Striped Brass

Theo · December 17, 1999, 05:17 PM

While cleaning up the range after taking a tactical course I came across around 400 empty casses of 223 brass. The brass had a sooty stripe pattern spaced evenly around the cartrage. The brass looked great otherwise. I thought it was a great find as I'm getting into reloading, however when I asked someone at the local gun store about the stripe pattern he said that it was probally fired in a gun with a fluted chamber (like some HKs) and that he thought that it made the brass unsuitable for reloading.

I haven't done anything with it yet.

Has anyone else heard of anything like this?

LongDuck · December 17, 1999, 06:47 PM

What you described is H&K fired brass. I have a pile of .308 brass which has the same markings from the fluted chamber, and have *heard* that it reloads just fine after trimming, polishing, sizing, etc... I haven't reloaded any of it myself.

The flutes are to aid in extraction of the casing after firing, and the effect is certainly 'interesting'. Let us know if you resize any of this. It was probably fired in an HK93 or maybe a G36 if you're near police/military shooters. Take care,

Fred · December 17, 1999, 07:01 PM

Striped bass, huh? Sure, used to catch them back East. What??? Oh, you said "brass". Never mind.

------------------
Regards - AZFred

dundee · December 17, 1999, 10:51 PM

a fellow shooter has a HK that "stripes" the brass like you describe. Reloading it is no problem, the brass is not affected, we just tumble the brass to remove the carbon stripes before it gets resized. The HK's do mangle brass by severely denting the case mouth's.

TEXAS LAWMAN · December 18, 1999, 07:13 AM

Used to get 7.62NATO & 5.56NATO (.308Win & .223 Rem) brass from a city police firing range in West Texas--rangemaster (Sgt.) couldn't seem to 'make' the Air Force captains pickup the cases they had just fired. Jail trustees 'policed' the range and I was the recipient of boxes of brass. After decapping, I tumbled/reloaded/fired the cases without problems.

Paul B. · December 18, 1999, 01:18 PM

Theo. I got a bunch from the range myself, several years back. I too was told they were no good for reloading. Well, I tried loading them. I got about 10 loads each, on the average, with full power hunting loads. Clean them up, load them up, and have fun. Watch the necks for cracking along the flute lines, otherwise they're fine.
Paul B.

December 17, 1999, 05:17 PM	#1
Theo Member Join Date: March 13, 1999 Location: Kingsport,TN,USA Posts: 22	While cleaning up the range after taking a tactical course I came across around 400 empty casses of 223 brass. The brass had a sooty stripe pattern spaced evenly around the cartrage. The brass looked great otherwise. I thought it was a great find as I'm getting into reloading, however when I asked someone at the local gun store about the stripe pattern he said that it was probally fired in a gun with a fluted chamber (like some HKs) and that he thought that it made the brass unsuitable for reloading. I haven't done anything with it yet. Has anyone else heard of anything like this?

December 17, 1999, 06:47 PM	#2
LongDuck Member Join Date: September 15, 1999 Posts: 97	What you described is H&K fired brass. I have a pile of .308 brass which has the same markings from the fluted chamber, and have heard that it reloads just fine after trimming, polishing, sizing, etc... I haven't reloaded any of it myself. The flutes are to aid in extraction of the casing after firing, and the effect is certainly 'interesting'. Let us know if you resize any of this. It was probably fired in an HK93 or maybe a G36 if you're near police/military shooters. Take care,

December 17, 1999, 07:01 PM	#3
Fred Senior Member Join Date: November 3, 1998 Location: CA Posts: 465	Striped bass, huh? Sure, used to catch them back East. What??? Oh, you said "brass". Never mind. ------------------ Regards - AZFred

December 17, 1999, 10:51 PM	#4
dundee Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 1998 Location: mytown,mi,usa Posts: 162	a fellow shooter has a HK that "stripes" the brass like you describe. Reloading it is no problem, the brass is not affected, we just tumble the brass to remove the carbon stripes before it gets resized. The HK's do mangle brass by severely denting the case mouth's.

December 18, 1999, 07:13 AM	#5
TEXAS LAWMAN Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 1999 Posts: 304	Used to get 7.62NATO & 5.56NATO (.308Win & .223 Rem) brass from a city police firing range in West Texas--rangemaster (Sgt.) couldn't seem to 'make' the Air Force captains pickup the cases they had just fired. Jail trustees 'policed' the range and I was the recipient of boxes of brass. After decapping, I tumbled/reloaded/fired the cases without problems.

December 18, 1999, 01:18 PM	#6
Paul B. Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 1999 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 3,802	Theo. I got a bunch from the range myself, several years back. I too was told they were no good for reloading. Well, I tried loading them. I got about 10 loads each, on the average, with full power hunting loads. Clean them up, load them up, and have fun. Watch the necks for cracking along the flute lines, otherwise they're fine. Paul B.