30 yr old brass cleaned and test fired

[1armoured]

For anyone who is interested,
I posted a while ago that I had acquired some 660 pcs 'Once Fired' Sako brass for my .222,


http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,259910.0.html


and prepared a few to test whether the brass had survived the 30 years since it was fired and decapped.





I sized to fit my chamber, and buffed them up,
and then loaded a few lots.
Not pressure loads, .... doing around the 3,000 fps mark.


Managed to fire a few last Friday evening before it got cold, dark and damp, and little wind,
and was pleased with the results.
Still got some others to send down range, but that will have to wait for the next opportunity.





Besides the grouping, the main objective was to check that no necks were splitting, and no other signs of pressure etc.
and cases extracted without any stickiness.


So a successful test so far.


I cleaned the fired brass necks in and out and then tested for chamber fit in the Anschutz .222 sporter,
which was good, with no pressure required to close bolt,
so now I can just neck size these for the next load to test,....again !
Results should be even better, given no splitting.


cheers,
SS

[swifty22]

1- Most of my GI 06' & 308 brass is probably at least that old. I have lotsa (LC 66's probably 200) 308's I shot at Camp Perry in 74 that has not even been deprimed, but carefully stored. The only cases I don't shoot are some 06' FA's from the 20's. Make sure you look at all of them carefully but those Sako's are real purty. Thank goodness you have an Anny to use them in! Take care of them and you have some real pearls-Muddy 

[Savage]

No reason to be concerned with any once fired brass that has not been damaged, over pressured, corroded or exposed to chemicals that attack brass. I would consider once fired Sako brass to be prima stuff. Especially some that new. I have powder and primers older than that.
Savage

[wncchester]

"30 yr old brass cleaned and test fired"
 
Goodness, who wouda thought such elderly brass would still have it's shape insteada being just a few loose flakes in the bottom of the boxes; who knows, a few pieces might still be visible when it's 35 years old!  ??

[1armoured]

"30 yr old brass cleaned and test fired"
 
Goodness, who wouda thought such elderly brass would still have it's shape insteada being just a few loose flakes in the bottom of the boxes; who knows, a few pieces might still be visible when it's 35 years old!  ??

 
It'll probably look the same in 35 years, if unfired. Maybe just not as shiny.


Fired regularly, without any annealing, the necks would have all split by then, and the brass dumped.


Why I was a bit concerned, and tested it, is because I had no way of knowing its history, or how it had been looked after or stored, all these years.


Buffing it up makes it look nice and new and shiny, externally, but still, one doesn't know what state the metal is in internally.


I'm just glad everything appears to be A OK.
When I eventually pass some of it on, I'd like to know that it's going to be safe.


cheers,
SS

[petemi]

My dad brought home some military .30-06 ammo from the "Great War"....about 1919.  I fired them in the 80s without a burp.  They were tarnished, but that was all.

Pete

[1armoured]

One needs to be careful, remember your melon isn't far removed from that bolt and chamber.


A friend, not long ago, fired some old 30-40 Krag.


The projectile with separated fused neck attached, lodged in the barrel throat.


The resulting pressure build up did some damage to both rifle and shooter.


The brass was probably corroded in a critical place, and fused to the projectile (how, I wouldn't know)


It does happen.


cheers,
SS

[ratdog]

i have been shooting ww2 brass about fifty years have made other calibers as well never cleaned them much till a year ago. i keep them trimmed and inspected. when necks split or get stretch marks they go in the scrap bucket.