Question on saving brass for reloading

[acnewman55]

I don't currently reload, but I'm starting to do a decent amount of shooting, and figure I'll do so eventually  - - at least for my .308

I have a few questions:

Any point in saving the casings from the cheap steel-case rounds?

Should I be keeping track of which brands/loads the brass comes from, or is that irrelevant?

Any particular way I should store them, other than simple ziploc bags?  Do I need to throw in a desiccant packet?

[carpsniperg2]

You can just toss them in a plastic zip lock. Trash any and all steel cases. I like to sort my brass by head stamp and number of times reloaded.

[Jim the Plumber]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

[seth30]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

why not a plastic bag?

[Doc Sauce]

Curious about the plastic bag thing too...

[lee]

my guess would be that the zip-locks don't breath and may promote moisture problems..... unless desiccant is used as the OP suggested.

Lee

[C-Money]

Pretty easy to see what you are looking at with a zip lock. I use lead shot bags to store my brass. For sure hang on to your emptys, but trash the steel ones.

[Jim the Plumber]

my guess would be that the zip-locks don't breath and may promote moisture problems..... unless desiccant is used as the OP suggested.

Lee

This

[purplecowboy]

You can just toss them in a plastic zip lock. Trash any and all steel cases. I like to sort my brass by head stamp and number of times reloaded.

When I started reloading for my .243 I was told that you could only reload the cases 5 times. I developed an complicated system of marking each case to tell how many times they had been reloaded. After a few years I found out that you can reload a case until the neck splits. I started reloading in 1969 and I believe that I still have cases that I started with. I normally take the cases and run them through the polisher and then check them for neck splits. I dispose of any that show signs of neck split.

I hope that this helps in a small way.  Good luck and good reloading.

[LEN]

HHHMMMM all the new brass I have gotten in bulk have been shipped and I stored in plastic bags and we are talking in 1000's. Guess I have been wrong for almost 50 years and it won't work. DAMMMM got a bunch of bad brass stored. I don't store wet brass how ever.

JMO

LEN

[Fl0und3rz]

Sorting by rifle fired is useful if you intend to neck size only for that particular rifle.  Otherwise, I sort by headstamp and number fired.

[Doc Sauce]

I have brass that has been in ziploc bags for years without any moisture that I can tell.  I'll double check them when I go to load em though, but I have not seen any problem with it yet.

[Biggerhammer]

HHHMMMM all the new brass I have gotten in bulk have been shipped and I stored in plastic bags and we are talking in 1000's. Guess I have been wrong for almost 50 years and it won't work. DAMMMM got a bunch of bad brass stored. I don't store wet brass how ever.

JMO

LEN

 

[Wazukie]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

Hmmm, guess I better not do it anymore

[Jim the Plumber]

To clarify,you can store brass cases in anything you like.
 I have over 200,000 pieces of brass, so I store brass in whatever is handy, which includes plastic bags.
I still recommend a person new to reloading 'shy away' from storing fired brass in plastic bags.
Primarily because the OP lives on the west side, there is a chance he will shoot in the rain, collected brass may be wet, ergo, moister problems.
Once he has become a seasoned reloader, this issue will have been vetted.
  Hopefully this will clear up my reasoning for those out on work release.

[mountainman]

 

[dontgetcrabs]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

Hmmm, guess I better not do it anymore

Can you take us through your process for reloading steel cases please.   

[carpsniperg2]

You can just toss them in a plastic zip lock. Trash any and all steel cases. I like to sort my brass by head stamp and number of times reloaded.

When I started reloading for my .243 I was told that you could only reload the cases 5 times. I developed an complicated system of marking each case to tell how many times they had been reloaded. After a few years I found out that you can reload a case until the neck splits. I started reloading in 1969 and I believe that I still have cases that I started with. I normally take the cases and run them through the polisher and then check them for neck splits. I dispose of any that show signs of neck split.

I hope that this helps in a small way.  Good luck and good reloading.

Indeed you can reload brass as many time as your like before something goes wrong with it and you toss it. I am all about case uniformity. A piece of brass that is virgin compared to one that has been reloaded 10 times, will be thicker of course. As brass is shot like I am sure you know it grows a little in length. So with keeping brass uniform all the brass will need to be trimmed roughly at the same time.

When I was first reloading it didn't matter much to me. I mixed it all up and didn't keep track. I had some brass that had been shot more then others and didn't catch it was a little long. Then I started sticking cases in the semi autos and that was a problem.

I am a bit of a numbers freak on my reloading. More so then most and it just my opinion that you get better uniformity when running brass that has all been fired the same amount of times.

[Wazukie]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

Hmmm, guess I better not do it anymore

Can you take us through your process for reloading steel cases please.   

I will say this, directed to the OP, if you are an inexperienced re-loader, do not reload steal cases.  I will leave it at that as I don't want to hi-jack the thread.

 

[Bofire]

  even if you do not reload the brass is worth saving. It has value.
Carl

[Jim the Plumber]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

Hmmm, guess I better not do it anymore

Well I did answer the OP with a certain amount of brevity.
You can ( and I have) reload most steel cases. You can also load 6mm bullets in a 30 caliber case, as well as a slew of other more advanced loading practices.
I've been activity  loading ammunition since 1977, so I'm aware of the ins and outs of ammunition loading.
Feel free to quit loading steel simply because I advised  the OP it cannot be done within his realm of reloading experience.

[300rum]

I chuck steel cases because brass cases are pretty easy to come by.  Can it be reloaded?, yes, along with aluminum pistol cases.  Should it?  I guess it depends on how hard up you are for "brass".  Steel can ruin your dies much quicker, stay away from it unless the apocalypse takes place.   

Old discolored brass that is or has been wet can come out real nice if you wet tumble with stainless media.  Do a search on it.  My particular feelings are that I won't wet tumble high pressure cartridges like rifle, for instance.  The problem isn't the stainless media, it seems, it is the lemi shine or other products that you can use when you wet tumble that can weaken the brass.  It's one of those things, it's probably fine to do until it isn't.

At the minimum, save your brass and you can probably find a buddy to give it to or find someone who will trade you for it.     

 

[mountainman]

To clarify,you can store brass cases in anything you like.
 I have over 200,000 pieces of brass, so I store brass in whatever is handy, which includes plastic bags.
I still recommend a person new to reloading 'shy away' from storing fired brass in plastic bags.
Primarily because the OP lives on the west side, there is a chance he will shoot in the rain, collected brass may be wet, ergo, moister problems.
Once he has become a seasoned reloader, this issue will have been vetted.
  Hopefully this will clear up my reasoning for those out on work release.

 

[Biggerhammer]

I picked up some wet brass from a road, after some idiot had just some how mistakenly shot a Mulie buck during a doe permit season. I had put that brass in a plastic sandwich bag. Forgot about it and found it 6 months later, not a thing wrong with it. The buck that was left lay in the field turned out way worse than the brass.

[mountainman]

The steel cases cannot be reloaded. You can sort the brass cases by headstamp and store them in a cardboard box of one sort or another.
I'd shy away from storing them in a plastic bag.

Hmmm, guess I better not do it anymore

Well I did answer the OP with a certain amount of brevity.
You can ( and I have) reload most steel cases. You can also load 6mm bullets in a 30 caliber case, as well as a slew of other more advanced loading practices.
I've been activity  loading ammunition since 1977, so I'm aware of the ins and outs of ammunition loading.
Feel free to quit loading steel simply because I advised  the OP it cannot be done within his realm of reloading experience.

agree