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Posted: 6/1/2015 10:07:50 AM EDT
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I have about 500 rds of Survivalops 50 bmg. So far it has been good to go with no issues on my Serbu BFG50A. I was wondering if I could save this brass to start reloading down the road. Thx for any answers. |
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Couple of ways to check the brass real quick.
Check the case mouth, any cracks on it? See any pinch marks on the case around the neck and shoulder area? These can be bad if the case actually cracked, if not cracked they usually flatten out when fired. After firing check the area again to make sure the case didn't split. Check the base of the case, if you can see two lines on it spaced evenly apart it was shot out of an M2. Not a bad thing you just need to do a better job of inspecting the case. Make a feeler, piece of wire that won't flex much. Try a cloths hanger for it and cut yourself about a 6-8" piece. Make one end into a point that can scrape the inside of the case. Then about 1/4" up bend it at a 90 degree angle. Insert into case and about a 1/2" up from the bottom run the point against the inside. If you feel a divot, void, valley.... toss the brass. It was shot through an M2 that wasn't headspaced properly. About the last issue, you can sometimes see the area I'm talking about. The best way is to have a new case, look inside of it with a good flashlight. You'll see how smooth the case is all the way to the bottom. Now look inside of your brass and inspect it. If it's really bad you'll actually see where it stretched and if you can see it, that's not good. Will the case fail? That's the question that you'll have to ask yourself. I've used them myself, one of the guys I shoot with asked me about the brass. I said it was some M2 stuff I picked up off the net and reloaded it. At the time I didn't know about checking the brass this way. So when I got home I did the check and sure enough it had a slight void right where he said. The case looked fine, didn't split after I had reloaded it but at the time brass was cheap and plentiful. Went through the lot and had to toss about 20% of it. Wasn't happy about it but I just couldn't shoot any more of it knowing what could happen. That and the fact that I dodged a bullet shooting some and none came apart. |
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I usually spin it around in the case to check it in multiple areas. If it's stretched it usually has an area all the way around the inside of the case.
I do like you, I just look down in the case with a flashlight. If it looks bad then I toss it or drag the tool over it. The 50 BMG case is so large that it's almost easier to look down into it. If you can get a hold of a bad case, make your own feeler gauge. Then run it down into the case to get a feel for bad cases. Last thing about buying ANY once fired brass. If it's from a private party you're not going to get a warranty on it. If it says it was fired in an M2 ask the seller if they will take it back if found to be bad. That's about the best you'll get on buying from a private party. If you buy from a company selling it, ask what kind of warranty they have. If they don't offer one I would pass or ask if they'll replace any bad ones you find. |
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and if you find bad cases Put them aside and use them for projects and maybe sell them or your own use.
for example If you have 4 bad cases Get 4 bullets to go with the case mount them to a section of nice wood and make a letter holder use two of them on the back of a section of wood and put a little lip on the other side and make a business card holder a key chain would be very easy to make with a dummy case and a carter pin If you take a dremal tool and cut two slits in the neck of the bad case (resized) you can use it as a gauge to find the overall leanth. Put a bullet in the split mouth then chamber the round, this will show you how deep to seat your bullets so they touch the rifling or you can set it back slightly so they will be off. |
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Quoted:
If you take a dremal tool and cut two slits in the neck of the bad case (resized) you can use it as a gauge to find the overall leanth. Put a bullet in the split mouth then chamber the round, this will show you how deep to seat your bullets so they touch the rifling or you can set it back slightly so they will be off. How long a cut do you do? Beats buying a tool. This I will try. |
Thanks a lot for the info...  It's sobering to realize how little I know about 50 bmg. I guess I'm scare to blow my head off with a bad case/round so I will probably keep asking dumb questions. You guys don't realize but it doesn't matter how much I read, those pieces of advice/tricks of the trade from those with experience are invaluable. You could read ten reloading manuals and still not know how not to kill yourself...  |
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Quoted:
Thanks a lot for the info...
It's sobering to realize how little I know about 50 bmg. I guess I'm scare to blow my head off with a bad case/round so I will probably keep asking dumb questions. You guys don't realize but it doesn't matter how much I read, those pieces of advice/tricks of the trade from those with experience are invaluable. You could read ten reloading manuals and still not know how not to kill yourself...
Feel free to contact me by PM or e-mail: [email protected] with your location. I will try to link you with a fellow FCSA member in your near area from which you could obtain proper training. I offer free training at my facility near Osceola, WI, just 40 miles from St Paul, MN. |
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