[Smokey Joe]

I've fired brass dented by having too much lube on the shoulder when FL sized--the only result is that the brass gets ironed back out to where it should be. Ditto brass that has collected various handling dents in the side of the case. Exactly how badly dented is too badly dented?? That's a good question.

Clearly, any case that you have trouble chambering is too dented. Any case where the shoulder is mostly bent in is too dented. I worry less about the case's sidewall than about the shoulder because that's where the case headspaces. My advice would be to err on the side of caution--no saved brass is worth an eye, or even worth harming your rifle.

Agree w/Capt. Razor, accuracy won't be perfect, but in a milsurp rifle that isn't the biggest consideration.

As to powder, again, err on the side of caution: ANY UNIDENTIFIED OR MIXED POWDER IS FERTILIZER. Period.

Primers can be removed from brass in a single-stage reloading press, but the brass has to fit into the die. You just resize the case as normal, but VERY slowly and carefully. Wear ear/eye/hand protection. I would not re-use the old primers--cancel 'em with a hammer; there's no quick and quiet way to make them non-explosive; primers are so cheap why take any chances.

You can resize and reload the usable cases as usual after firing. As old milsurp brass, I'd keep a close eye on it for cracked necks; discard at the first sign of a crack. You can reload the pulled bullets, using modern data for that same size/style/weight of bullet, and modern primers and powder.

To recycle the reject brass, the stuff that won't even fit into a resizing die, you will probably have to detonate the primers to get a recycler to accept them. I do this with eye/ear/hand protection, put each case in the vise, and hit the primer with a hammer and a nail-set or a small punch. Noisy, putzy, but effective. Recycle brass is worth a little $$ if you accumulate a few pounds at least.