Once fired - Something to consider

[Rlandry]

A lot of guys buy once fired brass, there's a lot of it out there, but are you really getting once fired? How do you tell?
It's very tempting to pay few bucks extra for "procssed" , ready to load brass. I know, leisure time is at a premium. But, as soon as that brass is deprimed and swaged, you have no way to know. The giveaway is the crimp. No one is going to reload a case and then re-crimp the primer.
I think most sellers are straight up, but it's just a little reassurance that you are getting what you pay for.

 

[fxdrider]

I've wondered the same thing. And for once-fired brass that was never crimped to begin with, there's no way to know for sure.

 

[Rlandry]

All of the military brass made by Lake City is going to be crimped.
I guess for the other stuff you just have to closely inspect it looking for excessive scratching or maybe multiple extractor marks. I’ll pay a little extra for the LC stuff because I know it’s going to be good.

 

[supercorndogs]

Buy it from a trusted source.

 

[AIAW]

No way to tell really past the first firing. That one firing has already expanded the web to a point where it may or may not chamber in your particular chamber by default (run it through small base die, sure). If they did that though you'd definitely see that unless they are taking the time to re-polish the hell out of them after sizing.

 

[NukeMMC]

All of the military brass made by Lake City is going to be crimped.

Actually, Lake City Match and LR brass does not have crimped primer pockets or crimped necks. It will have tar sealant inside the neck and colored lacqer around the primer which makes it easier to tell if it was reloaded.

 

[Juma]

Anneal all your brass which means you are hopefully not loading work hardened brass and dont load maxi loads. You might be amazed how forgiving brass is if properly treated.