Cases OK to reload?

[vanbuzen9]

Hi all,

I have been shooting my 9mm beretta all winter, and I finally went out today and picked up most of the brass from the ground.  I have every intention of buying a reloader soon, and I was wondering if these cases that have been sitting outside for a long while are good enough to reload.  All that I can see is some black discoloration on the outside of a few of them, and the rest of them are just dull in color (like old military rounds). Are there any other things I should know about? Any other safety concerns?

thanks,
Preston

[Flash]

There aren't any concerns at all. A solution of plain old Ketchup and Vinegar will clean the cases enough for use. Just rinse them well and dry them before loading.

[Questor]

I can think of a few:
1) If the case is so encrusted that it looks like it's got barnacles growing on it, just discard it. It's too much trouble to clean.
2) Learn to identify steel cases (they're brown) and don't use them. Learn to identify aluminum cases and don't use them. Especially don't try to remove the primers or you'll mess up the "decapping pin" in your die.
3) When loading 9mm be careful to get load data that matches the particular bullet you are using and be especially careful to heed the specifcation for overall length. Seating 9mm bullets too deep can cause pressures to go up dramatically.  If it were me, I'd even go so far as to load only one brand of brass so the pressure is consistent and safe.

[Catfish]

Do not use vinagar on your cases. It will clean them up real nice, but the acid in the vinagar will cause the brass to become brittle and you`ll only be able to load it once or twice.
   I would also recomand that you try to find someone in your area that has been reloading for a while to help you get started off right. It don`t take much to go from a safe load to one that will blow up a gun.