Old Lake City 30-06 brass

Super-Glock26 · October 22, 2008, 10:29 PM

A friend gave me a good deal on some old LC once fired brass.
Some from the 50's, also some SL53, St.Louis Ordence, from 1953?
It looks good and appears to have the original primers still in them.
The brass should still be ok to reload, should'nt it?
Any thoughts??

closetgunnut · October 22, 2008, 10:38 PM

You can load LC brass. I have about 1000 pieces myself.

The only problem with military brass is the primer crimp. You have to remove the crimp before you can reprime them. I use a RCBS swager but others use a camfer or reamer tool. A couple twists of the reamer and the crimp is out. It's a one shot deal. Just don't take too much out.

Closet

BTW Welcome!!!

**44 AMP** · October 22, 2008, 11:47 PM

Witrh some of the same dates and arsenal codes. The brass is good (unless it has been stored badly and corroded) and can be used many times with care.

As noted. it has crimped in primers, and needs the one time crimp removal done before reloading.

If I were you, due to the age, mostly, I would pop off the GI primers (just to be sure), and remember that 1950s era GI primers are most likely corrosive. This means that the primer residue contains chemical salts that will attract moisture and hold it against the steel of your gun, causing rust in fairly short order. Clean those areas exposed to primer residue with soapy water to dissolve the residue, clean and dry, then clean with normal solvent and all will be well. Some people use Windex instead of soapy water, and it seems to work as well. Do a thread search and you will find quite a bit of discussion and useful tips about how to clean after using corrosive primed ammo.

I would run all the primed brass through your gun to pop off the GI primers at one sitting, and then clean it well and be done with the issue. If you load the GI primed brass it should be fine (assuming the primers fire), but you will have the extra hassle of having to clean for corrosive primed ammo each time you fire some of it. Better to get it out of the way before you start loading the cases.

Hope this helps.

keys85 · October 31, 2008, 01:36 AM

Case necks may crack. I had this happen to me with old GI brass. I read somewhere that over time...something, or something...and the brass gets more brittle with age - but this might have pertained to loaded, crimped brass with tension on the case necks.

In any case, I would suggest annealing them.

cnjaxx · October 31, 2008, 07:58 AM

Lake city brass is outstanding stuff. After it is swaged, you reload them a lot, because it is thicker than commercial brass.

It is important to note, that because of the bulkier construction of military brass, the case capacity is diminished. I reduce the published loads by 10%.

wncchester · October 31, 2008, 08:57 AM

"A friend gave me a good deal on some old LC once fired brass."

The brass is excellant stuff. Obviously, you don't need to worry about corrosive primers in once fired brass.

It appears that stress cracking of necks occurs to some lots of stored, loaded GI ammo that were insuficenlty annealed due to war time production demands. Never heard of that from the Lake City arsenal ammo tho. I still have a few boxes of WWII cases from '42 and it works fine.

It can be difficult to remove those crimped primers. I find the Lee Universal Decapper to be plenty strong enough to do the job without damage to the pin. And it's a nice tool to have around anyway so the cost is well justified for some of us, especially if we have a lot of GI ammo to decap.

The "best" way to remove the GI primer crimps is with an RCBS Pocket Swaging Tool but only because it's so easy and fast. Lyman's Primer Pocket Reamers are easy too and plenty fast enough for me, and the price is right!

GI brass is slightly thicker and heavier than most commercial stuff but the difference is small. The added safety of the brass itself maans it's unlikely to cause any problems if the loads are sane. But approach book maximums cautiously anyway.

Doug Bowser · October 31, 2008, 05:22 PM

If the brass is factory primed, fired and made before 1953, I would not use it for full loads. If brass is fired with corrosive primers, it weakens the brass. Any USGI ammo with a date before 1953 should be treated as corrosive, except .30 carbine. It is also possible to get the corrosive salts in the barrel by using brass that has been fired with corrosive priming, then reloaded and fired in the rifle or pistol.

Season cracking of brass is caused by improper storage. When the temperature is widely variable the bullet expands and contracts causing the brass to become work hardened. Thus the cracks. I have seen a LOT of WW1 ammo that have season cracks. This is why ammo is usually stored underground at the same temperature. The ammo at Camp Perry was always stored underground.

Doug Bowser

October 22, 2008, 10:29 PM	#1
Super-Glock26 Junior Member Join Date: June 27, 2007 Posts: 3	Old Lake City 30-06 brass A friend gave me a good deal on some old LC once fired brass. Some from the 50's, also some SL53, St.Louis Ordence, from 1953? It looks good and appears to have the original primers still in them. The brass should still be ok to reload, should'nt it? Any thoughts??

October 22, 2008, 10:38 PM	#2
closetgunnut Member Join Date: January 17, 2008 Location: Western Pa. Posts: 83	You can load LC brass. I have about 1000 pieces myself. The only problem with military brass is the primer crimp. You have to remove the crimp before you can reprime them. I use a RCBS swager but others use a camfer or reamer tool. A couple twists of the reamer and the crimp is out. It's a one shot deal. Just don't take too much out. Closet BTW Welcome!!! __________________ "I no longer have an assault rifle; I have a Jihadi Paradise Facilitator." -- Andy Anderson "There's no drug test for stupid."

October 22, 2008, 11:47 PM	#3
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,818	I have been using this kind of brass since the 1970s Witrh some of the same dates and arsenal codes. The brass is good (unless it has been stored badly and corroded) and can be used many times with care. As noted. it has crimped in primers, and needs the one time crimp removal done before reloading. If I were you, due to the age, mostly, I would pop off the GI primers (just to be sure), and remember that 1950s era GI primers are most likely corrosive. This means that the primer residue contains chemical salts that will attract moisture and hold it against the steel of your gun, causing rust in fairly short order. Clean those areas exposed to primer residue with soapy water to dissolve the residue, clean and dry, then clean with normal solvent and all will be well. Some people use Windex instead of soapy water, and it seems to work as well. Do a thread search and you will find quite a bit of discussion and useful tips about how to clean after using corrosive primed ammo. I would run all the primed brass through your gun to pop off the GI primers at one sitting, and then clean it well and be done with the issue. If you load the GI primed brass it should be fine (assuming the primers fire), but you will have the extra hassle of having to clean for corrosive primed ammo each time you fire some of it. Better to get it out of the way before you start loading the cases. Hope this helps. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

October 31, 2008, 05:22 PM	#7
Doug Bowser Senior Member Join Date: May 6, 2005 Posts: 163	Brass If the brass is factory primed, fired and made before 1953, I would not use it for full loads. If brass is fired with corrosive primers, it weakens the brass. Any USGI ammo with a date before 1953 should be treated as corrosive, except .30 carbine. It is also possible to get the corrosive salts in the barrel by using brass that has been fired with corrosive priming, then reloaded and fired in the rifle or pistol. Season cracking of brass is caused by improper storage. When the temperature is widely variable the bullet expands and contracts causing the brass to become work hardened. Thus the cracks. I have seen a LOT of WW1 ammo that have season cracks. This is why ammo is usually stored underground at the same temperature. The ammo at Camp Perry was always stored underground. Doug Bowser

October 31, 2008, 01:36 AM	#4
keys85 Junior member Join Date: September 20, 2008 Posts: 199	Case necks may crack. I had this happen to me with old GI brass. I read somewhere that over time...something, or something...and the brass gets more brittle with age - but this might have pertained to loaded, crimped brass with tension on the case necks. In any case, I would suggest annealing them.

October 31, 2008, 07:58 AM	#5
cnjaxx Member Join Date: February 24, 2008 Location: Cowpens SC Posts: 79	Lake city brass is outstanding stuff. After it is swaged, you reload them a lot, because it is thicker than commercial brass. It is important to note, that because of the bulkier construction of military brass, the case capacity is diminished. I reduce the published loads by 10%.

October 31, 2008, 08:57 AM	#6
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	"A friend gave me a good deal on some old LC once fired brass." The brass is excellant stuff. Obviously, you don't need to worry about corrosive primers in once fired brass. It appears that stress cracking of necks occurs to some lots of stored, loaded GI ammo that were insuficenlty annealed due to war time production demands. Never heard of that from the Lake City arsenal ammo tho. I still have a few boxes of WWII cases from '42 and it works fine. It can be difficult to remove those crimped primers. I find the Lee Universal Decapper to be plenty strong enough to do the job without damage to the pin. And it's a nice tool to have around anyway so the cost is well justified for some of us, especially if we have a lot of GI ammo to decap. The "best" way to remove the GI primer crimps is with an RCBS Pocket Swaging Tool but only because it's so easy and fast. Lyman's Primer Pocket Reamers are easy too and plenty fast enough for me, and the price is right! GI brass is slightly thicker and heavier than most commercial stuff but the difference is small. The added safety of the brass itself maans it's unlikely to cause any problems if the loads are sane. But approach book maximums cautiously anyway.