Newbie reloading question

mpettis19

mpettis19

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Hello All,

I have recently been awaiting my rpal license and interested in reloading, I have done countless hours of reading watching you name it I have basically done it. Unfortunately I can not get my hands on any brass, powder, caps, bullets, etc until my license arrives. This being said leads me to my question looking for some great answers with maybe some pictures if possible.

How safe is it ( or unsafe) to go to local range outside and pick up all of the left over brass? I have probably a good 5 ranges within 30 mintue driving distance from me with literally THOUSANDS os rounds of brass and shotgun shells laying around. How can you tell if the brass etc is unusable? How can you tell it has been reloaded? etc etc.

I am sure something like this has been asked before and I apologize for repeating a thread but I can not find the answers anywhere regardless of what I read or watch.

Thanks for the help
 
Ummm it's perfectly legal for you to buy all the components needed befor your PAL arrives .. You just can't assemble them into loaded ammunition


Personally I stay away from range brass unless I witness it come out of a factory box and be fired. There is no real way to tell if brass has been reloaded once or 10 times (ok there is a few tell take signs) but personally for me my time is better spent doing other things besides inspecting every piece of brass ..

That being said 99.9% of my reloading is done for precision rifle so I'm pretty anal about every thing
 
If you aren't a member of a particular range and you are there picking up brass, I would consider this to be extremely rude. It is likely that management would show you the door. In fact I doubt they would let you in to do this in the first place.

At the Homestead range you would probably be ok as it is a free for all from what I hear. (never been there) If someone is shooting stay clear of them and be sure to ask if it is ok. If I am shooting and someone is hovering around hoovering up brass it's going to distract me.
 
It depends on where you are if they ask you for a PAL to buy components.

As to range brass, not being a precision rifle guy (wish I had the eyesight!), I am quite willing to scrounge range brass if it's in a pistol calibre I need. Whereas rifle brass can have a limited lifespan, pistol brass can generally be loaded a bazillion times before it starts to show signs of failure. Is it in good shape? Is it badly corroded (tarnished does not count) or dented? If it's in good shape, if it doesn't violate range policy, if it's in a calibre you want, go for it.

High-velocity, bottleneck rifle brass is a bit more difficult to judge. Most definitely have a limit to the number of times they can be fired before you get the head ripping off (a Bad Thing, trust me). The .303 British is infamous for this, for instance. There's sometimes a bright ring near the base before it separates, but it can be subtle. You can make a feeler gauge out of wire to feel near the base for oncoming separation, but it takes practice. Being a bolt-action type, I tend to hang onto my own brass rather than trying to scrounge. It's not like I need 500 rounds a week.
 
I was told I couldnt buy anything without pal, good to know I would like to start getting pieces in order to pass my waiting time at least :)
ultimate_monkey said:
Ummm it's perfectly legal for you to buy all the components needed befor your PAL arrives .. You just can't assemble them into loaded ammunition


Personally I stay away from range brass unless I witness it come out of a factory box and be fired. There is no real way to tell if brass has been reloaded once or 10 times (ok there is a few tell take signs) but personally for me my time is better spent doing other things besides inspecting every piece of brass ..

That being said 99.9% of my reloading is done for precision rifle so I'm pretty anal about every thing
Click to expand...
 
I swung by homestead today on my way home and no one was in sight, I would NEVER be picking anything up while people are around its extremily rude and dangerous not into getting shot by someone getting distracted and making a mistake.
Clotho said:
If you aren't a member of a particular range and you are there picking up brass, I would consider this to be extremely rude. It is likely that management would show you the door. In fact I doubt they would let you in to do this in the first place.

At the Homestead range you would probably be ok as it is a free for all from what I hear. (never been there) If someone is shooting stay clear of them and be sure to ask if it is ok. If I am shooting and someone is hovering around hoovering up brass it's going to distract me.
Click to expand...
 
good to know as per pistol brass as that is mainly what I am interested in, I have heard that glocks gen 19 and 21 will destroy brass since they dont have a fully extending guide or something like that do you know if that happens to be true?
ATOM said:
It depends on where you are if they ask you for a PAL to buy components.

As to range brass, not being a precision rifle guy (wish I had the eyesight!), I am quite willing to scrounge range brass if it's in a pistol calibre I need. Whereas rifle brass can have a limited lifespan, pistol brass can generally be loaded a bazillion times before it starts to show signs of failure. Is it in good shape? Is it badly corroded (tarnished does not count) or dented? If it's in good shape, if it doesn't violate range policy, if it's in a calibre you want, go for it.

High-velocity, bottleneck rifle brass is a bit more difficult to judge. Most definitely have a limit to the number of times they can be fired before you get the head ripping off (a Bad Thing, trust me). The .303 British is infamous for this, for instance. There's sometimes a bright ring near the base before it separates, but it can be subtle. You can make a feeler gauge out of wire to feel near the base for oncoming separation, but it takes practice. Being a bolt-action type, I tend to hang onto my own brass rather than trying to scrounge. It's not like I need 500 rounds a week.
Click to expand...
 
Again, look at each piece. Get used to that - you should do it anyway every time you reload, just to make sure nothing is going wrong. Some firearms are harder on brass than others. If you are gleaning pistol brass on a range, you're going to have a hard time determining what was fired from what, so back to square one and check each round. If it doesn't have serious corrosion, megadents, cracks or splits, it's probably OK.
 
It depends on where you are if they ask you for a PAL to buy components.
Click to expand...

I have never been asked to produce a PAL to purchase components, and the reason is, that there is no regulation specifying that you need a PAL to purchase components.
 
mpettis19 said:
I would NEVER be picking anything up while people are around its extremily rude and dangerous
Click to expand...

Are you serious?
We call it "good house keeping". people that leave brass laying around are considered "a55holes". when there is a cease fire and you remove your targets, it is expected that you clean up your spent brass. If you dont clean up your brass, people will call you out on it".
 
hoochie said:
Are you serious?
We call it "good house keeping". people that leave brass laying around are considered "a55holes". when there is a cease fire and you remove your targets, it is expected that you clean up your spent brass. If you dont clean up your brass, people will call you out on it".
Click to expand...

I think you're both right. Picking up your brass when the green flag is raised is a good idea. On the other hand, somebody squirling down beside me, picking up my brass when I'm trying to shoot is asking for a swift kick.

There's generally a quiet time on every range. As far as I'm concerned, unless range rules say otherwise, if somebody has obviously left the range and left brass on the ground, it's open season.
 
To the OP: I understand the eagerness and chomping-at-the-bit-to-get-started, but I don't think I would recommend buying primers, powders, bullets etc. until you are set to reload. You may find that you will pick out a can of powder and later find out it is not the optimum powder or that there is a better alternative, etc.

Reloading isn't something that happens in a hurry, anyway.

As far as range brass, I am a horrible brass scrounge but I am fussy about what I pick up. For the time being, reload only the brass that came from your gun. When you have loaded that brass a couple of times, you can add range brass to the mix.
 
"...until my license arrives..." Whoever told you that is confused to the point of being full of excrement. Mind you, some Provinces require a PAL to buy powder, but not other components. Go buy a Lyman manual first and read it.
"...and pick up all of the left over brass..." Isn't unsafe, but you'll likely be charged with trespassing. Most ranges are on private property. In any case, don't use 'range brass'. You have no idea what's been done to it, how many times it's been reloaded or anything else about it
 
Yes I am serious, you misunderstood what I was saying or I did not say it correctly, currently I do not have my pal so I would not go while people are busy shooting to pick up brass, I am well aware that it is rude to leave your brass and casings laying around and just go home, I have help in many clean ups of ranges due to these rude people and do not wish to be one ever. I simply meant that i would not be a "rat" scavenging brass while people are shooting trying to enjoy their day and maybe will be picking up their brass after they are done.
hoochie said:
Are you serious?
We call it "good house keeping". people that leave brass laying around are considered "a55holes". when there is a cease fire and you remove your targets, it is expected that you clean up your spent brass. If you dont clean up your brass, people will call you out on it".
Click to expand...
 
mpettis19 said:
Hello All,

I have recently been awaiting my rpal license and interested in reloading, I have done countless hours of reading watching you name it I have basically done it. Unfortunately I can not get my hands on any brass, powder, caps, bullets, etc until my license arrives. This being said leads me to my question looking for some great answers with maybe some pictures if possible.

How safe is it ( or unsafe) to go to local range outside and pick up all of the left over brass? I have probably a good 5 ranges within 30 mintue driving distance from me with literally THOUSANDS os rounds of brass and shotgun shells laying around. How can you tell if the brass etc is unusable? How can you tell it has been reloaded? etc etc.

I am sure something like this has been asked before and I apologize for repeating a thread but I can not find the answers anywhere regardless of what I read or watch.

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
simple stay away from range brass.
 
Range brass for the most part is ok for me. Anything odd or questionable gets dumped into the bucket that goes to the salvage guys, waste brass pays good.
 
mpettis19 said:
How safe is it ( or unsafe) to go to local range outside and pick up all of the left over brass? I have probably a good 5 ranges within 30 mintue driving distance from me with literally THOUSANDS os rounds of brass and shotgun shells laying around. How can you tell if the brass etc is unusable? How can you tell it has been reloaded? etc etc.Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Perfectly safe if you are prepared to inspect each and every round for over overpressure and separation signs. Difficult for an experienced person, but do-able if you know what you are doing and are are prepared to deal with the extra case prep time. I suggest you grab all the range brass you can, clean it up, then sell it for salvage and buy new brass.
 
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