Brass

[Maghunter]

Putting some feelers out there.
Is cleaned and resized once fired brass worth half the price of new? If not what would you pay for it? Be calibre and head stamp specific. Thx.

[Norwest Alta]

Only worth as much as someone wants to pay for it. If you've got some Remington 338 rum,300 rum and 338 wm I might be interested though.

[gitrdun]

Originally Posted by Maghunter

Putting some feelers out there.
Is cleaned and resized once fired brass worth half the price of new? If not what would you pay for it? Be calibre and head stamp specific. Thx.

I'm always leery of what is claimed to be once fired. Seems as though all used brass is once fired, odd. But if you can ascertain that it is truly once fired and that it is sized in a FL die, then yes it is worth half price of new. Personally, I purchase new brass. I prep it by de-burring the flash hole and uniforming the primer pocket. Turn the necks, weight sort it. Some of my brass has been fired 4 or more times and annealed. But because of the care and attention that I've dedicated to it, I feel as though it is now better than even virgin brass simply because it is now "tuned" to my rifle. Guys can pick up range brass full of dirt, run it through a stainless steel pin bath and make it look better than brand new. Just be careful on your purchase.

[fps plus]

Brass fired from a firearm with excess headspace is worthless

[Puma]

As long as it has brass colored primers, I trust its once fired.

[tchardy1972]

Originally Posted by Puma

As long as it has brass colored primers, I trust its once fired.

Unless someone used winchester or Remington primers.

[blackpowderrlw]

I have Remington primers , 71/2 , 91/2. These are brass in colour.

[Mhunter51]

And a lot of new, never fired loaded rounds have silver primers.

[qwert]

Originally Posted by Maghunter

Putting some feelers out there.
Is cleaned and resized once fired brass worth half the price of new? If not what would you pay for it? Be calibre and head stamp specific. Thx.

I (range chicken) collect 1F range brass that I use or trade.
I will VERY occasionally purchase 1F brass, but

I NEVER purchase brass resized OR trimmed by others.
I MUCH prefer to buy brass that has NOT been cleaned.
I DO prefer deprimed as the uncleaned pocket is a good (but not perfect) indicator of 1F.
I would not purchase brass with crimp cut off, (maybe if swaged)
I will pickup and reload, but not purchase FC rifle brass.

From a local gun shop, I can purchase brass (sorted & tumbled, but not deprimed)
most common @ .25ea,
belted magnum @ .40ea,
223, 9mm & .40s&w @~.05ea (or less in qty).
Uncommon, WBY, 45acp, Lapua etc. varies widely.
Much 45acp is very obviously well used.

Some indoor ranges sell uncleaned, floor brass quite reasonably, others for VERY high price.

Good Luck, YMMV.

[Flieguy]

Originally Posted by qwert

From a local gun shop, I can purchase brass (sorted & tumbled, but not deprimed)
most common @ .25ea,
belted magnum @ .40ea,
223, 9mm & .40s&w @~.05ea (or less in qty).
Uncommon, WBY, 45acp, Lapua etc. varies widely.
Much 45acp is very obviously well used.

Some indoor ranges sell uncleaned, floor brass quite reasonably, others for VERY high price.

Good Luck, YMMV.

^^^
this.

you can find some stuff for absolutely dirt cheap, and if it's common chances are someone somewhere is selling it for next to nothing.

however for my 375 winchester I would pay a bunch more for not having to use 38-55 or 30-30 brass (haven't done it, don't want to)

[bat119]

I dispose of my worn out brass by putting it in the recycle bucket at the range I hope someone's not selling it for once fired.

[Deer Hunter]

Looking at neck you can usually determine if it's once fired. Most loaders chamfer the necks. Factory once fired or new is square with no chamfer
Also, if the the factory crimp hasn't been trimmed you can be more certain it hasn't been reloaded.
I've found some great deals on internet brass. The biggest issue is getting different headstamps and weights, but all in all it's been much cheaper than buying new. New brass is getting hard to find in some calibres too.

[260 Rem]

Used wrong quote.

[260 Rem]

Originally Posted by bat119

I dispose of my worn out brass by putting it in the recycle bucket at the range I hope someone's not selling it for once fired.

Before disposing of mine, I crush the necks with pliers.

[TBark]

Ya, what qwert said, .40 ea max for 7mm RM.
But buyer beware with once fired.
Did anyone buy that rifle on the buy sell. Very accurate, shot 5 rounds ? Ha.

TBark

[bat119]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Before disposing of mine, I crush the necks with pliers.

Good plan I'm going to start this

[260 Rem]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Before disposing of mine, I crush the necks with pliers.

I started that years ago after a chap gave me a bunch of 308 nickel plated stuff that he reckoned had been fired one time by LE. It did originate with them when I scrounged it after one of their sessions, but I had since fired it 11 times and dumped it in the recycle bucket. Had I not marked some of it with felt pen, I would never have recognized it.

[elkhunter11]

I don't buy or pick up any bottleneck cases of unknown history, although I have picked us some 38spl cases to use with cast loads.

[skidderman]

I bought a lot of once fired federal brass from an AO fellow who claimed once fired. They had silver primers in them & at least half had the primer pockets stretched to the point I could not use them. I would never pay half price for what could be a waste of time & money. More like 25 cents max.

[qwert]

Originally Posted by skidderman

I bought a lot of once fired federal brass from an AO fellow who claimed once fired. They had silver primers in them & at least half had the primer pockets stretched to the point I could not use them. I would never pay half price for what could be a waste of time & money. More like 25 cents max.

Evidently the market agrees with you, since $.25 is the RETAIL price at my LGS.

The Federals could have enlarged pockets after only 1 firing of factory loads, and certainly after 1 stout reload.
I no longer bother to anneal FC brass, as the pockets seldom make it to my normal 5 firing / anneal cycle.

Pocket life is very dependent on firing pressure, and pocket enlargement is cumulative.
I have 30-06 cartridges I have fired >30 times and IIRC the US Army did testing where they fired >50-75x?

Good Luck, YMMV.