My beef with the phrase "once fired brass"

I have an inherited cheap Italian .25 Auto. The way I avoid reloading for it is I never shoot it. I shot it once at about the age of 9, and that was uninteresting enough. I inherited it with most of the same box of ammo I shot a few rounds from back then that was still with it, so I don't think Grandpa was all that thrilled with his purchase, either.
 
I believe that's probably par for the course, as well, 44 AMP.
...But I am (obviously?) abnormal. I refuse to own something that I'm unwilling to fire at least somewhat regularly.

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Unclenick - Similar story with the Chinese "Mauser" .32 Auto. When I inherited it, I received half a dozen boxes of ammo. A few were '90s production, but two partial boxes were from the '70s - and the same ammo that I always saw being fired in it when I was a kid. (I was never allowed to fire the pistol then, as it was [legitimately] considered too dangerous. It didn't help that, at that time and before a repair, it was known for randomly running away and dumping the mag. :eek:)
What I always get a chuckle out of is the newest box of ammo that came with it...

I know I've talked about the pistol before, but I don't expect anyone to remember.
So, keep in mind that this is a hand-made semi-auto from some 'back alley' in Western China, assumed to have been made some time between 1942 and 1950; and, when looked at by anyone that understands firearm design, was clearly made by someone that didn't have a clue about how firearms operate or understand the purpose of certain parts/assemblies. It's amazing that the thing works at all. It's a dog. It's unreliable. It's all mild steel (except, possibly, the barrel). The entire pistol is held together with soft steel pins. It is arguably dangerous. It has, if I remember correctly, a 1:2.8" rate of twist with an ACME-ish thread in the barrel. And more....
It is highly questionable ... and rarely fired.

So, that last box of ammo?
Hornady Custom 60 gr XTP 'defense' ammo.
A family member, whom I have not identified yet, gifted that box of Hornady ammo to my grandfather so he could use the questionable, dangerous, and unreliable Chinese novelty for concealed carry. :rolleyes::D
They clearly didn't understand what they were suggesting.

(My grandfather was an idiot in some respects, but he wasn't dumb enough to carry that pistol.)
 
FrankenMauser,

It seems to me some British ordnance engineers once figured out that a twist rate of six calibers was about the limit for a gun still being able to fire. That would be just under 2" for the .32, so you are, uhhh, safe? ;)

That is a piece for a never-shoot-'em collector, for sure.
 
Ditto, Baby Browning, didn't figure it would shoot as the firing pin sound was lame. My brother told me it was normal, shot it, cool, family relic (not heirloom) back in the safe with what rounds came with it and he gave me.

(for those who don't know, and I didn't until I got one, the P.38 ejects to the left!!)

No I did not and it makes sense it was a German who decided to go other direction (I can say that, I am pure German decent if there is such a thing) - I also have a fine VW that had the worlds worst oil pump balance module thingy setup (since fixed with the new improved gear upgrade)
 
The ancestors of your Volkswagen engineers built a turretless "tank" with 200mm frontal armor, a high velocity 71 caliber 88mm gun, gasoline engines driving generators to power electric motors for drive, and NO machineguns!

When used in a breakthrough role, they got slaughtered by Soviet infantry!

After the war they also built some fairly utilitarian, but pretty decent sports cars and racing machines.

Porsche...
 
A reloader purchases once fired cases and then it become one of those 'and then' moments. And then he sizes and de-primes the cases, not me, things around here never gets that slow.

F. Guffey
 
Really, how can you have a honest gun collection without at least one 25 acp? Have a Baby Browning, that I shot twice.

Can not pass up free brass on the ground, and am in process of condemning my heirs with 5 gallon buckets full of it. Last time that some was sorted and cleaned, got almost 1000 380 acp cases and several 100 32 acp.

As a public service to the fat, old and bald boys, our range would certainly appreciate any scrappers to come and clean up the pistol range on consistent basis. Save us what little use of our knees/backs we got left.

Even bought some .40 pistols, just to use all the .40 brass picked up.
 
I have noticed that people selling brass have added the the phrase "At Least" to the once fired brass. Because they really don't know how many times it has been fired.

I have purchased cases from one firing range; they allowed me to sort through bins of cases. I paid 8 cents each with 10 free for ever one hundred. I understand that is confusing to most but the sorting had to do with the length of the cases from the shoulder to the case head. I was looking for cases that had been fired in trashy old chambers.

Trashy old chambers!:eek: Yes, manufacturers of components do not make cases for reloaders that know what they are doing. I determine the length of the chamber first and then size cases to fit; problem, cases start out as being minimum length/full length sized. That means the case must be fired to fit, I allow others to fire first. I love those trashy old chambers.

I have one rifle with a trashy old chamber, again if I fire factory minimum length/full length sized ammo in that rifle I start out with .011" clearance. Instead of fireforming I start out by forming. I form 280 Remington cases to 30/06 by adjusting the die off the shell holder .014" to obtain the magic .002" clearance. The rifle was part of a controversy between smiths, there was one that knew what he was doing and the others did not have a clue.

Back to my rifle with a long chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face: Even with .016" clearance the case does not stretch when shooting minimum length/full length sized cases. I could fire new ammo in the rifle but I choose not to use cases that are short from the end of the neck to the case head; I am the fan of covering the chamber with the case.

Again: I have formed and fire formed wildcat cases that shortened .045" from the end of the neck to the case head.

F. Guffey
 
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