Gifted 308 Brass

[wabashman]

Good morning,

Backstory....

So a coworker brought in an entire large cat litter bucket of 308 brass (and a 1/4 full bucket of 7.62x54R) yesterday and gave them to me. He is moving to a smaller house and this stuff was his dads before he passed and has no need for it as he only hunts via muzzle loader. So he has no real knowledge of the history, shot count, etc.

The 54R brass had a nice piece of paper stating trimmed, and ready to reload. It also chambers in my Mosin just fine, so no issues with it.

Issues with 308....

The brass is a mix of Lake City 83, 85, 86, & TZ 83.

I've never heard of TZ 83 and after doing some Google searching, everything I've found relates to TZ80 being horrible brass/ammo to begin with.

Original owner had a really cool home made case gauge out of what appears to be some ballistic gel. The kid and I went through the majority of the bucket and they all drop in and hit the 'base' of the gauge just fine, so I believe they are trimmed just fine. And they all have a consistent, good OAL per my reloading manuals.

But as you can see from the pics below, some are straight up missing flash holes. And some of the LC brass has what appears to be an extremely deep firing pin strike where the flash hole should be located at? So I'm not really sure what to make of the flash-less holed brass. Scrap it? Drill a flash hole? Use a universal decapper to make the flash holes?


Any and all assistance, info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Woobie]

I forget off the top of my head what the flash hole size is, but if you have number and letter drill bits, you can set up a jig and drill your flash holes. Then deburr them.

 

[wabashman]

Woobie,

That's what I figured as well. I could just use one of my 'factory' 308 cases for the basis in case any of the LC brass I was given had been drilled out, but wasn't sure if this was a good plan to go through with. This is the first time I've encountered brass with no flash hole at all.

 

[Woobie]

I bought some Winchester .308 brass a few years back with double punched flash holes. Had to throw away about 10% because the flash hole was a figure 8.

What are you doing with this brass?

 

[Woobie]

Large primers have a .080" flash hole. A #46 drill bit is .081".

 

[wabashman]

Woobie,

Thanks for the drill bit size.

Was able to get a little more info from the gift giver. Only the 54R was from his dad. The 308 was actually from his stepson that acquired it from Precision Cartridge years ago. And upon looking at the TZ stuff again, it almost appears that it has never been used. There are no clear crimp marks around the top of the neck, scratches, etc. So perhaps this was bought straight from TZ before it was drilled for flash holes? Would make sense since the stepson and his biological father did competition accuracy shooting.

As to what I'm doing with the brass, was just planning on reloading for my Rem 700 and AR10 for general plinking.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Woobie,

Thanks for the drill bit size.

Was able to get a little more info from the gift giver. Only the 54R was from his dad. The 308 was actually from his stepson that acquired it from Precision Cartridge years ago. And upon looking at the TZ stuff again, it almost appears that it has never been used. There are no clear crimp marks around the top of the neck, scratches, etc. So perhaps this was bought straight from TZ before it was drilled for flash holes? Would make sense since the stepson and his biological father did competition accuracy shooting.

As to what I'm doing with the brass, was just planning on reloading for my Rem 700 and AR10 for general plinking.

I would say that your hunch about the flash holes and match shooting is correct. Also, the info Wobbie gave you is spot on. Drill the flash holes and have fun with your free brass.

 

[wabashman]

AMA,

Thank you for confirming my hunch. And I will for sure have fun with this free brass. Came at a good time as I was going to order some 308 and 30-06 next month.

 

[Woobie]

Congrats on the free brass! If you get serious about target shooting, it might be worthwhile to sort the brass, but if you're plinking I wouldn't worry about. Have fun!

 

[wabashman]

Once the kids get older and can partake in shooting something other than the 22 I'd like start more target shooting than plinking. But time does not allow that currently.

Once again, thanks for the help guys.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Theres a big write up about the TZ80 brass over on M14 Forum - M14 Forum for M14 M1A Rifles in the ammunition section, its a sticky at the top.
I had a piece split across the primer pocket up into the web. It blew so hard it blew the rest of the ammo out the bottom of the mag on my M1a

 

[wabashman]

Theres a big write up about the TZ80 brass over on M14 Forum - M14 Forum for M14 M1A Rifles in the ammunition section, its a sticky at the top.
I had a piece split across the primer pocket up into the web. It blew so hard it blew the rest of the ammo out the bottom of the mag on my M1a

well.....that sucks to say the least. I'll have to read it to see if it's all TZ brass or just the 80 marked.

Appreciate the info red.

 

[Cerberus]

If it were me, I would sort out all the LC that has the flash holes, and the LC that don't. Set aside the pile that is missing the hole until you can find someone with a lathe. If you have a lathe then drill away. If the TZ is suspect, toss it.

 

[wabashman]

If it were me, I would sort out all the LC that has the flash holes, and the LC that don't. Set aside the pile that is missing the hole until you can find someone with a lathe. If you have a lathe then drill away. If the TZ is suspect, toss it.

Now that is a great idea and only requires a 200 yard walk out to the barn. That would be way easier than the jig I was going to make for the drill press to keep the FH centered up. Line the tailstock up with the chuck in it and be done with it.

Thanks! found my weekend project now.