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Is 15 year old brass still safe to reload?

WyleWD

Silver $$ Contributor
While cleaning out some boxes in the reloading room this morning I found approximately 165 pieces of 6mm Remington brass. Approximately 130 pieces of Remington, and 20 each of Herters and I think 20 pieces of Hornady. I'm 100% certain that it is only once fired from a M700 Remington. Is it still safe to reload and use?

Also, found some PPC and 6br brass that has approx. 15 firings on it. Was wondering if any varmint hunters with said calibers would be interested in it.(?) It would require a bushing die to size the necks though. Just curious on both of these items. Thanks for any responses. WD
 
To me, once fired is once fired..................I just loaded up some 7MM brass that was my ex-father-in-laws.......and he passed away 26 years ago. Shot fine, no issues and I'm sure they had more than one loading on them.


Mark
 
When I was a Patrolman in "Juvenile Division" investigations, I had a Sergeant that liked hunting. However, his real passion was collecting OLD (and I mean OLD) firearms and paraphernalia. He had an original 45-70 round from the Cavalry from the Old West. According to him it may have come from The 7th Calvary! He cleaned it up and it literally looked brand new. He was actually considering firing it. It looked so "new" from his cleaning, I would bet a tidy sum that it would have fired without any problems! He was convinced of it and he had fired some really old rounds..
 
I reload 222 Rem brass that I know is from the 70's. ( bought it new)
Lost count years ago on the number of times I've reloaded it.
222 is easy on brass. These were neck turned by me when purchased and probably the same load, bullet, and primers (after maybe 6 months looking for an accurate load.) Settled on one, and still use it. Maybe 100 pcs of that brass still in use.
 
Hi Wayne,,,,I would tumble and clean it first to check for split necks and cracks in the case body near the .200 line ,,,,Remington is notorious for cracks and splits even in new unfired ctgs that are that old,,,its good to know you are alive and kicking,,,Roger
 
WyleWD said:
While cleaning out some boxes in the reloading room this morning I found approximately 165 pieces of 6mm Remington brass. Approximately 130 pieces of Remington, and 20 each of Herters and I think 20 pieces of Hornady. I'm 100% certain that it is only once fired from a M700 Remington. Is it still safe to reload and use?

Also, found some PPC and 6br brass that has approx. 15 firings on it. Was wondering if any varmint hunters with said calibers would be interested in it.(?) It would require a bushing die to size the necks though. Just curious on both of these items. Thanks for any responses. WD
Click to expand...
You might want to anei
WyleWD said:
While cleaning out some boxes in the reloading room this morning I found approximately 165 pieces of 6mm Remington brass. Approximately 130 pieces of Remington, and 20 each of Herters and I think 20 pieces of Hornady. I'm 100% certain that it is only once fired from a M700 Remington. Is it still safe to reload and use?

Also, found some PPC and 6br brass that has approx. 15 firings on it. Was wondering if any varmint hunters with said calibers would be interested in it.(?) It would require a bushing die to size the necks though. Just curious on both of these items. Thanks for any responses. WD
Click to expand...
You might think about annealing them. But you can use them. I started reloading in 1963 used old brass that I did not know the year. NO problems.. Tommy MC
 
I have some Herters 6.5x55 brass that I got with my 94 a few years ago. I have been under the assumption that it was made by Norma, but I can't say that for sure. The previous owner was a handloader, but I have no clue as to how many times they have been loaded. I anneal them and continue to use them, and have had zero problems. But I am gentle with this old Swede. How long has it been since Herters was in business? Barlow
 
Thought I'd throw in my old brass story too.

A couple of years ago I bought some once fired 45 ACP brass from a guy on another forum.

After wet tumbling I sorted it (I know most people don't, but my OCD makes me) and found some had 1918 headstamps!

They're just as serviceable and shiny today as they were a century ago.

I'd load and shoot them but I wouldn't want to loose these little pieces of history.
 
I have a lot of brass and there might be some brass that is NOT 15 years old.
I am still using a large batch of SL54 30-06 brass for forming other cases.
 
WyleWD said:
While cleaning out some boxes in the reloading room this morning I found approximately 165 pieces of 6mm Remington brass. Approximately 130 pieces of Remington, and 20 each of Herters and I think 20 pieces of Hornady. I'm 100% certain that it is only once fired from a M700 Remington. Is it still safe to reload and use?

Also, found some PPC and 6br brass that has approx. 15 firings on it. Was wondering if any varmint hunters with said calibers would be interested in it.(?) It would require a bushing die to size the necks though. Just curious on both of these items. Thanks for any responses. WD
Click to expand...

Brass doesn't change properties with time. The only issue is corrosion. If it was stored in low humidity away from chemical vapors it should be fine. Smash a couple with a hammer and see if it's still ductile.
 
I shot some old 30-30 rounds last fall. From the 40's or 50's, I think. They came out of my Grandfather's closet. They shot fine.:)
 
Thanks fellows! I guess I'll clean the 6mm Rem brass up and sell it since I don't have a 6 Rem. anymore. I do appreciate your replies. WD
 
I certainly hope it is, or I've been living on the edge shooting up a 5 gallon bucket of 93/94 LC 223 brass for the last 4 yrs.
 
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