Reloading range brass

[Warbirds]

What are your opinions about reloading brass picked up off a public range? Yea.. No way?

I work as a RSO at a local range and while I work I get the chance to pick up a lot of brass. Right now I divide it into two groups. The brass that I pick up knowing that it came from a reliable manufacturer and run through a gun in good working order and the "other stuff" I find laying around. I see no issue in reloading the brass I saw fired and plan on recycling the "other" for cash.

Other RSOs I work with have no issue reloading the "other" brass but I don't know if it is the best practice.

Thoughts?

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[Dave in Colorado]

I have been picking up range brass for more years than I can count. I have only had 2 or 3 problems in thousands of rounds. Before you clean it take a look. Look for signs of pressure or having been reloaded several times. If you see signs like that throw it away. Also when your priming it, if the primer pocket has been enlarged get rid of that brass also. If there is any question in your mind that the brass is no good don't reload it. However it cuts reloading costs.

Just my 2 cents worth

 

[jimster]

Used to reload and share ammo with my friend. My ammo would not fit in his gun as his chamber was at the low end of specs and mine at the high end. He could chamber it with effort but it would not eject. Don't use it if it not from the same gun.

 

[Warbirds]

Used to reload and share ammo with my friend. My ammo would not fit in his gun as his chamber was at the low end of specs and mine at the high end. He could chamber it with effort but it would not eject. Don't use it if it not from the same gun.

Were you resizing your brass or just the neck?

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[jimster]

Just resized the neck. It was 50 years ago and I was but a youngster didn't even think about till you said something. I will retain this infor for future use. Thanks

 

[Kalamity023]

A semi-automatic firearm has a larger throat in the chamber than other actions. This expands the case neck larger when firing than a bolt gun etc. If you use a small base reloading die any brass will be re-sized down to the correct tolerances for either, and should guarantee no trouble if using range brass. Now I haven't loaded many rounds yet as I just started a month ago. However, what I have loaded has had no issues and it's all been a mix of range brass.

 

[Warbirds]

A semi-automatic firearm has a larger throat in the chamber than other actions. This expands the case neck larger when firing than a bolt gun etc. If you use a small base reloading die any brass will be re-sized down to the correct tolerances for either, and should guarantee no trouble if using range brass. Now I haven't loaded many rounds yet as I just started a month ago. However, what I have loaded has had no issues and it's all been a mix of range brass.

It is more an issue that when you fire a round in a gun the brass is fire formed to that specific chamber which allows you to resize the neck and use it again in the same gun. But It may not fIt In other guns. That works very well in a bolt action.

A semi auto depends on looser tolerances for the brass to feed reliably.

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[wizard]

As long as the brass I P/U is fairly clean and shows no signs of abuse I reload it. Most brass I find is from people who don't reload and just leave it lay. Meaning it is once fired factory brass!

 

[golocx4]

My re-loading mentor taught me.
Pick up case, Inspect. before each and every process and then again with the finished round.
Split brass, bad seated primers, poor or no crimp, and on and on.
Not the fastest process in the world but it is about quality and safety.

 

[RustyNut]

I've been doing it for years also. I do use a depriming die to remove primers, gives you a good idea if the pockets are still tight.

 

[wizrd]

Know what to look for -- the only brass I ever leave at the range is old & too tired to reload again.

 

[NotTwoShure]

Inspect, tumble/vibrate/clean, inspect. Two weeks ago, while at the range, a young couple with brand new .40 S&W Glock shot quite a bit. Before the shooting started, I walked over, introduced the grandkids and myself, chatted about the necessity for us to communicate our desires to go down-range and that sort of thing. I asked if they saved their brass and they asked why? I said, well, I should not tell you but you may reload the stuff. They said why and I discussed this with them. They were not interested and we picked the brass up. Just a little story. As stated in prior posts here, Inspect.

 

[wizrd]

Know what to look for -- the only brass I ever leave at the range is old & too tired to reload again.

I should have added, I pick up my brass & leave it in a trash cans or proper receptacles. Pick up after yourself, leave the range or shooting area cleaner than you found it. An area on state land, near here I live, where a lot of people used to practice now has signs prohibiting shooting, because of the slobs who left all their crap their littering up the place.Link Removed

 

[NotTwoShure]

I should have added, I pick up my brass & leave it in a trash cans or proper receptacles. Pick up after yourself, leave the range or shooting area cleaner than you found it. An area on state land, near here I live, where a lot of people used to practice now has signs prohibiting shooting, because of the slobs who left all their crap their littering up the place.Link Removed

Very good, the last time we went to the City/County range, a few weeks ago, one person left all sorts of garbage, after they left we, grandkids and I, cleaned up after them. It is good to leave an area better than found and you may pick up a few extra rounds of brass and much more. Good post.

 

[JohnD13]

I've collected range brass for years. Inspect it, save what I load, and pass along what I don't need. Lately though there seems to be a lot less being left behind. The shortages must be encouraging people to take up reloading, or maybe it's the scrap value.

 

[gunnerbob]

When I go to an outdoor range I pick up everything that still passes my initial inspection, I'll wait for people to leave or take a break in the shooting and pick their's up if they don't want it. I even pick up steel cases for their eventual scrap value. At the indoor ranges... I only pick up what I bought and fired.

 

[Selah13]

This is all good info. I just purchased 2,000 rnds of 5.56 brass from a LEO who picks up range brass. I checked it all, tumbled and checked again. Other than 20 rnds of steel that was mixed in it all looks good- and gave me a good start on restarting my reloading for the first time in many years.

 

[thru]

don't forget to look for military crimps on the edges of the primer pockets, and to deburr the case mouths. Does anyone make Berdan priming for 5.56? They sure do for 9mm, gotta watch out for that!

 

[jcreek]

I love range brass. Sweep it all up, sort it by caliber, dump the .22 and steel, and then clean it all. After that I go through and check for pressure signs. Usually only about 2% of it is unusable but I usually end up tossing about 5-10% of it into the scrap bin just to be safe. I've never had any kinda of case failure and usually get at least 6-7 reloads out of it.

 

[aviator]

Using a depriming die to check the pockets is a good idea. I use range brass as well but inspect the cases closely before use. For the rifle brass, I would always use a full length resizer but once I've shot it, I would be fine with neck sizing. I don't use enough rifle brass to justify a neck sizer for each caliber though. In fact, the only neck sizing die I have is a lee for the 7mm-08 Rem which I'm going to use for resizing .308 brass.