Checking that cases in Classifieds are genuinely 'Once-Fired ex Factory'.

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Sinistral

Sinistral

Well-Known Member
This is the question I posted today on an Ad.

"How does a potential buyer verify cases as 'Once-Fired ex Factory' when the original primers, burnt powder residue, and any chambering or resizing marks have been removed? I would like to know please.:-|

This is the Ad in question, which needs to be read from start to end for context.

R

Sold: Thread '6XC Brass'

Hi I have some Norma factory 6XC brass that is once fired that I would like to swap for 6.5 x 47 Lapua.
I may also consider selling if there are none about.

No comeback on the 6.5 x 47 L brass so these are now for sale @ £70 for 100 plus postage , once fired factory brass.
Will come deprimed and steel pin cleaned.

The seller messaged me to discuss this in private, but I think an open thread would be more helpful for everyone.
Does anyone have a reliable method of doing this, or any comments? . . :-|
 
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I don’t want to comment with regard to the thread you’ve referenced but personally want any ‘once fired’ I buy to be as original as possible, i.e. as it came out of the chamber.

That way you can see if there appears to be old powder fouling under the fouling from the last firing, whether there are score marks suggesting multiple chambering etc.

It’s far from perfect, and I doubt you’d get anywhere arguing with a seller, but it gives you a bit of confidence that you aren’t using brass that’s at the end of its life as though it was new.
 
Sinistral said:
This is the question I posted today on an Ad.

"How does a potential buyer verify cases as 'Once-Fired ex Factory' when the original primers, burnt powder residue, and any chambering or resizing marks have been removed? I would like to know please.:-|

This is the Ad in question, which needs to be read from start to end for context.

R

Sold: Thread '6XC Brass'

Hi I have some Norma factory 6XC brass that is once fired that I would like to swap for 6.5 x 47 Lapua.
I may also consider selling if there are none about.

No comeback on the 6.5 x 47 L brass so these are now for sale @ £70 for 100 plus postage , once fired factory brass.
Will come deprimed and steel pin cleaned.

The seller messaged me to discuss this in private, but I think an open thread would be more helpful for everyone.
Does anyone have a reliable method of doing this, or any comments? . . :-|
Click to expand...
All you can do is take the sellers word for it, I bought some once fired 7 x 57 Brass off the classifieds and it was shot to shite didn’t pay a lot of money for them lesson learned, but then again I was given some 7 x 57 federal Brass that was black as the ace of spades had to have at least 24 hours in the tumbler paid nothing for it and it’s come up good, but to be fair 90% of the Brass are PPU bought new resized bombproof every bit as good as RWS/Lapua that I’ve had new in the past
 
If the seller doesn't reload it's a safe enough bet. And the majority of factory loads have sealant around the primers 👍
 
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I've some once fired brass accumulating in the corner of my office. It's mostly 308 Win as I don't reload 308 Win non-lead ammunition. The fired cases are stored in the original packaging and eventually will be sold in the original packaging. The brass shown below was sold a while ago.

Regards

JCS


Fired cases.webp
 
Hmmm. All about trust and faith that a fellow SD member is honest.
Sadly there are still some chancers out there.
IMHO you will know as soon as you start to reload them - for example loose primer pockets. By then of course it’s too late…
🦊🦊
 
Mike1979 said:
Agree with the above. If you dont trust what you are being told then buy some new cases 👍
Click to expand...
I think that once fired can be seen to be different (at the base of the case) from cases that have been sized after having been fired. Now that may not help if the cases are once fired and sized but it can help. Also on some Norma cartridges the primers are engraved or embossed with letters NP (or were once upon a time). Also some makers use only once colour of primer so Federal may use only white metal colour primers, Remington only yellow metal colour primers. So Remington once fired rifle calibre cases with large rifle sized white metal colour primers in place? I think not!
 
I’ve been tripped up looking for tell tale marks of reloaded case after buying once fired. Saw sizing marks on the cartridge and assumed the worst. Turns out they were once fired but not factory ammo (as I’d assumed) but new brass for reloading that the seller had sized before using. His response was genuine and I’d made the wrong assumption.

Usually I’d look for primer pockets having three clean segments and no evidence of sizing or chamfering. Not a fan of buying once fired thst the seller has cleaned or prepped in any way.
 
Way I see is this I can buy 50 brand-new PPU cases from reloading solutions for £51 , your pay £30 odd on the SD with no history so for the sake of £20 I now buy new
 
Oh! As a supplementary to my loose primer pockets post you could also examine your bolt face after reloading and firing said cases. You might be surprised how effectively the bolt face has been flash cut because of said loose pockets.
By then of course it really is too late, like really….
🦊🦊
 
I bought some of those 6XC cases they were in excellent condition.

If they are Lapua or Norma then they are target cases and I'll look after them, I used to pay form them to be annealed
If they are S&B / PPU etc then they are stalking cases and some of them will disappear into the long grass anyway. I've given up having anything more than the most cursory look for them, why would you care about your cheapo cases?
 
Quixote said:
If the seller doesn't reload it's a safe enough bet.
Click to expand...
More likely perhaps but there's no way of establishing this . . unless it's an aducement within the Ad.
Anyway, would a 'non-reloader' remove primers or tumble cases? :-|

Quixote said:
And the majority of factory loads have sealant around the primers 👍
Click to expand...
Without a primer in place a coloured annulus only proves the case is ex-factory, not how many times it's been fired.
Only a minority of factory ammunition cases have such - Federal & (some) RWS, but Norma does not.
Steel pin tumbling may remove this colouring, along with layers of primer residue perhaps? :cool:

Jagged77 said:
I’ve been tripped up looking for tell tale marks of reloaded case after buying once fired. Saw sizing marks on the cartridge and assumed the worst. Turns out they were once fired but not factory ammo (as I’d assumed) but new brass for reloading that the seller had sized before using. His response was genuine and I’d made the wrong assumption.

Usually I’d look for primer pockets having three clean segments and no evidence of sizing or chamfering. Not a fan of buying once fired thst the seller has cleaned or prepped in any way.
Click to expand...
I hadn't thought of the possibility in the first paragraph I admit.
There's no way then unless the seller is Trade or 'known' on SD, so I'll go with the final sentence.
Thanks, all. ;)
 
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