.50 Bmg brass price.

T

Tonybuell

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Hello Gunnutters!

I have a chance to buy some once fired .50 brass. Mixed head stamp.
First time I'm going to be reloading for my .50. I hear to stay away from IVI brass.
Was wondering what is a fair price to pay for this per casing.
I searched the equipment exchange and could find anything.

Any suggestions would help!

Tks!

Cheers!
 
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reloading mixed headstamp for any cal is a bad idea.
Perhaps more so for the mighty 50BMG
At least a dollar a case probably.
 
Try to look for once-fired .50 BMG brass from "known pedigree" - hopefully fired from a bolt action rifle. Most military brass has been fired from an M2 machine gun - sloppy chambers, so the brass needs lots of resizing, which is a pain.

I would avoid mixed headstamp as you will likely need to anneal every few firings and annealing times vary widely.

Maybe check with DG Photography to see if he has any more IVI Match fired from a bolt gun. I bought some from him and it's great!
 
I guess I should have been more specific lol.

It's Hornady, AE and IVI. Ahhhh the makes sence about the IVI.

I've been reloading awhile and have got it down quite well for my .308 and .338 LM.
Recently got my .50 for a song so thought I'd try my hand at loading up the mighty .50 lol.
A pound of powder sure won't go far lol!
Thanks for the info.
 
Tonybuell said:
I guess I should have been more specific lol.

It's Hornady, AE and IVI. Ahhhh the makes sence about the IVI.

I've been reloading awhile and have got it down quite well for my .308 and .338 LM.
Recently got my .50 for a song so thought I'd try my hand at loading up the mighty .50 lol.
A pound of powder sure won't go far lol!
Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

Tony:

Hornady is good brass, AE seems to be loaded hot when purchased as XM33 factory ammo, and the run-of-the-mill IVI brass is the most rugged of the bunch you mentioned, but also needs the most resizing if fired from a M2. I've come across a fair amount of LC (Lake City) recently - also good tough brass, with a thick web that seems to reduce case capacity a bit - to the point where pressure signs appear faster with LC.

My own handloading practice with .50 BMG involves carefully segregating brass by headstamp and number of firings, annealing every other firing, and treating each lot of brass as its own "load" in terms of powder charge and looking for pressure signs.

Another big cost savings is buying .50 BMG pulled projectiles - Harry at Budget Shooters or X-Reload generally have these - and putting them through an 0.510 Lee Bullet Sizing Die a couple of times to shave off any pull marks and to confirm that the projectiles aren't deformed by the pulling process. This brings the projectile cost way down.

You're right in that powder doesn't last. At around 230gr / round, you get 25-30 rounds/pound. Plus primers are pricey at $35/100.

.50s aren't cheap - but they are fun to shoot!
 
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