Used 38super brass

[redwoods]

I was thinking about putting a post in the classifieds for 9mm or 45acp for trade for 38 super or super comp brass. both used brass. I was thinking about getting some used 38 brass from those guys that have switched to 9mm.

Is it ok to shoot used 38 super brass, especially with the high pressures from the open guns?

I would be shooting it in my open guns.

Can you shoot 38 super till it cracks, or is there a certain number of times before you toss it?

Thanks,

Randy

[bgary]

Generally speaking, it is OK to shoot.

The things (in my experience) you want to watch for, besides cracks, are loose primer pockets and "smeared" headstamps. When you can't feel a primer seat on the press, it's time to toss the case... and a "smeared" headstamp generally indicates it has been abused and may be out of dimension.

Some cases tend to "bulge" at the bottom; this can usually be dealt with using an EGW undersized sizing die. Really bad ones can be rolled back into spec with a "case pro", but that's not usually necessary.

One other thing I do is manually check/sort every case. There are so many variants of "super", and some are not interchangeable. "super" has a semi-rim; lots of variants (38 supercomp, 9 supercomp, 9x21, Armscor rimless, Hornady 38TJ, etc) have different dimensions. So... one of the best things you can do, IMHO, to increase reliability is to sort them out.

$.02

Bruce

[al503]

If the original users loaded them correctly and didn't bell the mouths too much, then you should get ~7-20+ loadings, which will depend on the manufacturer, what kind of powder was used, bullet weight, etc.

If loaded properly the primer pockets will start to get loose before they will start to crack. A good way to tell is to tumble the rounds after they're loaded. Those with loose primer pockets will most likely lose their primer.

There is some debate about the safety of tumbling loaded rounds but if you're using a harder primer like WSR, then you probably won't have any issues. If you're using something like Fed SP primers, I probably wouldn't tumble them.

[lynn jones]

most everyone here that shoots 38super use used brass. i shoot the brass until i have trouble reading the headstamp.

lynn

[ipscbob]

I use new Starline supercomp cases and shoot them until I lose them. I do NOT use anyone elses cases. I RO lost brass matches quite a bit and have seen some truly scary looking smeared or blown primers from others. In god we trust......

[eric nielsen]

Used Super is fine, they last longer than 40cal Ltd cases for me.

Like bGary says, sort them out. I'd hang on to just 3 or 4 brands and let the other Supers go in the trash and let the rimless go to shooting buddies who use it.

Armscor/AP tends to get a very fat rim diameter sooner than the other brands. PMC is softer & thicker, tends to coke-bottle sooner, also gives velocities way higher than other brands.

Might not happen to you but my experience with tumbling rounds is that velocities go way up with many of the powders out there, especially V-V powders. "Tumbling wears the sealant off the outside of the powder grains" is what i've been told. If you WANT to tumble loaded rounds, chrono some identical loads: some that have been & some that haven't been tumbled & compare.

[uscbigdawg]

Bruce as usual nailed it. Nothing wrong with used Super brass. Of course, I have a Casepro and for me it just makes everything run a little happier and seemingly longer. Basically, you'll lose the brass before it ever cracks. Primer pockets usually go first though.

Rich

[Chris iliff]

I'm one of the guys that switched to 9mm, I'd mail u some of my 38 super if you got any nines. I'd have to count to see how many I have, but I'm thinking between 800-1200 pieces. I could be off on that though. let me know.

[SV_shooter]

Unless your one of the super squad and get your brass for free just for wearing their logo on your jersey, Used brass is just fine for most of us here. I am fairly new to progressive loaders and .38SA, but I have learned to separate brass by headstamp, and I rarely even buy once fired brass, or pick up others spent brass because you just never know if it is truly is fired 1x or not. If its your brass and you know how many times you fired it, then you know when to toss or leave it. Keep some unfired for major sectionals or nationals, then use it for practice or local/lost brass matches. 1000 new cases makes for at least 7-20k loads.

Seems like a bargain in comparison to the 5-10 loads of .40 or .45. its just very expensive start up, but well worth it in the end if you shoot enough.