Getting the most out of range brass

[762plinker]

put it in a bucket, take it to a metal recycler, take the check to your local source for new brass.

 

[Mr Wick]

What kind of brass are you looking for

 

[joshb]

I have and always will pick up every piece of brass I see. Call me stingy, cheap, weird.....I don’t care. They are nickels, dimes and quarters just laying on the ground. I sort them out when I have time.
I get a warm, fuzzy felling when I look at my boxes of plinking ammo!

 

[Spoonbill]

All I ever pick up and keep is 223/5.56. I will decap it then sonic clean it then tumble in corn cob to get it shiny. Some gets culled and the rest gets loaded.

 

[Ray123]

I use range brass for pistols and AR s ...wet tumble, sort by caliber, recycle damaged or abused. Then size rifle in single stage, make sure it fits my guns and run all through a progressive press...do not separate by brand. Run many thousands of mixed headstamps in 9mm, 380 acp, 223, 300 blk. Etc this way...prefer LC for 223 and 308, but use it all. It's plenty accurate, plinking, & general use.

 

[ncageneral]

My son in law brings me a box from the police range from time to time,,,,,,,,, I know its all 1x fired. There just isnt much variety.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I picked up a bunch of once fired LC 223 range brass yesterday.

 

[5spd]

I'll snag all range brass, usually it's new stuff as the reloaders don't dump brass at the range.
What I don't use or even have a need for goes into my recycle bucket, that's usually $60 FREE pocket cash when I turn it in.

 

[divingin]

My son in law brings me a box from the police range from time to time,,,,,,,,, I know its all 1x fired. There just isnt much variety.

You say that like it's a bad thing...

 

[sksshooter]

I haven't shot at a public range in years but we have a 50 yard and 100 yard range setup at our deer lease. Im the only one in the club who reloads so i pickup all brass from there since i know it is all once fired from factory ammo. I have also bought many thousand pieces of mixed pistol and 223 brass locally from guys who have an agreement with a few sheriffs office ranges. Even my hunting ammo is loaded in brass i have either shot from factory or purchased as once fired from others. have not to date purchased any new brass and on several of my hunting rifles been able to achieve consistant sub 1" groups at 100 yards for example my 270wsm has put down many .6-.7" 5 shot groups which i feel is plenty sufficient for my needs.

 

[btruckno1]

Range p/u should keep you at one inch groups if you process it in a way or ways to maintain consistency within reason. Sort by brand, and further if you can, such as lake city 18 all together, all lake city 15 together, etc. Other brands don't do the year for the most part, but some headstamps are slightly different for whatever reason, keep those together. Then process together, or be willing to sort them back out again.

I'm the resident brass rat at my range, so I'm always looking on the ground or the scrap buckets for 223 brass for the most part. I've learned how to tell new/just fired/1x by the leading edge of the neck opening as it usually has a crosshatch pattern from the factory. The brass has not been trimmed by anyone else anyways. I also look for any sealant still around the primers, a good indicator of 1x. When I deprime the cases, if the primer resists coming out, the crimp is usually still there, another indicator of 1x. I have a primer pocket go/no go gage by ballistic tools which helps determine the status of the primer pockets on questionable brass.

I load for varmint shooting (pdogs and sage rats), so accuracy is important, but I'm also not overly concerned or upset if I miss a critter at 250-400 yds by a little bit. I know the wind does a lot to the 22 caliber bullets, so I run the bolt and try again. It's what I do.

I have a bunch of once fired 223/5.56 brass that I purchased as such, and a bunch more that I've acquired from a reliable source. My problem is depriming with the crimped primers. I've broken or bent 3 decapping pins. What can I do to knock these things out without spending more on decapping pins than I would for new brass? I have only tried on the purchased stuff to date. And it is both 223 and 5.56 nato that it is happening with, not one or the other.

 

[Dgd6mm]

For my 15 minutes worth of picking up brass the day before yesterday I ended up with quite a bit of once fired .
Over 300 pieces of LC 223
49 pieces of LC 21
30 pieces of Remington 22-250
At least 10 pounds for the scrap bucket, which was miscellaneous 6.5CM, 300WM, 270, .308, 30-06.
It was definitely worth my time.
I do this almost every week.

 

[JB10]

I pick up all i can find. I reload the 223 stuff with very good results with no head stamp sorting for years. In bolt guns it eather all LC or Federal only. As for the AR stuff, What ever i grab at loading time. A 1 inch group at 100 yards im okay with. All the 9mm is reloaded for practice. All other calibers are saved for a just in case day. If i dont own it then goes to someone i know that will use it.

 

[jpx2rk]

I have a bunch of once fired 223/5.56 brass that I purchased as such, and a bunch more that I've acquired from a reliable source. My problem is depriming with the crimped primers. I've broken or bent 3 decapping pins. What can I do to knock these things out without spending more on decapping pins than I would for new brass? I have only tried on the purchased stuff to date. And it is both 223 and 5.56 nato that it is happening with, not one or the other.

I use a Mighty Armory decap die which also serves as a swage die by changing out the decap pin for the swage pin and button in the ram.

Mighty Armory MAGNUM Die & Primer Pocket Swage Set - Small Primer 223 / 556

The Mighty Armory MAGNUM Primer Pocket Swage Set removes crimps from primer pockets FAST and EASY on your press. Works on Single Stage and Turret Presses. Includes: Mighty Armory MAGNUM Decapping / Case Hold Down Die Mighty Armory Heat Treated Tool Steel Hold Down Shaft Mighty Armory Primer...

www.mightyarmory.com

The one I have is about 3 yrs old, never broke/bent a pin. I got the smaller diameter decap pin for 6BR stuff, and it works well on everything else I've got as well.

 

[jpx2rk]

I have a bunch of once fired 223/5.56 brass that I purchased as such, and a bunch more that I've acquired from a reliable source. My problem is depriming with the crimped primers. I've broken or bent 3 decapping pins. What can I do to knock these things out without spending more on decapping pins than I would for new brass? I have only tried on the purchased stuff to date. And it is both 223 and 5.56 nato that it is happening with, not one or the other.

When I am de-priming crimped stuff, I can feel the extra resistance that the crimp is creating, so I just hold the ram in that position and then continue to increase the pressure on the ram until the primer gives. I don't slam the case up into the depriming die, slow and steady works better for me.

 

[SecondsCount]

I have a bunch of once fired 223/5.56 brass that I purchased as such, and a bunch more that I've acquired from a reliable source. My problem is depriming with the crimped primers. I've broken or bent 3 decapping pins. What can I do to knock these things out without spending more on decapping pins than I would for new brass? I have only tried on the purchased stuff to date. And it is both 223 and 5.56 nato that it is happening with, not one or the other.

Are you sure it is crimped primers or some other debris in the flash hole?

I currently use a cheaper Hornady American series die for sizing the crimped stuff, and have used Lee and RCBS in the past. The only time that I have broken a pin is when debris got in the flash hole. 30+ years and tens of thousands of rounds of loading 5.56 brass.