Thoughts on purchase of brass

pctechdude · November 27, 2014, 12:10 AM

So this is the first time I've ventured outside of my normal company for brass. Specifically 223 brass. The place I normally go to is fairly cheap 250 pieces for 12 bucks.

However it's all mixed crimped and non crimped all makes, so I ventured out looking for places selling a specific or single batch of brass.

Came across brassman brass, they had 500 count of R-P brass, $49.00. I've used R-P 223 brass for my target loads, worked well so I went ahead put down my money and placed the order.

Brass came today, started looking at it, found out had some non R-P crimped brass in it, plus a single 9mm case and a 40 case.

With the picture attached showing the ratio would you complain? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Mainly I'm trying to skimp on having to remove primer crimps...I know lazy right lol

LE-28 · November 27, 2014, 07:09 AM

I'm so used to prepping all the brass I buy or pick up that I wouldn't consider not prepping it, even if was supposed to be sorted brass.

That's the world of reloading. Don't trust any brass that is new to you and make all your brass what you want it to be.

Even new brass gets a good looking over for defects and length and trimmed if necessary.

That's just my opinion.

Jim243 · November 27, 2014, 08:42 AM

Quote:

With the picture attached showing the ratio would you complain? I would love to hear your thoughts

No, I would not complain one or two bad cases even 5 would not get me upset.

When a seller of brass puts together a batch, they do it by weight not by count, often you will get some extra brass this way, some times a few cases less.

However, they should have sorted the brass by head stamp and military cases (crimped) should NOT have been in the package sent to you.

For the price they charged you (10 cents a case) they should have done a better job. I would not have payed more than 5 cents a case ($5.00 per 100) for brass of unknown quality (class 3 brass), but I haven't purchased 223 cases in over 5 years and those were at a gun show where the quality is of unknown origin.

Clean these up and check them out for cracked necks and damage. You should be able to get free cases at the range from new shooters and from those shooters that do not reload. (I always do) Recover all the brass that you shoot and those of others, after a while you will have more brass than you can possible reload, I am sitting on over 2,000 empty brass cases of 223/5.56.

Good luck, stay safe and shoot straight.
Jim

pctechdude · November 27, 2014, 05:37 PM

One thing I will say is 99% of the crimped brass they sent were federal cartridge and they are once fired, they still have the blue sealer on the case and primer.

But I do agree on cleaning them and will do so.

My normal purchase of brass is just shy of 5¢ a case, usually a mix of FC, WCC, LC, and PMC head stamps. I always sort them.

One thing I've found so far is the load I use has performed great in all firearms I've tried regardless of the brass used.

A 55gr fmj or 55gr vmax cci small rifle primer and 25.4gr 8208 xbr. With the vmax's in 9 different types semi, bolt, single shot all .5" groups at a hundred yards.

jepp2 · November 27, 2014, 07:57 PM

Quote:

With the picture attached showing the ratio would you complain? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Mainly I'm trying to skimp on having to remove primer crimps...I know lazy right lol

When you buy 223 brass, expect to get some crimped primers. So you ordered 500 X ? of R-P brass. How many rounds of R-P brass did you receive? Most sellers send some extras to cover damaged or off brand brass. If the extras are the crimped brass you don't have a legitimate claim IMHO.

For 223 brass I tend to favor LC, and would rather get crimped primers so I know it is once fired. Removing the crimp is just part of first time processing. For the best 5.56 LC brass I have found comes from BrassBrombers.com. Not associated with them, but strongly favor their brass.

frogo207 · November 27, 2014, 10:13 PM

Well As a rule I will deprime and run my 223 brass through my CH4D primer pocket swage setup without checking much of anything automatically as it is faster than sorting by head stamp or culling by need to be swaged. Then I clean with SS pins and inspect for defects, size/length check and chamfer the neck inside.I will always do this as it is what I consider case prep for this round.

I have not had to purchase 223/5.56 brass for 25 years at least as there is plenty laying around on the ground where I shoot.

sevt_chevelle · November 28, 2014, 09:30 AM

Ouch,
And to think the 45 bucks I pay per thousand for LC brass is high. I don't think I would complain but I sure would find a new supplier, but that might be kinda hard if all you want is commercial non crimped brass.

I prefer military brass cause with the crimp in place I KNOW it's once fired. I don't separate the brass either, it all goes through the Dillon 600, faster to swag it all then to sort.

Marco Califo · November 28, 2014, 11:31 AM

Quote:

I prefer military brass cause with the crimp in place I KNOW it's once fired.

^^^TRUE^^^
And you can pay a little extra to have the crimp professionally removed.
And and all the cases are the same. This place sells LC 5.56 recovered from US military.
http://www.gibrass.com/
5.56mm NATO Just in: Recent shipment, once-fired, mostly LC, some WCC and FC;
(223) some SAWS (M249) brass, mixed dates. Decent brass, but a little
dirty, but serviceable.
Add $25/M to polish and process primer pocket.
Ttl Qty: 100 500 1M 5M
$ Cost: $15 $60 $100/M $475/5M

I never buy range pickup, which many people sell as "once fired". Such brass should be labelled as "At least once fired, and no one wanted to pick it up."
The value / correct price for that brass is FREE.

mikld · November 28, 2014, 01:15 PM

I'm not sure about the price (I usually don't count pennies for my hobbies), but the ratio is acceptable. In my "once fired" purchases I've gotten very few "shorts" and fewer "odd balls", with the worse batch of 500 I got 5 steel cases and 1 aluminum.

I look at every case I reload; I look for any defects so it's nothing to sort them by headstamp (a snarky answer here would be if yer not energetic enough to check/inspect yer brass, buy factory ammo!). I've purchased a few thousand "once fired" cases from various sources in .223/5.56, 9mm and 45 ACP, and a few .38 Spec. years ago. I consider them as "used" and treat them as such; I inspect them all...

stubbicatt · November 29, 2014, 08:19 AM

Personally for blasting or plinking ammo built in military calibers I prefer the crimp-intact brass, as it is an assurance to me that it is indeed "once fired."

Near as I can tell for many online suppliers "once fired" really means range pick-up brass. In my early days I used to think that brass I found at the range was a freebie, and I used to get quite excited to find it, until I had a case separation in a XTC match at Raton many years ago. Not only was this potentially dangerous, but it ruined that string for that stage of the match.

So for 223 or 308 I like primer crimps, which are easily removed using a Dillon tool.

As for OP's original posting, if I bought what was advertised as "all RP brass" and received something else, I would contact the seller and ask them to make good and deliver what they offered.

November 27, 2014, 12:10 AM	#1
pctechdude Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2013 Posts: 159	Thoughts on purchase of brass So this is the first time I've ventured outside of my normal company for brass. Specifically 223 brass. The place I normally go to is fairly cheap 250 pieces for 12 bucks. However it's all mixed crimped and non crimped all makes, so I ventured out looking for places selling a specific or single batch of brass. Came across brassman brass, they had 500 count of R-P brass, $49.00. I've used R-P 223 brass for my target loads, worked well so I went ahead put down my money and placed the order. Brass came today, started looking at it, found out had some non R-P crimped brass in it, plus a single 9mm case and a 40 case. With the picture attached showing the ratio would you complain? I would love to hear your thoughts. Mainly I'm trying to skimp on having to remove primer crimps...I know lazy right lol

November 27, 2014, 10:13 PM	#6
frogo207 Member Join Date: May 17, 2009 Location: Mount Desert Island MAINE Posts: 19	Well As a rule I will deprime and run my 223 brass through my CH4D primer pocket swage setup without checking much of anything automatically as it is faster than sorting by head stamp or culling by need to be swaged. Then I clean with SS pins and inspect for defects, size/length check and chamfer the neck inside.I will always do this as it is what I consider case prep for this round. I have not had to purchase 223/5.56 brass for 25 years at least as there is plenty laying around on the ground where I shoot. __________________ The west was not won with a registered gun. Don't let our government make us into outlaws. NRA Life Member

November 28, 2014, 01:15 PM	#9
mikld Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: Southern Oregon! Posts: 2,891	I'm not sure about the price (I usually don't count pennies for my hobbies), but the ratio is acceptable. In my "once fired" purchases I've gotten very few "shorts" and fewer "odd balls", with the worse batch of 500 I got 5 steel cases and 1 aluminum. I look at every case I reload; I look for any defects so it's nothing to sort them by headstamp (a snarky answer here would be if yer not energetic enough to check/inspect yer brass, buy factory ammo!). I've purchased a few thousand "once fired" cases from various sources in .223/5.56, 9mm and 45 ACP, and a few .38 Spec. years ago. I consider them as "used" and treat them as such; I inspect them all... __________________ My Anchor is holding fast! I've learned how to stand on my own two knees...

November 27, 2014, 07:09 AM	#2
LE-28 Senior Member Join Date: September 24, 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 759	I'm so used to prepping all the brass I buy or pick up that I wouldn't consider not prepping it, even if was supposed to be sorted brass. That's the world of reloading. Don't trust any brass that is new to you and make all your brass what you want it to be. Even new brass gets a good looking over for defects and length and trimmed if necessary. That's just my opinion.

November 27, 2014, 05:37 PM	#4
pctechdude Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2013 Posts: 159	One thing I will say is 99% of the crimped brass they sent were federal cartridge and they are once fired, they still have the blue sealer on the case and primer. But I do agree on cleaning them and will do so. My normal purchase of brass is just shy of 5¢ a case, usually a mix of FC, WCC, LC, and PMC head stamps. I always sort them. One thing I've found so far is the load I use has performed great in all firearms I've tried regardless of the brass used. A 55gr fmj or 55gr vmax cci small rifle primer and 25.4gr 8208 xbr. With the vmax's in 9 different types semi, bolt, single shot all .5" groups at a hundred yards.

November 28, 2014, 09:30 AM	#7
sevt_chevelle Senior Member Join Date: April 13, 2013 Posts: 324	Ouch, And to think the 45 bucks I pay per thousand for LC brass is high. I don't think I would complain but I sure would find a new supplier, but that might be kinda hard if all you want is commercial non crimped brass. I prefer military brass cause with the crimp in place I KNOW it's once fired. I don't separate the brass either, it all goes through the Dillon 600, faster to swag it all then to sort.

November 29, 2014, 08:19 AM	#10
stubbicatt Senior Member Join Date: September 15, 2007 Posts: 1,707	Personally for blasting or plinking ammo built in military calibers I prefer the crimp-intact brass, as it is an assurance to me that it is indeed "once fired." Near as I can tell for many online suppliers "once fired" really means range pick-up brass. In my early days I used to think that brass I found at the range was a freebie, and I used to get quite excited to find it, until I had a case separation in a XTC match at Raton many years ago. Not only was this potentially dangerous, but it ruined that string for that stage of the match. So for 223 or 308 I like primer crimps, which are easily removed using a Dillon tool. As for OP's original posting, if I bought what was advertised as "all RP brass" and received something else, I would contact the seller and ask them to make good and deliver what they offered.