Considering the cost of reloading components, it’s difficult to walk past once-fired range brass lying underfoot. Even if you try to limit yourself to recovering your personal brass, it’s often difficult to segregate yours from someone else’s. After a while, it’s just easier to recover brass and to prep it as though it all came from strangers’ guns.
Range brass is often a free source of reloadable casings but not without certain pitfalls. I’ve picked up 9mm Winchester and “WCC” (Western Cartridge Co.) whose extractor groove is too shallow to enter a standard RCBS #16 shell holder. My case preparation begins on a single-stage RCBS Rockchucker. I can only wonder why these cases apparently don’t conform to SAAMI specs.
I discard any brass that shows obvious signs of having been reloaded by someone else. This can include die or sizing marks or a rim with multiple extractor marks. Marks can include someone else’s Magic Marker coding anywhere on the shell. It doesn’t mean the brass is bad, only that it’s easy to recover more than I need so I can be a bit choosey.
Where outdoor ranges use gravel, small pieces of stone sometimes become wedged inside the casings and you can break your de-capping pin if you don’t insure that the casings are free of debris. Range brass sometimes comes plugged up with mud or turf. I also discard brass that’s gone underfoot on concrete walks as well as brass that got damaged or dented leaving or trying to leave the gun.
Another hazard are Berdan-primed cases. Berdan priming utilizes twin, offset flash holes rather than a single centered flash hole. They cannot be de-capped with standard domestic reloading equipment. With 9mm and .45 ACP, you just have to look into the case to see whether or not it’s Berdan-primed. Except for CCI in their non-reloadable ammunition line, domestic manufacturers do not use Berdan priming but you’ll encounter it on lots of imported military surplus ammo.
It’s best to not even try to reload rifle brass with foreign military headstamps. If you recover a bunch of unknown brass, sacrifice one and cut the back end off to ascertain whether it’s Berdan primed.
Military brass frequently utilizes crimped primers. You can de-prime them on your equipment but the crimps must be removed before you can go any further. The tools are inexpensive and crimps may either be reamed or swaged away. You can usually tell that crimps are present as you'll feel a bit more resistance when de-capping.
Speaking of primers, .45 ACP ammunition is now available with both large and small primer pockets. .45 ACP reloaders already know this. They’ll size and de-prime without incident but try to seat a large primer in a small primer pocket and you’ll mangle the primer. I should know. Several small-primed .45 ACP cases recently snuck past my brass prepping stage to bring my Dillon 550B press to a crunching halt.
.45 ACP shooters need to avoid .45 GAP cases and visa versa. .380 ACP and 9mm Makarov brass is easily confused with 9mm. Often, military brass has arsenal, date, manufacturer and type codes but doesn’t have its caliber on the headstamp. There are at least three names in use for the 9mm: 9mm Luger, 9X19mm and 9mm Parabellum. Eley uses the headstamp “9.P.” There are also 9X21 and 9X23mm cases out there. I’m inclined to think that people shooting the latter 9mms are usually reloaders and will make every effort to recover their brass. You won’t find these elongated 9mms at Walmart or your neighborhood gun shop.
The easiest way to provoke a heated and animated thread is to stumble across one of the perennial hot-button issues. Using reloads for self-defense is one of those topics. So, I won’t go there other than to recommend that the best brass for assembling self defense loads, if you're so disposed, are either once-fired brass from your gun or virgin brass. I’ve only heard good things about Starline Brass, a popular source for new brass.
Range brass is often a free source of reloadable casings but not without certain pitfalls. I’ve picked up 9mm Winchester and “WCC” (Western Cartridge Co.) whose extractor groove is too shallow to enter a standard RCBS #16 shell holder. My case preparation begins on a single-stage RCBS Rockchucker. I can only wonder why these cases apparently don’t conform to SAAMI specs.
I discard any brass that shows obvious signs of having been reloaded by someone else. This can include die or sizing marks or a rim with multiple extractor marks. Marks can include someone else’s Magic Marker coding anywhere on the shell. It doesn’t mean the brass is bad, only that it’s easy to recover more than I need so I can be a bit choosey.
Where outdoor ranges use gravel, small pieces of stone sometimes become wedged inside the casings and you can break your de-capping pin if you don’t insure that the casings are free of debris. Range brass sometimes comes plugged up with mud or turf. I also discard brass that’s gone underfoot on concrete walks as well as brass that got damaged or dented leaving or trying to leave the gun.
Another hazard are Berdan-primed cases. Berdan priming utilizes twin, offset flash holes rather than a single centered flash hole. They cannot be de-capped with standard domestic reloading equipment. With 9mm and .45 ACP, you just have to look into the case to see whether or not it’s Berdan-primed. Except for CCI in their non-reloadable ammunition line, domestic manufacturers do not use Berdan priming but you’ll encounter it on lots of imported military surplus ammo.
It’s best to not even try to reload rifle brass with foreign military headstamps. If you recover a bunch of unknown brass, sacrifice one and cut the back end off to ascertain whether it’s Berdan primed.
Military brass frequently utilizes crimped primers. You can de-prime them on your equipment but the crimps must be removed before you can go any further. The tools are inexpensive and crimps may either be reamed or swaged away. You can usually tell that crimps are present as you'll feel a bit more resistance when de-capping.
Speaking of primers, .45 ACP ammunition is now available with both large and small primer pockets. .45 ACP reloaders already know this. They’ll size and de-prime without incident but try to seat a large primer in a small primer pocket and you’ll mangle the primer. I should know. Several small-primed .45 ACP cases recently snuck past my brass prepping stage to bring my Dillon 550B press to a crunching halt.
.45 ACP shooters need to avoid .45 GAP cases and visa versa. .380 ACP and 9mm Makarov brass is easily confused with 9mm. Often, military brass has arsenal, date, manufacturer and type codes but doesn’t have its caliber on the headstamp. There are at least three names in use for the 9mm: 9mm Luger, 9X19mm and 9mm Parabellum. Eley uses the headstamp “9.P.” There are also 9X21 and 9X23mm cases out there. I’m inclined to think that people shooting the latter 9mms are usually reloaders and will make every effort to recover their brass. You won’t find these elongated 9mms at Walmart or your neighborhood gun shop.
The easiest way to provoke a heated and animated thread is to stumble across one of the perennial hot-button issues. Using reloads for self-defense is one of those topics. So, I won’t go there other than to recommend that the best brass for assembling self defense loads, if you're so disposed, are either once-fired brass from your gun or virgin brass. I’ve only heard good things about Starline Brass, a popular source for new brass.
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