Brass is manufactured to SAAMI specifications, but with visual imperfections that will not affect performance. This is not loaded ammunition."

All I need to know.

Seems we all wear as a badge of honor using brass over and over until it gets hard and cracks. I don't mind "visual imperfections". Federal is not going to sell brass that's unsafe to reload, if that's what you're implying.

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What could possibly go wrong?

Oh I'm not implying anything.

Simply suggesting that may be the reason they're not being used as factory new ammo.

A few months back I bought some .357 brass from Midway with a similar description. I was all but out of magnum brass, so I jumped on these.

I have found a few with blemishes, most are fine. All have been serviceable.

Mine are CCI Blazer headstamped and came primed!

I too have more .38 Sp brass than I can store. As above I ain't throwing any away.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

I am quite sure the reason is visual. Companies do this will all kinds of products. I have often seen ammunition offered like this. I don't care what it looks like, so long as it works.

If it were a safety issue, they would not be dumb enough to sell it.

We have a candy factory here in town and prior to the former owner, they use to sell seconds. This was chocolate candy that wasn't quite the right color or maybe the logo was smeared. It was often sold for as little as a dollar a pound. They sold tons of it over the years through the company store. It tasted just the same.

The brass is sold out, but I have bought a wide variety of Factory Seconds from Midway over the years. In 2019 I probably bought half a dozen different 9mm, 38 Special and .308 bullets. I'm pretty sure all of them were just old stock that factories were offloading for what ever reason. I mainly reload cast bullets but at the prices they were offering on some premium bullets it was worth it to buy them even as cheap plinking ammo.

That is not available.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Like all reloading components these days, they sell out fast.

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What could possibly go wrong?

I bought a box of range brass off this or another forum a few years back and finally began to load out of it a coupla months back. It is times like these make you glad you had more components stored awat than you thought you would ever need........

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Can not understand anyone buying .38 Special, 9 MM, .40 or .45 ACP. Our range has 55 gallon drums full of it that they sell quarterly. Tons of brass on the ground that can be picked and reused. Sometimes .38 Super and .45 Colt is found also. The only brass I have ever bought is .38 ACP for my Colt Model 1903 Hammer and .32 Magnum for Granddaughters revolver.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I don't shoot on a real range. My range is in back of my house..........

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Not the range where we shoot. You can pick up 380, 9mm 40S&W, and 45 ACP all day, but 38, 357, 44 or bottle neck cases... nope, hardly ever.

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What could possibly go wrong?

That's wild, I just bought 1000 nickel cases for $50. About 600 are Federal +p+ marked. That worried me just a little so I primed 20 last night and the pockets are just fine, not loose and not too tight, juuuuust right.

How many times do you all reload a case?

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Ii reload them until they split or get deformed to the point they are useless (stepped on, enter a die crooked, etc). Sometimes the primer pockets get too loose. I have some brass I have probably reloaded over 30 times, but I don't keep track. Shake them a bit and you can tell by the sound if one is cracked.

Nickel brass will split much quicker than brass. I shoot
thousands of 38 specials a year in cowboy action. Load in
batches of 2 or 3 thousand. Never use nickel as they will
split and if it is in your rifle magazine you will take 2 to 9 misses
as the bullet slips back in the case and jam up the rifle.

Was just wondering. I too, reload the cases until they split also. I have some cases that I started with many years ago.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Guns & Ammo did a test 30 or so years ago and quit at 50 times. I have brass that I have had for over 40 years. I don't mind nickel brass and usually loose it before it splits.