Once fired brass sources

[dmills]

I am new to handloading and have a new 25-06 to practice on.  I have accumulated 80 cases once fired from my own rifle.  But the cost of 25-06 ammo is daunting and availability limited in retail stores.  Does anyone trust "once fired" brass sold online?  I would like to have about 500 cases available for reloading, but do not want to spend the $$ necessary to accumulate that much brass (at least $450.00) when I could purchase the 500 once fired cases for about $65.00. 

Of course, the other option is new brass, which would be about $140 for the 500.  Thanks.

[Don Fischer]

I'd buy new were I you. You likely have absolutely no need for 500 25-06 cases at one time. Think about how many you might shoot in one sitting. One new bag a month for 5 months doesn't amount to much and in five months you'll hav a supply that will last a long long time!

[dmills]

Thanks for the reply.  I see your point.  500 was just a random number.  Probably only need reserve of only 100 cases to begin and the more I think about it, buying some-one elses once fired brass is not a good idea anyway.

[the jigger]

i have had excellent experiences with blue star brass. he has new or once-fired. i have bought 25/06,22/250,280. and several pistol rounds. a couple of times i have requested a particular brand in once-fired and he has separated it out for me. i recommend him highly. i do suggest that you look at his site for availability and the call in your order.

[superhornet]

Southern Belle out of Tenn.   Remember one thing.....you can never have enough brass......

[PlacitasSlim]

I have purchase once fired brass many times on ebay with out any problems. I do read the reviews on the seller before making a bid. Also decide how much it is worth with the shipping and don't get caught in the bidding

[jasonprox700]

I have purchased military brass thru ebay with good results.  I picked up about 1,500 brass for my .223 with shipping for about $50.

[dmills]

I have purchase once fired brass many times on ebay with out any problems. I do read the reviews on the seller before making a bid. Also decide how much it is worth with the shipping and don't get caught in the bidding

Actually was not considering e-bay sources.  I was thinking about this one:

        http://www.deerfieldenterprises.com/

Southern Belle does not list 25-06 cases and Blue Star brass is actually more than prices at local retailers.

[TNrifleman]

Southern Belle out of Tenn.   Remember one thing.....you can never have enough brass......

I have also had excellent results with once fired brass from Southern Belle Brass. They get it from firearms manufactures.

[The Sodbuster]

Have used plenty of once-fired brass in my .25-06.  Some .25-06 brass I've picked up, but most of the brass I put through my rifle is the always plentiful .30-06 brass I resize to .25-06.  You might think twice about doing this if you also shoot a .30-06.

[beemanbeme]

"knock on wood", I've had good success buying 1x brass on Ebay.  Necking down 30-06 brass is a good idea as 30-06 brass is super cheap.  As posted, its not such a good idea if you also have a 30-06. 
If you have a commercial range near you, you might want to check with them.  They might have range pick ups for sale.
I usually buy my brass in lots of 100 and treat each lot as a "unit"-loading and firing all of the "unit" before I start over.  That way its easy for me to keep track of how many times I've fired the "unit', etc.

[dmills]

Ok, I could have gotten 30-06 from Southern Belle and necked it down.  But for same basic cost, I am getting 25-06 once fired winchester brass from Deerfield, which says its brass is testfired brass from the manufacturer.  I haven't seen any super cheap 30-06 brass anywhere. 

Since .270 brass is also derived from the 30-06, can you also neck it down to 25-06?
 

[The Sodbuster]

I haven't seen any super cheap 30-06 brass anywhere. 

Since .270 brass is also derived from the 30-06, can you also neck it down to 25-06?

If I was buying brass, then yeah, I'd get .25-06 brass too.  I only use the .30-06 brass because I pick up lots of it at the range where I shoot.  I've also necked down .270 Win brass for use in my .25-06.  I think it's a little longer than .30-06 since I usually have to trim it back more to get it to .25-06 spec' (.30-06 brass requires trimming too).  When sizing brass from other rifles for use in my rifle, I screw the sizing die in a little deeper than I would for brass that came from my own gun.  I also chamber the empty cases before I load them to make sure they'll fit my gun.