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Old March 16, 2013, 07:56 PM   #1
sigshepardo
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Once Fired Brass: Never Let Your Guard Down

I went to a gun show a while back and found a old man selling reloading supplies. I asked him if he had any .45 ACP large primer brass. So he gave me 4 bags of 250 once fired brass. I quickly inspected the brass and paid the man.

Tonight I decided to put all that brass in with the rest of my stock. Upon closer inspection I saw a couple of small primer cases in with the rest. So I had to go through all four bags and inspect every case. Turns out he even sold me about 250 .40 S&W cases and about 30 small primer .45 ACP cases. So at the end of the day I only got about 730 large primer .45 cases.

Moral of the story, don't ever let your guard down when buying reloading components like this. I wasn't careful enough and got ripped off.
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Old March 16, 2013, 08:36 PM   #2
lamarw
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I feel for you and have had similar experiences but not to such a large degree.

Brass is at a premium right now, and depending upon the price you paid may determine how badly you were ripped. The last thousand .45 ACP I bought was around 80 bucks including shipping cost. I have encountered about forty small primers in the five to six hundred I have reloaded.

It seems the onset of small primers in .45 will become even a larger headache for both sellers and buyers. I think we would all like to have a piece of the SOB who started the episode of small primers in .45 brass.
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Old March 16, 2013, 09:02 PM   #3
Lemmon
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Was he grinning when you walked away from his table after you gave him your hard earned cash. I have been duped a few times myself........

Lemmon from Rural South Carolina....
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Old March 16, 2013, 09:37 PM   #4
kilimanjaro
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I have heard enough stories about 'once-fired' brass at shows, that I will never buy it. I'll buy it from a friend, not a dealer. Don't trust 'em, sorry about that, but how it is.
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Old March 16, 2013, 09:56 PM   #5
medalguy
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If it's pistol brass it probably doesn't matter if it's really once fired or not. I don't track how many times I reload my brass, but I have some .45 brass that I can't even read the headstamp any more it's been reloaded so many times. You're probably going to lose the brass before you wear it out.
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Old March 17, 2013, 12:01 AM   #6
A pause for the COZ
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Usually when I get once fired 45 brass. If its range pick ups I expect some small primer pocket ones. and my offer reflects that knowledge.
Some places will hand pick them for you, but you pay for that service.
I have a few hundred in a big baggie, that I will reload when going some where I wont collect my brass. or I may trade it.

I almost always get a few 40's in the mix. 250 is allot though. How old were his eyes? May be he couldn't tell.

I am glad I got all the pistol brass I want when I could find it for 500 shipped for $35
I have seen what some of these yah hoos are asking now.

Worst I have done so far was being desperate for 303 brass. I purchased 200 off the web as once fired. What he meant was once fired past the last time I should have reloaded it.

Oh well have won more than I have lost.
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Old March 17, 2013, 12:58 AM   #7
lll Otto lll
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Quote:
Moral of the story...I wasn't careful enough and got ripped off.
At gun shows, stick with the beef jerky, fake Nazi memorabilia and expired MRE's.
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Old March 17, 2013, 11:49 AM   #8
RC20
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I would not get all that excited about it.

You buys your tickets and youse takes your chances, thats why its a lot less money. If you paid full boat then.......

Its buyer beware and willing to take your lumps (the stuff could have been 20 fired for all anyone knows).

I would say you let yourself be had. If you got 700 some good once fired cases out of it then you came out a lot further ahead than you could have.
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Old March 17, 2013, 12:42 PM   #9
PawPaw
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Quote:
At gun shows, stick with the beef jerky, fake Nazi memorabilia and expired MRE's
.

I didn't know that MREs ever expired.
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Old March 17, 2013, 01:03 PM   #10
chris in va
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I've only expired one MRE at Basic training. That was enough.

But anyway, save those SPP 45's. Sell/give them to someone that loads 9mm, such as myself.
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Old March 17, 2013, 01:08 PM   #11
lamarw
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Chris, Was that expired or once fired? Couldn't help myself~
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Old March 17, 2013, 01:59 PM   #12
david_r
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I would be annoyed if I had purchased that brass sight unseen. Then I would just turn around and sell it on craigslist.

How did you miss that 25% of the cases were 40S&W? The brass was right in front of you.
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Old March 17, 2013, 02:13 PM   #13
Cascade1911
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30 small primer 45's out of 1000 I wouldn't worry too much about. Now, when I bought 1000 pcs from Cheyenne Brass, and got about 160 pcs of small primer..... And then he wanted me to pay shipping back so he could replace them.....after I spent a bunch of time sorting 'em..... I don't do business or recommend Cheyenne Brass.

Now 250 40 s&w? Were they mixed in the four bags or was one bag all 40's?
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Old March 17, 2013, 02:46 PM   #14
CMD-Ky
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I ordered .38 cal brass from Powder Valley. All of it arrived nickel plated with several .32 cal mixed in with the .38's. Fortunately, I inspected them before loading but I was not pleased with the nickel or the 32's.
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Old March 18, 2013, 07:13 PM   #15
smuckie
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Once fired 9mm brass

Any one know where to get some now
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Old June 20, 2013, 03:08 PM   #16
smuckie
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Another dumb question

Anyone have any 44 mag brass collecting dust they would like to get out of the way, just ordered a new Rossi model 92 44 mag and starting to get ready to reload some bigger ammo, thanks
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Old June 20, 2013, 03:46 PM   #17
schmellba99
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Small primer .45 ACP is the debil!

I hate whomever decided that it was a good idea to go and screw up a perfectly good thing. It never fails that when I'm reloading, about 1 out of every 100 will end up being small primer. Stops the press cold and just is a PITA.

I'll have to start inspecting it one of these days before I jump into loading up a bunch - never used to have to worry about it. All small primer .45 ACP goes straight to my scrap bin. I want all of it removed from existence, so I refuse to trade or sell it.
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Old June 20, 2013, 03:54 PM   #18
Live45
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I recently purchased 100 LP .45acp brass from https://www.diamondkbrass.com/home.php They offer the option of tumbling with or without the primers being removed. Being as I'm cheap, I ordered just the regular LP variety and what I got was 102 LP tumbled brass. Really happy as they were $15 per 100. I'll buy from these guys again.
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Old June 20, 2013, 05:43 PM   #19
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Gotta' watch them old geezers like a hawk.
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Old June 20, 2013, 05:48 PM   #20
wpsdlrg
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Maybe you got "ripped off".....and maybe not. Perhaps the "old man" you dealt with just made a mistake. Maybe his eyesight isn't what it used to be (I know how that feels). No matter how careful I am in collecting range brass, which is where I get the vast majority of my 9mm brass, I ALWAYS end up with some 40 cal. cases.....and occasionally, a few 45 acp's in the lot. 40's and 9's are close in size and easy to mistake, if you don't look at every headstamp. Likewise, 40's and 45's can be hard to distinguish from each other. Lastly, I always had difficulty, when I loaded 45 acp, in sorting the LPP and SPP brass - they look so similar and the longer you look at them, the harder it is to tell.

So, just maybe, you were not actually undone by some master swindler....but instead are the "victim" of one (of the many) of us who isn't perfect. Just sayin'......
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Old June 20, 2013, 05:54 PM   #21
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.40 S&W and .45 ACP cases are very easy to get mixed up. They are the same length and nearly the same diameter. When I'm doing range pickups for .45 (I don't shoot .40), I take a .40 S&W case and slide it inside the fired case I've just picked up. If it doesn't slide in, it's a .40 case, and if it does, it's a .45.

In a loose box or bag of fired brass, it'd be nearly impossible to pick out all the .40 brass without examining each round individually.
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Old June 20, 2013, 08:06 PM   #22
DennRN
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I've only broke down and bought one lot of "once fired brass" from a gun show.
All of it was 45 acp, all large primers, and about 8% need to be smashed flat with a hammer and tossed in the scrap bucket. A reloader must have been testing a high pressure load. All his S&B brass had signs of high pressure and one had a split case. Clearly not someone who has heard of getting advice from this awesome forum.

I had to go through the rest of the brass under magnification and even feel inside each case with a probe before I was willing to use the other headstamps. Totally not worth the effort.

If you have to resort to buying your brass once fired, get them directly from a local range. Most ranges give discounted range time with ammo or reloading purchases anyway. Make it a point to get to know the guys who do the brass shoveling.

The range counter guy at my LGS always gives me a discount because I'm either buying supplies or telling him I want to but he doesn't have any of the good stuff in stock =)
The range officers there sweep any brass in my vicinity straight back and let me know they are going to bucket soon, so I can pick through it before they move it away. Even though I don't have to buy brass there, I know through that they sort with screens and again by hand to box by headstamp. Since I also know that they only carry a few brands of 45 or 9, I can ensure that a vast majority of THOSE headstamps are actually only once fired factory loads.
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Old June 20, 2013, 11:40 PM   #23
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How much did you pay? $50 to $60 per 1000 is the norm in Vegas. 730 cases of pistol brass should be good for about 25,000 loads.
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Old June 21, 2013, 07:47 AM   #24
g.willikers
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An easy check to see if brass is truly once fired is to count the marks from the extractor around the rim area.
There should only be one - yes?
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Old June 21, 2013, 10:00 AM   #25
jcwit
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Have always wondered what the big deal was regarding "Once Fired Brass". Who cares, you get it home and process it ant fire it and guess what, it twice fired, furthermore if its handgun it makes little difference.

Sorta like bread, buy it fresh in the store and the next morning its a day old.
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