What cases can be reloaded?

newgunboy

newgunboy

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Sorry if this has already been covered. Just tell me the link in that case.
If not, I am thinking of getting into reloading for a few of my guns and have already started collecting up spent casings at my gun club.
The question is, what casings am I wasting my time picking up? I know brass is the top choice but is it no good if it has a little ding in it, or if the opening has been slightly deformed / bent? Also, what about non-brass casings. I find a lot of 38 spl. and 357 casing in what appears to be aluminum? or stainless steel? Can these be reloaded? How can you tell if it's once used or been reloaded multiple times already?
I guess I ask cause I'm always surprised at how many shell casings are left lying around. I figure maybe they have no value to reloaders?
Thanks for any input you give.
 
As long as they are brass, they can be reloaded. Steel cases are garbage. The 38spl/357 that look to be stainless/aluminum are likely nickel coated brass - very common. Just give them a scratch with something sharp and you will see brass beneath. All can be reloaded.
Small dings are not a problem and can usually be removed when sizing the brass anyway - if it is severely dented or mangled they are garbage. There always seems to be a lot of 38spl brass kicking around, but the 357 is more rare and fetches a pretty fair amount on the EE. Whatever brass you collect, there will always be someone who reloads it and is looking for some.
 
Cases that are shiny like chrome are usually nickle plated brass .Dull grey will be aluminum.
Don't bother with steel or aluminum cases .
Most dents or dings in the case mouth will get smoothed out during resizing.
Since you can't tell how many times a case has been fired you need to give any picked up brass a good once over.
If you see any cracks or bulges toss em out.
 
Just to clear it up if the flash hole is a larger single hole, it is boxer primed... which can be reloaded. If there is three flash holes it is berdan primed which can also be reloaded but needs special tools and is a pain in the.... *&& not really worth it. like the other posters said brass is best.
 
twig_40 said:
Just to clear it up if the flash hole is a larger single hole, it is boxer primed... which can be reloaded. If there is three flash holes it is berdan primed which can also be reloaded but needs special tools and is a pain in the.... *&& not really worth it. like the other posters said brass is best.
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Good point, but there can be just two flash holes as well. (And if you get into some very odd types, just one triangular flash hole. Unlikely to see those on the range, though.)

Bottom line is that anything but one round flash hole dead centre is not really suitable for reloading.
 
newgunboy said:
Thanks for the helpful input. I'll continue picking up brass at the range. Someones waste will hopefully be my gain.:D
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especally true depending on your range, at my range very few ppl seem to reload rifle ammo as i often find boxes of new ammo loaded with spent casings sitting in the garbage can, lots of 30-06, .270,around hunting season....

even found 40 spent .375 H&H mag once and 2 boxes from .375H&H ammo in the trash.

just make sure to inspect all casings you pick up for cracks and your good to go:D

dents and squished case mouths will often smooth off when resized.
 
ATOM said:
Good point, but there can be just two flash holes as well. (And if you get into some very odd types, just one triangular flash hole. Unlikely to see those on the range, though.)

Bottom line is that anything but one round flash hole dead centre is not really suitable for reloading.
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Yeah. I was aware of the corrosive primer problem but haven't figured out how to inspect the primers inside the casings. Is there a special tool for this or just a magnifying glass and lots of patience?
 
newgunboy said:
Yeah. I was aware of the corrosive primer problem but haven't figured out how to inspect the primers inside the casings. Is there a special tool for this or just a magnifying glass and lots of patience?
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just have a bright flashlight and look in the bottom of the case. 1 hole and its good to reload, 2 or 3 small ones and you would need special tools to reload them (IMO not worth it, just toss the case then).

Both kinds are the same to re-load, really the only difference is the method of punching the primer out of the case, hence why you would need special tools.
 
newgunboy said:
Yeah. I was aware of the corrosive primer problem but haven't figured out how to inspect the primers inside the casings. Is there a special tool for this or just a magnifying glass and lots of patience?
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Be aware that the corrosive nature of a primer is not related to its physical form. Most corrosive ammo is now former Warsaw Pact stuff - the 7.62 x 39mm being a classic case; much of the cheap surplus stuff in that calibre now sold is corrosive-primed. However, a lot of corrosive primers were loaded into Boxer-primed (one-hole) cases and a lot of non-corrosive into Berdan (two or three-hole) cases. About the only cartridge I'm pretty sure has never been corrosive-primed is the .30 Carbine.

Rule of thumb is that if it's new North American or Western European, it's probably non-corrosive. The older you get (including Canadian stuff), the more likely it is to be corrosive.

As outoftowner notes, the main difference is that Boxer primers are easy to remove from the case; the Berdan ones require a special tool.
 
Scrap is worth dollars as well if you have enough. I keep old brass for scrap, aluminum and steel has a value as well if you can`t reload it. If it`s free for the picking so much the better.
 
So why can't you reload aluminum?

I swept up some aluminum 9mm cases today and brought it home. Tumbled, resized, decapped, and primed. All seemed okay. I also seated a bullet in an empty resized case and crimped it. Bullet held in pretty good - took a couple of swings in puller before bullet popped out.
 
triplepete said:
So why can't you reload aluminum?

I swept up some aluminum 9mm cases today and brought it home. Tumbled, resized, decapped, and primed. All seemed okay. I also seated a bullet in an empty resized case and crimped it. Bullet held in pretty good - took a couple of swings in puller before bullet popped out.
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Some folks have apparently tried it and it might be good for one or two, but I wouldn't try it simply because it's an unnecessary risk, especially with so much brass lying about. Aluminum just doesn't have the elasticity that brass has. The only aluminum case 9mm I've ever seen is the CCI Blazer and if you look at the headstamp, it's stamped NR for non-reloadable:

DSCN7859_zpsd7bed366.jpg
 
triplepete said:
So why can't you reload aluminum?

I swept up some aluminum 9mm cases today and brought it home. Tumbled, resized, decapped, and primed. All seemed okay. I also seated a bullet in an empty resized case and crimped it. Bullet held in pretty good - took a couple of swings in puller before bullet popped out.
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it can be done and i do it (i've loaded maybe 300x 9mm and 100x 45acp both CCI) they shoot just fine, but only work for 2-3 reloads. after that the primer pockets loosen up to the point i've had them come out after firing.

when you reload it and feel no resistance when priming, the safe thing to do is deprime and toss.
 
Picking up other folks' cast-off brass cases is smart.

Reloading them is even smarter.

I have over 500 rounds of '06 here and the same in .303, over 1000 rounds of the best .303 brass ever made (Defence Industries WW2 Canadian) and half that in '06.

My total brass purchases in the last 35 years have been 200 .30-'06 once-fired and NO .303.

That's okay when a guy is feeding more than a dozen .303s.

"Waste not, want not."
 
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