[westcoaster222]

Hi again all,

I have received a bunch of brass from my grandfather as part of him selling his old house. Here is what I have:
- once fired 7mm Rem Mag brass(PMC, Federal) 60 total
- unfired 7mm (PMC and Federal) about 50
- unfired .264 Rem Mag (Western Star) 100 rounds

I know its not a ton of brass but its a start. So I guess my question is this, what to do? I was thinking about a .308 for longer range shooting and hunting, but would already having brass make the 7mm an easy choice? OR with that brass, I read a bit about forming .350 Rem Mag from 7mm, and the more ammo I have for my Model 600 in .350 the better. What about .264 Rem Mag for a rifle caliber? Or trade it for brass/ammo for current calibers?

Kind of an out there question, just thought I would ask,

Cheers and hope your summers are going well.

 

[MikeG]

Toss the Federal stuff. It has a tendency to be way too soft for reloading. So right there, you don't have much of an investment in 7mm brass.

While you could do serious target shooting with a 7mm, odds are you'd have much greater success with a .308. Plenty of good advice and tips and loads from folks who have already been there and done that.

The .264 would be quite the long range gun for deer and such. But I doubt you'd find too many for sale.

Bottom line, get what you want, you don't have enough brass that it should affect your decision one way or the other.

 

[264shooter]

what current calibers do you reload for?

 

[westcoaster222]

what current calibers do you reload for?

I load .30-06, .38SP, .357 Mag and .350 Rem Mag currently

Cheers,

 

[tibbee97]

Just my thoughts, but I would keep it all. If you have a friend that reloads for any of them then give it to your friend. If not, then hang on to it. New firearms seem to be attracted to empty brass and maybe it will attract some new firearms for you.
Mike, I have heard and read that about Federal brass many times. I have reloaded Fed 300 win mag several times (I think 4 times max)with no problems yet but I do not push it. I reload 38, 357 and 45 acp and colt Federal many times also. I do not buy it to reload. I usually buy Starline, but I save all the brass I can just in case I need it in future. Do you throw away all your once fired Federal brass?

 

[MikeG]

I've had mixed results. Some nickel-plated .338 Win Mag has given me no trouble. Other Federal stuff was so soft that rims were in danger of being pulled off while doing ordinary reloading tasks. The only case I ever stuck in a die was, you guessed it, Federal. Also the only factory loads that ever gave me pressure signs were Federal. Don't know how to tell the difference so I just avoid it for rifles (other than the .338 stuff I know is good).

Oddly enough the most accurate ammo I've ever fired in both my .338 and my .35 Rem is, you guessed it..... Federal. So I wish they would get their act straightened out!

Would imagine that the handgun loads are at enough lower of a pressure level that they cause fewer problems? I don't know for sure and that's my speculation.

Same with any component, start low and work up. If you have to use it, you have to use it.

 

[bruceissippi]

I seem to have very good success with Federal brass. Nickel-plated .300 Weatherby and .338 Win Mag, plain 30-06, 270, 7mm Rem Mag, 243, 223, 45-70, 41 Mag, and 44 mag

All with no problems and good case life.
To be fair, though - Remington, Winchester, Hornady, S&B, Prvi, IMI, PMC, Norma, and Weatherby ( that is Norma again, isn't it ) have all been reliable for me, too.

Only brass I've had problems with has all been foreign - Igman 6.5x55 and French 50 BMG remanufactured ( poorly ) by Summit.

 

[TMan]

I owned and used three different 7mm Magnums over about 30 years, and shot elk, mule deer, whitetails and antelope. They all shot well, but were not spectacular for accuracy.

I sold my last 7RM, and bought a .280 Remington M700 Mtn Rifle. It weighs 2lbs less, and lucky for me, has been very accurate with 139gr/154gr Hornady SP's and 140gr Sierra's.

Myself, I'd swap the brass with somebody with a supply of .270/.280. The .270 is to the .264 as the .280 is to the 7RM. Both are usually more accurate, cheaper to feed, and lighter to carry.

But hey, it's your brass