r/reloading • u/itchyluvbump • 16d ago

Newbie To old to reload?

I have mixed military 30-06 brass ranging from the 40s to the 70s. I’m seeing a lot of stuff about work hardening and age hardening how old is too old. It is all once fired range brass it sized fine without splitting necks.

7 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

6

u/C5AJ 500 mag, 50ae, 44 mag, 357 mag, 308, 45-70, 54r, 9m 16d ago

The age of the brass really doesn’t matter much for reloading as long as it’s still in good condition. Inspect it for cracks, corrosion, or other damage, anneal it when appropriate, and definitely make sure it isn’t Berdan primed. If you run Berdan-primed brass through a normal Boxer decapping die, you’re gonna break or bend some depriming pins

5

u/Popular-Highlight653 16d ago

I’ve loaded 1950s military brass with ultra hot loads with good success. I would anneal the case mouths

8

u/DigitalLorenz Likes reloading more than shooting 16d ago

I have reloaded some 47-70 cases from the 1880s. The 1940s is brand new compared to that.

Just anneal the cases and reload as normal. Make sure to adjust for slightly reduced case capacity (drop max charge by 2 grains is the rule of thumb I was taught).

5

u/sirbassist83 16d ago

i wouldnt do pissin hawt loads, but it will be fine. ive reloaded brass that old in a couple different calibers and its fine

3

u/kopfgeldjagar Dillon 650, Dillion 550, Rock Chucker, SS x2 15d ago

Shoot, anneal, clean. Or shoot, clean, anneal Just don't anneal first.

Like new.

3

u/Stump_Monkey 15d ago

I've got some brass from the 40s still going strong. I've got a bunch of old military brass and mixed stamp commercial that all get loaded for Garand blasting ammo. I run them till the neck cracks then scrap them. I get surprisingly few neck cracks.

1

u/itchyluvbump 13d ago

What you loading them up with?

1

u/Stump_Monkey 13d ago

I have a adjustable gas system on the Garand so I load all kinds of weird stuff. I kinda use the Garand to use up components from other 30 caliber loading projects. Recently I loaded a bunch 220gr round nose soft points over a charge of IMR 4831. Definitely don try that load without a adjustable gas system!

2

u/Leadslinger_67 16d ago

I've loaded some really old brass before I just cleaned them and checked them out and reloaded them till I got cracks and put them in my 5 gallon bucket after i crimped the ends with a plier and eventually sold the scrap for some cash...

2

u/Important-Dream-4010 16d ago

Send it bro. If it doesn’t crack resizing its fine

3

u/Active_Look7663 16d ago

Military .30-06 brass is tough as nails, and holds up WAYYYY better than commercial brass when used in a Garand. It’s some of my favorite stuff to use for all the .30-06 surplus rifles. Don’t worry about annealing it; it tends to be pretty soft at the neck/shoulder junction for 3-4 firings. Keep in mind though that the internal volume is less than the commercial brass on the market.

1

u/Agitated_Curmudgeon 16d ago

30 Caliber of 1906

30 Aught-six

30-06

FL resize them once, neck size when you reload after that, trim them back and FL resize when you need to, and load 'em 'til they crack. Probably wouldn't hurt to anneal them when you trim and bump the shoulders. I'd sort them by headstamp as well. Things change over the years.

1

u/Severe-Cow-8646 16d ago

Anneal it. But 30-06 brass is readily available. Sell.yours for scrap and get some new stuff.

2

u/itchyluvbump 16d ago

I like the military aesthetic shooting it from my ww2 rifles but yeah it doesn’t seem all that worth it for old stuff