Old Brass in New Gun

[EasyShooter]

I have heard always use new brass in a new gun and have had some experience that proves that to be accurate. I also hear of guys picking up brass at the gun range or buying reloads at a gun show and using it with no problem. New brass can be hard to find at times and using once fired brass can be tempting. My experience with old brass not working is mostly on belted magnum cartridges, 300 Win Mag and 30-375 Weatherby. Bolt would not close on brass even after it had been sized. Have also seen a case where a reloaded 5.56 round would jam any AR it was put in. My question is are their certain cartridges that are more likely to have problems with once fired brass from a different gun than others? I am getting ready to build a 204 Ruger and am starting to look for brass. I have some factory loaded rounds but I am going to be cutting this chamber with a reamer with only .015" freebore instead of the standard .100". I might not be able to shoot factory loads with that shorter freebore without pressure problems. Have already been offered some once fired 204 brass but not sure I want to use it.

 

[drop_point]

I've never had problems with once-fired brass in a new gun. I always anneal it, then run it through my dies set for the chamber of the gun its going in. You may slightly over-work the brass vs brass that was originally fired in your chamber. I have a brass scrapper that gets me 5.56, .308, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 9mm from the range.

I've never run into a problem.

I would never use anybody's reloads in my guns.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I have given away a ton of 6.5 Creed brass that was originally factory ammo and shot in several different rifles. I collected the brass at my club and don't personally use it. A lot of it went to guys in the service who like to shoot but just don't have the $$$$ for all the components.

Mixed brass from mixed rifles and I haven't heard of any issues yet. Sort, FL size and give it a go.

 

[whatsupdoc]

I have run a ton of brass fired from different riles. If it is once fired I have never had a problem using it in
another rifle after full length resizing it.

I have had issues with brass fired multiple times in one rifle, FL resized and would not chamber
in a different rifle with a tighter chamber due to the base of the case not resized enough by the die.
Putting those cases through a small base die remedies the cambering issue.

 

[XTR]

^^ going along with what is posted above. If it chambers and extracts when fired it’s fine. If the first chamber the brass was fired in was larger than the new one you can get sticky/stuck cases even FL sizing. I‘ve never used them but I’ve read here that small base dies can fix that.

 

[EasyShooter]

I just did a little testing on the 30-378 I built. I have 80 rounds of once fired brass. I full length sized all of them and the bolt would only close on two of them and it was very tight. I have a modified shell holder that I cut some of the top off of letting the brass go further up the die when sized. I sized 20 rounds with this modified shell holder and the bolt would close on all the brass, some was tight. I would have sized all the brass with this shell holder but I got a stuck case and it ripped the top of the shell holder off trying to get the brass out of the die. Bolt closes on all new brass and factory ammo. Problem has got to be the 30-378 I build has less headspace than the factory built 30-378 rifle this brass was fired in. Buddy of mine has a 300 Win Mag that was also custom built and is having the same problem with once fired brass. My theory is that both these cartridges are belted magnums and head space is set off the belt not the shoulder so I would imagine it can be harder to push the brass back to tighten up headspace. This puts another thought in my head for reloading belted cartridges. Will start a new topic on it. I'm just looking for other people's experiences.
Thanks for your input!

 

[Doom]

The usual problem when using brass shot from a different rifle is due to the sizing die not sizing the brass at the base. This can be especially an issue if attempting to limit the shoulder setback with a full length sizing die. In some cases a small base sizing die is required to set the base back to acceptable dimensions. The area in question is at the base to case wall junction.

When sizing range brass or once fired Military brass I will determine the acceptable setback on the shoulder with new brass checked in my comparator and use that to set up the die. This works 99% without using a small base die.

 

[RegionRat]

Just a few moments ago on a different thread, I pointed out that brass to chamber relationships are also affected by the diameter, not just the shoulder datum length.

In the belted magnums, there is a common misconception that the problem is only the length, but I am pointing out that there are situations where the actual issue is the diameter just above the belt.

There is a taper in the body from the shoulder-body junction to the belt. When the die is adjusted downward, there is some amount of diameter change along the length of the case.

When the relationship between brass used in a different chamber, the new chamber, and the sizing die works out well, then the sizing die can keep those diameters under control, but sometimes the relationship is not going to work out and the options might mean a custom die or the use of the belted magnum collet die, or both.

Keeping the chambers and dies coordinated usually helps for avoiding brass problems, but sometimes keeping that collet die close is very handy. YMMV