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Machine gun brass??

S

sparks1

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 9, 2010
106
0
73
Minnesota
#1
Is once fired machine gun brass, boxer primed, okay to reload for an M1A? Mostly LC brass i guess.

Would like to know before I order some. I read that MG's have a bigger chamber and wonder if a FL sizing will be okay. I load on a RCBS single stage, and have both RCBS and Forster BR dies for the .308. Using Imperial lube.

Thanks
 
#4
Re: Machine gun brass??

A lot of machine gun brass will split the necks when it's fired. I have a bag of LC brass that I have put over to the side until I can get it annealed. What of it I've fired so far has about a 50:50 count of the cases splitting. That's why I put the rest of it over. I could have bought new brass for about what I'm going to have tied up in this.
 
#9
Re: Machine gun brass??

Taking undersized brass and whistling same through an oversized chamber and then sizing same to an approximation of it's former state,is often false economy and fraught with numerous headaches down the road.

Doubly so when talking mixed lots fired from different chambers.
 
#10
Re: Machine gun brass??

Thats unfortunate to hear of split necks, I have pounds and pounds of 74,86,04,06 LC from various vendors, it has all been great in my M1A and AR10. I wouldn't mind getting into annealing tho, does it really aid in accuracy?
 
#11
Re: Machine gun brass??

I was at the range with a friend who was the chief armorer for a Coast Guard Station and was testing out one of his stations M60's. He gave me the brass. Most of the case heads were so swollen they could not be resized in the head of the case no matter how much presure I exerted on the Rock Chucker. Perhaos it was just the barrel in the CG M60 but he is very meticulous about components in their M60's. I have another friend the has a private M60 and is constantly complaining about premature case neck splitting.
 
#14
Re: Machine gun brass??

For reasons of reliability MG chambers are not very "tight" They need to feed and extract lots of hot brass VDQ. RCBS (I know) makes a small base resizing die specifically for resizing brass fired in "military chambered" weapons. I reload my brass from an HK91, which has a fluted chamber, and it feeds/function fine in the other .308s I have. One a single shot , the other a bolt. HK/PTR actions are terrible on brass if you don't add a brass reflector to the ejection port. It stops the major denting.
 
#15
Re: Machine gun brass??

Lake City is usually good brass, but if this brass makes you feel uneasy, don't buy it. Move on and buy some new brass. For a couple of bucks, sometimes it is just not worth it.
 
#18
Re: Machine gun brass??

I bought some surplus brass that was processed nd had about 30% split necks. Think about the weapons in use that shoot 7.62, the M60, M240, M14 variants, AR 10 variants, M40's and M24's. If it is not M118 LR brass chances are good that it was fired from an M60.

A processed about 8 gallons of M118 LR this January that was all fired in sniper in M40,'s, M24's, and Mk110 from the same lot and it is fantastic brass. I was there when the brass was fired and I probably fired about 1.5 gallons of it so I know its origin. If you can find M118 LR brass it is great brass as been told they will link it up for use in a machine so it should be easier to resize and the primers are not crimped. If you can not find M118 LR or similar buying new brass is a better deal.

wade
 
#19
Re: Machine gun brass??

Another thing to watch out for with mg brass is the brass can
stretch so far in there chambers that even with a small base
die you can not size it down enough to close a bolt with out
resistence.
 
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