30/06 question please

[Marty Glazier]

Was cleaning shelf under loading bench. Found a sealed plastic bag containing 90 rounds of 30/06 brass head stamped DEN 42. Other than a very few that are discolored they seem to be in excellent condition. Completely reworked ready for primers ect. My question : Is this brass too old "brittle" to reload for my m1 ? My normal load being 48 grs. IMR4064 under 147 gr. bullet.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

If the brass is once-fired and was, (and should have been), originally primed with lead-based primers, it should be good to go. DEN 42 is WW2 US brass. The original primers SHOULD have been lead based (and thus won't make the brass brittle) BUT chlorate "enhanced" (only a problem for the rifle in which they were fired and then ONLY if cleaning is not thorough). You can go the whole hog and wash the deprimed cases in warm water to remove any tiny residues of the potentially corrosive salts that may remain after firing.

IF in doubt about the number of times these cases have been reloaded, anneal the NECKS only, to relieve any stresses from resizing.

Check overall length AND TRIM any that are at MAX or over. I usually take an extra ten thou off "nominal" just to be sure. Inside and outside neck chamfer to taste.

Run a uniforming tool into the primer pockets and ensure the old primer crimp has been cut or "formed" clear to ensure "comfortable" seating for the new primers.

Ex-Mil case prep: do it right, do it once.

I have reloaded a swag of "vintage" .30-06 and 8 x 57 brass, Boxer and Berdan primed, over the years with very few problems. I have also recycled thousands of once-fired ex-mercuric-primed .303 Brit cases; usually get one reload before the mercury-induced cracking becomes apparent.

[Marty Glazier]

Thanks, Bruce , for the reply. Apparently they've only been fired once because I had to remove the primer pocket crimp. The original question came to mind because, when they came out of the vibrator/cleaner,they looked bright and shiny but had a "pinkish" hue. I'll rinse thoroughly in warm water. Thanks again!!
Marty

[Bruce McAskill]

Be sure to deprime before you wash the brass so you can get any chlorate residue out of the case and out of the primer pocket.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Before you go nuts and reload the lot, do a few test loads.

The "pinkish" colour may indicate that the surface corrosion has etched out some of the Zinc in the brass. "Pink" indicates an abundance of Copper on the surface metal.

One thing that will cause this is serious surface corrosion.

The other thing, and MUCH more critically so, is exposure to serious heat, like a fire.

Brass cartridge cases that have been in a house fire or which have been lying on a range or in the "woods" may be "over-cooked" by occasional grass / forest fires. Such events may seriously and dangerously affected the graduated hardness of the brass .

The "head end" is meant to fairly hard, (by brass standards), with the neck being relatively soft but slightly elastic, to retain the bullet and, when fired, to expand to seal the chamber, without cracking.

If in ANY doubt, consign them to your scrap bucket. Being an old tightwad, my scrap does NOT get dumped, but, instead, traded to a "metal merchant" who occasionally has on hand, BIG barrels of nice, once-fired ex-mil brass. Try to remove any nickel-plated cases or primers if you want to do such a "trade", as the nickel is regarded as a major contaminant in scrap brass.