What impact if any does age have on brass. If brass was fired once, a long time ago, during a far away disco party, should it be trusted. My thought is to use minimum charges and work up carefully and it should be fine, but would love any input. Also, I tried to look for other discussions of this but found none, so please post any threads that would be of help. Thanks all.
- Thread starter GreenMtnRidgeRunner13
- Start date
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
Ey Mate,
Generally if the brass is of high quality, age should not matter.
These days manufacturing techniques are much better and the standard of even average brass is usually very good.
I have seen brass from days of old that is very very poor... And im talking Federal Premium ammo, from like 30 years ago. Case Necks were not squared off, split necks from factory etc.
Indicators like this would generally tell you that the brass is crap.
If its super rare brass, inspect each one at a time and cull any bad ones. I would also recomend annealing rare brass cases as it should prolong the life of the brass, especially where split necks are prone to occur.
Vin
Ey Mate,
Generally if the brass is of high quality, age should not matter.
These days manufacturing techniques are much better and the standard of even average brass is usually very good.
I have seen brass from days of old that is very very poor... And im talking Federal Premium ammo, from like 30 years ago. Case Necks were not squared off, split necks from factory etc.
Indicators like this would generally tell you that the brass is crap.
If its super rare brass, inspect each one at a time and cull any bad ones. I would also recomend annealing rare brass cases as it should prolong the life of the brass, especially where split necks are prone to occur.
Vin
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
Thanks Vman. It's primarily old remington .270 brass that my father has compiled and now wants to reload it. None of them appear to be bad, some are fairly tarnished from the years of sitting. I guess I will just proceed and give them a little extra TLC after the full length resize. The oldest are probably from the early 80's or newer.
Thanks Vman. It's primarily old remington .270 brass that my father has compiled and now wants to reload it. None of them appear to be bad, some are fairly tarnished from the years of sitting. I guess I will just proceed and give them a little extra TLC after the full length resize. The oldest are probably from the early 80's or newer.
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
Tumble and go.
Tumble and go.
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
The older brass gets the more sress corrosion is present.
The brass hardens and can split. I would suggest you anneal the neck shoulder area after cleaning .
This will give them a far better chance of resisting splits.
Inspect them with magnification after cleaning to see if any fine cracks are present . Discard any that look suspect.
It's a very variable thing I have used very old brass with no worries but have also see brass crack and fail after only about 15 years of storage. New brass that has not been fired will last better than fired brass in general storage . The kind of primers that were used in the case years ago is also a factor . If mercury primers were used then age hardening is more likely .
The older brass gets the more sress corrosion is present.
The brass hardens and can split. I would suggest you anneal the neck shoulder area after cleaning .
This will give them a far better chance of resisting splits.
Inspect them with magnification after cleaning to see if any fine cracks are present . Discard any that look suspect.
It's a very variable thing I have used very old brass with no worries but have also see brass crack and fail after only about 15 years of storage. New brass that has not been fired will last better than fired brass in general storage . The kind of primers that were used in the case years ago is also a factor . If mercury primers were used then age hardening is more likely .
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
I know some people do not agree with the use of brasso, but i have been using it for ages and have had no ill effects occur ever.
Get yourself two rags and a bottle of brasso. Wear gloves whilst you do this.
Add some brass to one rag and use this to polish the cases. Once they are shiny put them into a seperate container. Then take the clean rag and give them a final polish to remove any white brasso residue and the black stuff that is the tarnish.
I usually do about 10 cases at a time, so that the brasso does not stay on the cases for too long.
If you have any concerns about the brasso, rinse the cases off with water and then dry them with a hair dryer. This takes only 5 minutes.
I have taken brass cases that were literally black from oxidisation, water, sunlight etc and polished these cases back up to brand new looking brass.
I know some people do not agree with the use of brasso, but i have been using it for ages and have had no ill effects occur ever.
Get yourself two rags and a bottle of brasso. Wear gloves whilst you do this.
Add some brass to one rag and use this to polish the cases. Once they are shiny put them into a seperate container. Then take the clean rag and give them a final polish to remove any white brasso residue and the black stuff that is the tarnish.
I usually do about 10 cases at a time, so that the brasso does not stay on the cases for too long.
If you have any concerns about the brasso, rinse the cases off with water and then dry them with a hair dryer. This takes only 5 minutes.
I have taken brass cases that were literally black from oxidisation, water, sunlight etc and polished these cases back up to brand new looking brass.
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know some people do not agree with the use of brasso, but i have been using it for ages and have had no ill effects occur ever.
Get yourself two rags and a bottle of brasso. Wear gloves whilst you do this.
Add some brass to one rag and use this to polish the cases. Once they are shiny put them into a seperate container. Then take the clean rag and give them a final polish to remove any white brasso residue and the black stuff that is the tarnish.
I usually do about 10 cases at a time, so that the brasso does not stay on the cases for too long.
If you have any concerns about the brasso, rinse the cases off with water and then dry them with a hair dryer. This takes only 5 minutes.
I have taken brass cases that were literally black from oxidisation, water, sunlight etc and polished these cases back up to brand new looking brass. </div></div>
Same outcome, less elbow grease: Put a little white vinegar in your media. Tumble and remove, rinse with water. DO NOT LEAVE in the media. You will have the prettiest green brass you've ever seen.
Bag media and only use for the bad stuff.
John
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know some people do not agree with the use of brasso, but i have been using it for ages and have had no ill effects occur ever.
Get yourself two rags and a bottle of brasso. Wear gloves whilst you do this.
Add some brass to one rag and use this to polish the cases. Once they are shiny put them into a seperate container. Then take the clean rag and give them a final polish to remove any white brasso residue and the black stuff that is the tarnish.
I usually do about 10 cases at a time, so that the brasso does not stay on the cases for too long.
If you have any concerns about the brasso, rinse the cases off with water and then dry them with a hair dryer. This takes only 5 minutes.
I have taken brass cases that were literally black from oxidisation, water, sunlight etc and polished these cases back up to brand new looking brass. </div></div>
Same outcome, less elbow grease: Put a little white vinegar in your media. Tumble and remove, rinse with water. DO NOT LEAVE in the media. You will have the prettiest green brass you've ever seen.
Bag media and only use for the bad stuff.
John
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Country</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The older brass gets the more sress corrosion is present.
New brass that has not been fired will last better than fired brass in general storage . </div></div>
WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Age will not do any of the above. Aged metals do however, exhibit the same effects that normalized metals show, which is a good thing in-terms of our shooting brass.
You need to actually research what 'stress corrosion' cracking (SCC) is, and what metals it is applicable to.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Country</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The older brass gets the more sress corrosion is present.
New brass that has not been fired will last better than fired brass in general storage . </div></div>
WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Age will not do any of the above. Aged metals do however, exhibit the same effects that normalized metals show, which is a good thing in-terms of our shooting brass.
You need to actually research what 'stress corrosion' cracking (SCC) is, and what metals it is applicable to.
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
Thanks to all for your responses. This is some stuff I haven't seen a thread on before so that's a good thing as well. I have tumbled the disco brass in question. Most of it came out pretty well just with a couple hours of tumbling. I am going to reload after careful inspection and am confident in it now.
Thanks to all for your responses. This is some stuff I haven't seen a thread on before so that's a good thing as well. I have tumbled the disco brass in question. Most of it came out pretty well just with a couple hours of tumbling. I am going to reload after careful inspection and am confident in it now.
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: High Binder</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Country</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The older brass gets the more sress corrosion is present.
New brass that has not been fired will last better than fired brass in general storage . </div></div>
WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Age will not do any of the above. Aged metals do however, exhibit the same effects that normalized metals show, which is a good thing in-terms of our shooting brass.
You need to actually research what 'stress corrosion' cracking (SCC) is, and what metals it is applicable to. </div></div>
Look up stress corrosion in brass and age hardening in brass . Before you shoot your mouth off .
Streess corrosion is applicable to brass .
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: High Binder</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Country</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The older brass gets the more sress corrosion is present.
New brass that has not been fired will last better than fired brass in general storage . </div></div>
WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Age will not do any of the above. Aged metals do however, exhibit the same effects that normalized metals show, which is a good thing in-terms of our shooting brass.
You need to actually research what 'stress corrosion' cracking (SCC) is, and what metals it is applicable to. </div></div>
Look up stress corrosion in brass and age hardening in brass . Before you shoot your mouth off .
Streess corrosion is applicable to brass .
Re: Impact Of Age On Brass
I have several hundred rounds of once fired LC National Match brass from the 70's to the 90's. At the present time I'm using two batches a LC match-72 head stamp lot and an LC match-85 head stamp lot. All are holding up as well or better than current FC brass I reload and shoot. IMHO there an't no difference. The brass doesn't know how long it has been in the sealed ammo cans before it's reloaded and shot again.
Clean it, size it, load it and shoot it!!
If ya don't want it you can ship it to me and I'll sure use it!!!
I have several hundred rounds of once fired LC National Match brass from the 70's to the 90's. At the present time I'm using two batches a LC match-72 head stamp lot and an LC match-85 head stamp lot. All are holding up as well or better than current FC brass I reload and shoot. IMHO there an't no difference. The brass doesn't know how long it has been in the sealed ammo cans before it's reloaded and shot again.
Clean it, size it, load it and shoot it!!
If ya don't want it you can ship it to me and I'll sure use it!!!
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