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In my quest to find less a expensive Canadian source for brass, I stumbled onto the Marstar website and wonder if anyone has tried their "once fired" brass.

It sounds like a good idea, but I've always found that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

While their prices are really low, they mention that there may be nickel coated brass included. Even if you had to throw out 1/3 of the cases, their price of $15.00/100 (for .308) is still a pretty good price for brass.

Does anyone have any experience with Marstar brass ?

Patrick

Try Higginsons

http://www.higginsonpowders.com/

why would you throw out nickel brass?

Nickle brass scratches the hell out of your dies. On high intensity cartridges like a .300 or .338 magnum, 200 rounds will ruin a set of dies.

Only if you don't keep your nickle brass clean and the dies you reload with.

I have been told to do just that, in the past. It could very well be an old wives tale.

At the moment there is a thread on that very topic in the reloading section and there is only one individual so far who has a negative opinion on nickel coated brass.

Patrick

The area where the nickle comes off is just ahead of the solid portion of the case head where alot of expansion takes place. While I tumble my brass everytime I use it, there is not much dirt on the case head. Belted mags, due to their case stretching are the worst offenders. Just my 2 cents.

What I would really like to know is if anyone has tried once fired brass and did you find it satisfactory ?

According to Marstar's website, brass is collected at firing ranges and sent to them, where it is sorted by calibre. What I can't figure out is how much of that brass has been discarded because it has already been reloaded eight or ten times. It seems to me that using it could be a dangerous way to save money.

I welcome your opinions.

Patrick

Mr. Moby1:
We�ve used plenty of once fired brass over the years, as well as the stuff we scrounged out of the big grey can at the Sportsman�s Bowl. When I was young and broke we had all sorts of ways to stretch a dollar when it came to supporting our shooting habits. It sounds like the price is close enough to try a batch.

If it were me, and I was going to try some, I�d order a batch or 2, clean it all first and then sort it by weight. I�d likely be conservative about really leaning on the reloads with the heavier .308 cases. IIRC, I sorted a large assortment of different brands of .308 cases that varied from 150gr to I think as much as 200gr.

If you are so inclined you can PM me if you have specific reloading queries. I�m not afraid to help if I can, or to say I don�t know either.

Regards,
Dwayne

I have not bought their once fired brass but I have dealt with Marstar in the past. They are good folks and you should not have any problems with them. They do offer an "Ironclad Guarantee" - if you are not happy with your purchase just let them know and they'll make things right one way or another. You should feel confident dealing with them.

You will know pretty quick, as soon as you seat the primer.

And, annealing the shoulder/neck aea is pretty ABC.

Ted