Buying once-fired brass; is this normal?

[HaveGun]

Got desperate for some .40 S&W brass and found an outfit in Iowa that advertised once-fired range brass, tumbled and polished, mixed headstamps, $40 for 1000.

Only other such brass I've bought was from the local range and it was truly once-fired Winchester casings, tumbled and polished, $33 per 600. From the local police quals.

I had great luck with the stuff I bought locally (unfortunately no longer available) so I thought I'd try some online. Well, it arrived today.

I knew it was marked as "mixed headstamps" but figured that just mean't like 3-4 different manufacturers.

So far, I have found 14 different configurations of brass and quite a bit of nickel cases thrown in . Some of these I have never heard of. So far, a few deformed case mouths, but since I have to de-prime them, they will be re-sized and repaired anyway.

Outfit was called Nortwest Iowa Brass, and while it's OK, not sure I will go that route again and just hold out for new brass. What they sent will work, and will be my emergency reserve, but not overly impressed with it.

Is that many different headstamps common when buying this sort of stuff?

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[ma96782]

FYI....(in Hawaii) at the police range.....the empty brass container is full of mfns from all over.

Guys would bring in their "old" ammo to shoot at qualifications. Not to mention that the PD would buy the cheapest practice ammo that they could. The specialized units got pleanty of the more expensive stuff to shoot. But can you tell it apart? A Federal headstamp is a Federal headstamp.

Of course....there was recycled civilian brass thrown in too.

It all got sold to a recycle place anyway.

Me.....I wouldn't worry about it. It's for practice ammo. Rrrrright?

Aloha, Mark

 

[RVTECH]

Is that many different headstamps common when buying this sort of stuff?

I suspect all you are buying is range pickup which will no doubt be mixed.

Other than one 50 round bag of new .30-30 brass many years ago All of my reloading, all my life has been done with pickup brass (or the rare few boxes of loaded ammo I have bought) and while sometimes I stumble across several hundred rounds of 'common' brass it is typically the same brand as the shooter most likely had several boxes of the same ammo, but regardless it just gets thrown in with the 1000s of others I have of the same caliber.

 

[41mag]

back when I used to collect 'typical local range-run brass' for my personal use, there was an astounding variety of headstamps....unless I lucked out and hit the bay just after some LEO function. Then it really WAS 'once fired' and rarely needed much polishing etc. Over the years I grew tired of 40 S&W in my normal use as it added more calibers, with one of them (guess which) not actually filling my needs very well.

Further spec testing showed me I didn't really NEED the performance of the 40 S&W in my own range games, so I just quit reloading for it. And for some reason, I could count on my 9mm scoring more hits on steel, in less time, than any load/recipe/platform I used, than the 40. And then suddenly I discovered my 10mm revolver did a far better job on the bowling pins, so another reason to leave out reloading for 40.

I'm not arguing any other use such as SD or LEO etc, just *my* use on *my* range games, in relation to cost/effort/time/results using 9mm for the same games. Or 10mm. Somewhere along the line I had to conserve my precious bodily fluids...... uhhnnn, "time"....

 

[Member 5605]

Sounds reasonable.

Should be good for what... 20-40 reloads?

 

[Alexx1401]

Got desperate for some .40 S&W brass and found an outfit in Iowa that advertised once-fired range brass, tumbled and polished, mixed headstamps, $40 for 1000.

Only other such brass I've bought was from the local range and it was truly once-fired Winchester casings, tumbled and polished, $33 per 600. From the local police quals.

I had great luck with the stuff I bought locally (unfortunately no longer available) so I thought I'd try some online. Well, it arrived today.

I knew it was marked as "mixed headstamps" but figured that just mean't like 3-4 different manufacturers.

So far, I have found 14 different configurations of brass and quite a bit of nickel cases thrown in . Some of these I have never heard of. So far, a few deformed case mouths, but since I have to de-prime them, they will be re-sized and repaired anyway.

Outfit was called Nortwest Iowa Brass, and while it's OK, not sure I will go that route again and just hold out for new brass. What they sent will work, and will be my emergency reserve, but not overly impressed with it.

Is that many different headstamps common when buying this sort of stuff?

View attachment 782396

When you buy brass sold as range pick up there is zero way to know what they are sending. If you can confirm the range is one where shooters have to buy their ammo at the range, and can not pick up their own brass, then you could be somewhat sure. If it's just "range pick up" there is of course no way to know if it's once fired or not. Just watch it closely as you use it. Since it is cleaned it will be a LOT easier to look for bad ones.

 

[JuglansRegia]

Mixed headstamp is mixed headstamp, Its worse with 9mm

If you want the same headstamp you need to pay extra. I have had good luck with brassmanbrass

 

[HaveGun]

A fellow on another gun board replied to my thread about having to order range brass offered to send me his collection of scavenged .40 S&W range brass for free. Said it was a few pounds worth and he has no use for it. I told him I would reimburse him for shipping and include a signed copy of my book for his trouble. Some pretty good folks on gun forums.

 

[BigDog67]

What's your beef with nickel cases? I wish ALL my stuff was nickel.

 

[AMT]

40 is 40. Meh, whoopie. Who cares about headstamps on 40? Now, what gets me is when I'm trudging along and running into small-primers and large-primers, and messing up my rythm.

Good one you for finding a decent deal on brass in these times.

 

[gmerkt]

Shooting pistol in a non-target mode, non-target caliber, shooting result won't be noticeable for most users.

The downside may be in the technicals of reloading. Mostly having to do with thickness of the brass at the mouth where the bullet seats.

 

[Nwcid]

I guess it depends on your expectations and planned use.

I do not think I have ever looked at a head stamp on any piece of pistol brass/nickel I have ever reloaded. I have never sorted by head stamp, age, use, etc, only by caliber.

Obviously I do toss any that have obvious defects that would effect safety.

 

[HaveGun]

What's your beef with nickel cases? I wish ALL my stuff was nickel.

I've ran into issues with nickel flaking off on .45 Colt cases and scoring my die. I typically only load nickel cases with defense or hot loads in .45 Colt so it's an easy visual indicator to keep them out of my Colt Peacemaker clone. Might have something to do with it.

Haven't noticed the issue in 9mm or .40 S&W loads.

 

[bzltyr]

Just curious. I have once fired brass i was going to send off for credit. Some shops Windsor. I'm looking at credit or selling. Any ideas?

 

[Helocat]

Got desperate for some .40 S&W brass and found an outfit in Iowa that advertised once-fired range brass, tumbled and polished, mixed headstamps, $40 for 1000.

Only other such brass I've bought was from the local range and it was truly once-fired Winchester casings, tumbled and polished, $33 per 600. From the local police quals.

I had great luck with the stuff I bought locally (unfortunately no longer available) so I thought I'd try some online. Well, it arrived today.

I knew it was marked as "mixed headstamps" but figured that just mean't like 3-4 different manufacturers.

So far, I have found 14 different configurations of brass and quite a bit of nickel cases thrown in . Some of these I have never heard of. So far, a few deformed case mouths, but since I have to de-prime them, they will be re-sized and repaired anyway.

Outfit was called Nortwest Iowa Brass, and while it's OK, not sure I will go that route again and just hold out for new brass. What they sent will work, and will be my emergency reserve, but not overly impressed with it.

Is that many different headstamps common when buying this sort of stuff?

View attachment 782396

Mixed is mixed for sure. Just as long as no crimped military is in a Mixed purchase its all normal. Of course with .40 no military so its what one could get.

What's your beef with nickel cases? I wish ALL my stuff was nickel.

Ni brass gets all the benefits of a harder surface to load and eject better, + extra corrosion resistance. Ok and its cool looking too. BUT all positives will have the negatives and the harder serfeces dont like to be worked like regular brass. Its more prone to cracking over time and usually can not be reloaded as much as a plain brass case.

I reload Ni all the time but do keep a closer eye out for split cases.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I've sold tens of thousands of mixed headstamp brass in most popular calibers with no complaints (always ad extra cases) but I do sort & keep the good brass & sell the rest.

 

[jayR]

watch out for Lesters head stamps.