New brass V Once Fired,

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Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Well-Known Member
I bought some once-fired Federal and Hornady brass .223 and was given a few Hornady cases as well ( 53grn Superperformance ), every case needed the primer pocket worked on to seat a CCI primer because the old primers had some crimp applied. This was an oversized HSS drill kissed for a second or two, then cleaned up with a countersink.

I just wondered if buying once-fired cases is the norm, or is it a little bit of a false economy :-| , I can see if you are getting them for nothing, or have saved your old factory ammo cases it eases the pain of prep like I just did, a couple of hundred cases and I was losing the will to live a little.

If you buy new, which cases give bang for bucks.... I'm not as far into the hole as annealing cases to get another couple of uses from them.

Thanks in advance for any replies. BD.
 
As it’s the removal of the crimp which you found onerous, just avoid buying crimped cases from pseudo military/sporting ammunition - as some 223/5.56 such as your Hornady can be. Generally you’ll rarely find crimped primed pockets in commercial sporting ammunition (leaving aside some .223/5.56). Alternatively use a crimp remover such as Dillon produce which turns it into a quick process.

As long as you ensure it’s genuinely once fired brass (and avoid crimped primers) then preparation is little different from any other reloading cycle other than a good visual inspection & an initial proper full-length resize.

Once fired cases from some semi-auto rifles can be damaged but this isn’t a consideration in the U.K. unless you are offered ex-police or ex-military brass (the latter may have Berdan primers anyway).

Although I start off with new cases (or cases from my own purchase of factory ammunition) I do sometimes buy once fired cases if it’s all from the same maker (ideally in the original boxes) & the quantity is worthwhile. Other than them having gone through a fire/resize cycle which I haven’t benefited from I’ve no complaints as regards longevity. I wouldn’t use ‘mixed brass’ even if free.
 
webley701 said:
As it’s the removal of the crimp which you found onerous, just avoid buying crimped cases from pseudo military/sporting ammunition - as some 223/5.56 such as your Hornady can be. Generally you’ll rarely find crimped primed pockets in commercial sporting ammunition (leaving aside some .223/5.56). Alternatively use a crimp remover such as Dillon produce which turns it into a quick process.

As long as you ensure it’s genuinely once fired brass (and avoid crimped primers) then preparation is little different from any other reloading cycle other than a good visual inspection & an initial proper full-length resize.

Once fired cases from some semi-auto rifles can be damaged but this isn’t a consideration in the U.K. unless you are offered ex-police or ex-military brass (the latter may have Berdan primers anyway).

Although I start off with new cases (or cases from my own purchase of factory ammunition) I do sometimes buy once fired cases if it’s all from the same maker (ideally in the original boxes) & the quantity is worthwhile. Other than them having gone through a fire/resize cycle which I haven’t benefited from I’ve no complaints as regards longevity. I wouldn’t use ‘mixed brass’ even if free.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for the reply. I've done a search on SD and I'm going to buy a primer pocket reamer, Hornady ones seem reasonably priced.
It just caught me out on a Sunday morning, doubled the prep time for me.
 
I think it depends greatly on what you're demanding of your ammunition. I'd not use brand new brass in a competition. If you're after minute of deer, as long as a once fired case is sized properly, probably matters little.
I've used Federal and Sako brass in 270 maybe four times without issue. For other stuff I use Lapua.
 
Thanks for the advice chaps.
For the cost I think I'll buy a primer pocket reamer of some sort next time in the Spud reloading emporium. I was just caught out a little, I think the Federal cases had a circular crimp applied, so it involved a bit of brass removal.
I get good results with my homeloads, cloverleaf groups normally.
I'll still buy 2nd hand I think and accept I may have to sort the primer pockets out, I may treat myself to some new brass at some point.
 
Bo Diddley said:
I bought some once-fired Federal and Hornady brass .223 and was given a few Hornady cases as well ( 53grn Superperformance ), every case needed the primer pocket worked on to seat a CCI primer because the old primers had some crimp applied. This was an oversized HSS drill kissed for a second or two, then cleaned up with a countersink.

I just wondered if buying once-fired cases is the norm, or is it a little bit of a false economy :-| , I can see if you are getting them for nothing, or have saved your old factory ammo cases it eases the pain of prep like I just did, a couple of hundred cases and I was losing the will to live a little.

If you buy new, which cases give bang for bucks.... I'm not as far into the hole as annealing cases to get another couple of uses from them.

Thanks in advance for any replies. BD.
Click to expand...
Brass fired in your rifle is always the best.
I have used , in 40 years of reloading, brass from Winchester, Remington, Sako S&B, Norma , Federal, Imperial, RWS, PPU and Lapua.
All are good but at the risk of being called a heretic have had the most problems with Lapua !
 
Namman said:
Brass fired in your rifle is always the best.
Click to expand...
This is all going through a new Tikka. I tried Hornady Superperformance & Varminter, and also some PPU factory ammo, but nothing really grouped good enough for me, it's a 1 in 8 twist, I went straight to loading 60 grain Vmax for foxing and it was spot on, so I don't have a supply of once fired brass I've shot through this gun unfortunately.
 
Bo Diddley said:
This is all going through a new Tikka. I tried Hornady Superperformance & Varminter, and also some PPU factory ammo, but nothing really grouped good enough for me, it's a 1 in 8 twist, I went straight to loading 60 grain Vmax for foxing and it was spot on, so I don't have a supply of once fired brass I've shot through this gun unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I know, I remember in the good old days of cheap ammo buying it to shoot off and reload.
Why not buy a few boxes of PPU , fire it
off and reload. It's good brass.
 
Namman said:
I know, I remember in the good old days of cheap ammo buying it to shoot off and reload.
Why not buy a few boxes of PPU , fire it
off and reload. It's good brass.
Click to expand...
I'll buy some PPU brass and give it a go, I'm sure it will suit me fine. I did buy two boxes of PPU 55grn SP from Spud Reloading when I was in there, hoping it would shoot okay through the gun, but it wasn't really good enough, so I gave it away to a lad who passes a few cases my way.
 
If you have the small end of the tolerance in your chamber and someone else has the larger tolerance their once fired will generally not size down enough in the main case below the shoulders and your bolt wont close
Ex factory Hornady is junk in my 223 primer pockets are too much work . If you want to go cheaper but bulk PPU brass brand new . Forget all that waffle about PPU being junk its far from it . Ok i would not load it for comp shooting but under 400 yards its fine easy sub moa from my custom 260 ( OK i can tighten thins up a tad with the lapua ) but shaving an inch or so out there isn't very relevant! i have chosen the PPU stuff for my 223 and also for the 22 hornet . I admit if i was shooting matches i would go for better but then i am able to take more time reading wind and never have to take a quick opportunity as targets dont tend to keep moving on you
 
I had the same issue of the primer pocket crimp with Hornady .308 (White Tail ammunition), but a quick turn with the case neck chamfer tool gets rid of it. It is another little step that takes seconds, but it does add up!
 
Rory said:
I had the same issue of the primer pocket crimp with Hornady .308 (White Tail ammunition), but a quick turn with the case neck chamfer tool gets rid of it. It is another little step that takes seconds, but it does add up!
Click to expand...
The Federal .223 brass needed much more than a quick turn. I had two Makita cordless drills in the workshop, one with a HSS drill to take the bulk out, then the other with a countersink to clean it up a little better, some cases still seemed a little too tight when I used a Lee hand primer to push the CCI SR primers in.
I'll try and add something to my reloading kit that won't break the bank but will sort any primer pocket issues in the future.
I'm pretty sure the cases had a full circular crimp from the info I have gathered off the Web. I wish I had taken a photo.
Every day is a school day for me.....
Thanks for the response.
 
Military and Law Enforcement ammo is crimped (primer pockets). The upside is that crimped brass generally really is just once fired. The downside is removing the crimp (which isn't hard as the OP found). There is a RCBS primer pocket swager that can be used for small lots of crimped once fired brass on your press. For larger lots a Dillon "SuperSwager" can be really helpful.

As to brass fired from machine guns being unsuitable; this is only partially true. The primary issue is when brass if fired from belt fed machine guns, which fire from an open bolt, and depending on their cleanliness, they can have their timing slightly off. This causes the bolt to extract before chamber pressures have lowered, and usually results in case rims with a ding, and a slightly bloated case body. This can all be rectified with a small base die (and then trim afterwards), and the brass will be perfectly fine for reloading.
 
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