User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 8/15/2020 11:08:44 PM EDT
[#1]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 8/19/2020 8:24:40 PM EDT
[#2]
Thanks, I sent them a note. Did you use flat rate boxes for everything?
|
|
|
|
Posted: 8/19/2020 9:12:38 PM EDT
[#3]
I just tried Blue Ridge Brass and they have two large flat rate boxes of 5.56 right now. We’ll see how they do.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/6/2020 10:05:57 AM EDT
[#4]
Sent off some 223 for conversion to 300 BO and regular processing from M&S. Came back nice and shiny and pretty quick as well.
Also sent some 9 mm to M&S and some 45 ACP to Blue Ridge. The M&S 9 mm should be back on Tuesday and no comms yet from Blue Ridge. I can say Mario at M&S was quick to respond to inquires and they have exceeded their estimated turn around time. Thought I'd update the thread if anyone was looking for the service. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/6/2020 10:32:35 AM EDT
[#5]
Heard lots of good things about Blue Ridge Brass.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/6/2020 9:54:30 PM EDT
[#6]
M&S is awesome!
Been using them for a while now and they've always done a great job. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/6/2020 10:34:42 PM EDT
[#7]
Do they buy brass also? I pick up all good brass even if I don't shoot it. I figure now is as good as any to possible sell/trade it as any. I remember several years ago there was a brass processing site that would buy it, but I just wasn't that interested at the time.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/6/2020 10:46:51 PM EDT
[#8]
Get a CASE GAGE.
When your "processed" brass comes home, measure it to be sure it is right. I'm probably just jinxed. But, I've had SHIT LUCK with three separate episodes of "processed brass." It was all advertised as "resized." Yeah - it was "resized" alright. ALL DIFFERENT SIZES. I have no use for batches of resized brass where the base-to-shoulder dimension varies by 0.010" One outfit even sent me brass that was cockeyed. The necks all were severely at an off-angle from the center-axis of the case. I still haven't figured out how that is even possible. I complained to the proprietor that that the brass would not even chamber in my rifle. He right-out-of-his-ass declared that it was because I had a "too-tight" chamber. DAFUK??? |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/7/2020 12:27:17 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: One outfit even sent me brass that was cockeyed. The necks all were severely at an off-angle from the center-axis of the case. I still haven't figured out how that is even possible. I complained to the proprietor that that the brass would not even chamber in my rifle. He right-out-of-his-ass declared that it was because I had a "too-tight" chamber. DAFUK??? Their FL sizing die had a damaged / off-center expander ball. It'll turn every case into a banana as it's pulled back out through the neck. Best case, terrible runout but shootable blaster ammo. Worst case, the brass is trash. (One more reason to remove expander balls from sizing dies. All they do is cause problems.) |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/7/2020 12:53:27 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I just tried Blue Ridge Brass and they have two large flat rate boxes of 5.56 right now. We’ll see how they do. Just got my brass back. They did a great job and saved me boat load of time. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/7/2020 1:58:56 PM EDT
[#11]
Glad this is still a thing.
I have sent mine off for processing 15 years ago. It always came back great. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/7/2020 3:23:09 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Just got my brass back. They did a great job and saved me boat load of time. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: I just tried Blue Ridge Brass and they have two large flat rate boxes of 5.56 right now. We'll see how they do. Just got my brass back. They did a great job and saved me boat load of time. Would you care to say the price for how much brass? Am I wasting my time doing my own? |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/13/2020 10:53:55 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: @45-Seventy Would you care to say the price for how much brass? Am I wasting my time doing my own? @Dryflash3 $45/k Brass Processing form It’s worth it to me because my most precious commodity is time. If I were retired, it might not be. That being said, it saves me an absolute boatload of time. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/13/2020 12:48:04 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: @Dryflash3 $45/k Brass Processing form It's worth it to me because my most precious commodity is time. If I were retired, it might not be. That being said, it saves me an absolute boatload of time. Too rich for me, but everyone situation is different. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/22/2020 11:43:50 AM EDT
[#15]
I sent a large flat rate box of once-fired Wolf.
Hoping for a good outcome. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/23/2020 12:07:12 PM EDT
[#16]
Done
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/23/2020 1:13:55 PM EDT
[#17]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/23/2020 2:21:42 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When you factor in the cost of shipping your brass to them, their cost, and then the cost of shipping it back to you, you're looking at a healthy chunk of change. It won't take too many batches to pay for a good tumbler and Dillon swager that you buy once, cry once and then can save $$$. Yes, if your time is that precious, then maybe you can justify it but really, if it is then why reload at all? I can decap, resize, and trim 1,000 pieces of rifle brass in less than an hour and 2,000 pieces in just over 1 hrs without touching a single piece of brass. I can also swage 2,000 pieces of rifle brass to remove the crimp in less than 1 hrs too. They show USPS Priority Flat Rate Medium sized boxes holding 1 K of .223/5.56 rifle brass. At $13.20 each way plus their fee of $65, you've got a total cost of $91.40 or 6.1 per piece. If, like most of us, your net take home wages are about 60% of your gross, that means that you have to make close to $150/hr gross to offset the costs of sending your brass for processing vs spending the hour + time to do it yourself. I like the way I process brass. Gets done just the way I like, and that makes my happy.  I have about 5k prepped 223 brass stored in ammo cans for when I decide to load it. I don't figure time/money into my reloading time. It's hobby time for me, doing what I love. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/1/2020 5:27:59 PM EDT
[#19]
Update, everything that M&S did came back quick and looks great. Whatever they use to clean the brass did eat the nickel off a few 9 mm cases that were mixed into the bunch.
Blue Ridge has had my 45 ACP over a month and hasn't gotten to it yet from when I last reached out. Not what I expected after some of the reviews here and research. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/1/2020 5:54:59 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When you factor in the cost of shipping your brass to them, their cost, and then the cost of shipping it back to you, you're looking at a healthy chunk of change. It won't take too many batches to pay for a good tumbler and Dillon swager that you buy once, cry once and then can save $$$. Yes, if your time is that precious, then maybe you can justify it but really, if it is then why reload at all? I can decap, resize, and trim 1,000 pieces of rifle brass in less than an hour and 2,000 pieces in just over 1 hrs without touching a single piece of brass. I can also swage 2,000 pieces of rifle brass to remove the crimp in less than 1 hrs too. They show USPS Priority Flat Rate Medium sized boxes holding 1 K of .223/5.56 rifle brass. At $13.20 each way plus their fee of $65, you've got a total cost of $91.40 or 6.1 per piece. If, like most of us, your net take home wages are about 60% of your gross, that means that you have to make close to $150/hr gross to offset the costs of sending your brass for processing vs spending the hour + time to do it yourself. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Thanks for the answer. Too rich for me, but everyone situation is different. Yes, if your time is that precious, then maybe you can justify it but really, if it is then why reload at all? I can decap, resize, and trim 1,000 pieces of rifle brass in less than an hour and 2,000 pieces in just over 1 hrs without touching a single piece of brass. I can also swage 2,000 pieces of rifle brass to remove the crimp in less than 1 hrs too. They show USPS Priority Flat Rate Medium sized boxes holding 1 K of .223/5.56 rifle brass. At $13.20 each way plus their fee of $65, you've got a total cost of $91.40 or 6.1 per piece. If, like most of us, your net take home wages are about 60% of your gross, that means that you have to make close to $150/hr gross to offset the costs of sending your brass for processing vs spending the hour + time to do it yourself. I've used both and will continue to do so............... As the other poster said, my time is valuable and I get the same result: quality reloads, without wasting my valuable time. I figure the costs differently than you. You don't want to ..................Great! To each is own. You've spent your money on high volume reloading gear.......... Great! Enjoy. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/4/2020 9:50:52 AM EDT
[#21]
I would like to use a brass processing service, however I have all my brass sorted by headstamp. I contacted two different companies and asked about keeping them separated, they both said no. They said it would all be mixed together, processed, and I would have to sort them back out when I got it back.
Sorry, but that is no Bueno for me. If it was a few hundred, not so bad, but with a couple K, ugh... |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/4/2020 7:03:01 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I would like to use a brass processing service, however I have all my brass sorted by headstamp. I contacted two different companies and asked about keeping them separated, they both said no. They said it would all be mixed together, processed, and I would have to sort them back out when I got it back. Sorry, but that is no Bueno for me. If it was a few hundred, not so bad, but with a couple K, ugh... Jeeps shoot me a PM. I doubt you'll find anyone who will keep them separate. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/4/2020 7:05:41 PM EDT
[#23]
Wait until you have enough of one headstamp to justify sending that lot as a single batch.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/4/2020 7:21:39 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I would like to use a brass processing service, however I have all my brass sorted by headstamp. I contacted two different companies and asked about keeping them separated, they both said no. They said it would all be mixed together, processed, and I would have to sort them back out when I got it back. Sorry, but that is no Bueno for me. If it was a few hundred, not so bad, but with a couple K, ugh... Send one batch and then the other???? |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/4/2020 7:38:50 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Send one batch and then the other???? I was going to say the same thing, then I realized he most likely has a bunch of baggie-of-this, and baggie-of-that. No practicality or economy in mailing-off small baggies of brass. Wait until you have AT LEAST 1000 of something before mailing. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 9:21:11 AM EDT
[#26]
Sent a medium FRB to M&S, 10 days from mailing to return yesterday. Just did a quick random sampling, all necks appear straight and COL is 1.741- 1.743 with one oddball at 1.751. Primer pockets look good and they're shinier than anything I do here. For the record, shiny is nice but I'm more concerned with clean/smooth.
 Attached FileSome from the bag that didn't fit, these go next.  Attached FileThe end result. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 1:04:41 PM EDT
[#27]
Did you want your brass over trimmed?
Normal trim to length is 1.750. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 1:15:50 PM EDT
[#28]
I understand the want or need to avoid the resizing labor, the problem is I don't trust production houses to hold my standards. I'm not saying I'm better, I just have gages and am able to hold a consistent dimension that is set by me, not an outside vendor.
I also want to inspect every case for issues, something a mass production outfit has a harder time doing. I listen to music when I reload, it passes the time and makes it more enjoyable. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 1:22:25 PM EDT
[#29]
Tagged for interest
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 8:02:34 PM EDT
[#30]
Just paid the invoice for Blue Ridge Brass processing 1610 pieces of Wolf once-fired (crimped primer) .223 brass (large USPS flat rate box).
$89.04 return-shipped. Of course I had to pay the shipping to get it there. Will post more info when it arrives back home. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 8:46:29 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Did you want your brass over trimmed? Normal trim to length is 1.750. Normal trim length is 1.750, but anything 1.740 to 1.760 is acceptable. I'm ok with them. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 8:56:24 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I understand the want or need to avoid the resizing labor, the problem is I don't trust production houses to hold my standards. I'm not saying I'm better, I just have gages and am able to hold a consistent dimension that is set by me, not an outside vendor. I also want to inspect every case for issues, something a mass production outfit has a harder time doing. I listen to music when I reload, it passes the time and makes it more enjoyable. I'm not saying anything about how anyone else does their brass, if you have the time go for it. If I had the time I would too, but I've been working on the same 1000 cases for about 3 months. Still doing those, just about done. But there's another few thousand waiting, and I'm also working on a build and driving an hour each way to see my son. He takes priority, and he loves to shoot. Kids scary good with my S&W Model 10, and he loves using up my bunny fart loads. He saw I was reloading for an AR, now he's all fired up to help build it. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/6/2020 10:25:00 PM EDT
[#33]
After re-sizing over 100,000 cases in my basement, and pushing age 60, my joints appreciate a rest.
I still gotta seat the primer and the bullet. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/10/2020 9:05:38 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I was going to say the same thing, then I realized he most likely has a bunch of baggie-of-this, and baggie-of-that. No practicality or economy in mailing-off small baggies of brass. Wait until you have AT LEAST 1000 of something before mailing. I have between 100 and 500 of each specific headstamp. 100 is the smallest amount I have of any one. I went through and counted. I have around 1800-1900 pieces. I have actually been contacted by a couple different members who are willing to process them for me and keep the separate (for reasonable prices). I have been working out the details with them. So it is working out ok for me. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/16/2020 5:46:21 PM EDT
[#35]
Blue Ridge Brass returned home today.
Looks good. Review at https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/Blue-Ridge-Brass-223-processing-success/42-517023/ |
|
|
|
Posted: 11/22/2020 8:50:21 AM EDT
[#36]
It took Blue Ridge almost 3 months, two different invoices (did I really want my processed small primer shipped back?) and a fiasco of USPS return shipping for me to get my 45 ACP back. It is clean and shiny, it came back with a bonus primed 308 case in the mix.
I understand when you have equipment issues, but I consistently had to reach out to them to find out why 5-10 days turned to 3 freaking months. No proactive communications. Bad customer experience, one and done, won't use them again. |
|
|
|
Posted: 1/5/2021 3:44:27 PM EDT
[#37]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 1/5/2021 6:12:34 PM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted: It took Blue Ridge almost 3 months, two different invoices (did I really want my processed small primer shipped back?) and a fiasco of USPS return shipping for me to get my 45 ACP back. It is clean and shiny, it came back with a bonus primed 308 case in the mix. I understand when you have equipment issues, but I consistently had to reach out to them to find out why 5-10 days turned to 3 freaking months. No proactive communications. Bad customer experience, one and done, won't use them again. Today I got 1900+ pieces of 5.56 back. I shipped it to BRB on October 27. Because turnaround was so quick on the previous transaction, I sent an email in early December to check on status. Got no personal reply. However, I did receive this general-notification email from BRB on December 21: 2020 Update As of right now our brass processing service is running about 4-6 week wait times. We are not accepting any more 308 orders for the remainder of 2020. The reason for the long wait times is because of the large volume of 223 and 9mm that we've been processing. Also, other caliber like 300 blk and 40 we don't have dedicated machines for, so we have to change a machine to run them. If we have not responded to your email, we're sorry we are inundated with calls and emails everyday. We simply can not respond to everyone. Thank you very much for keeping us busy throughout the year and from our family to yours we hope you have a very merry Christmas! I'm OK with that. I'm all caught up on my once-fired brass now. So, I'm not sure when I will have the need to send out any more brass. I'll do my own processing of twice+ fired brass. My main reason for using a service was to get the trim and swage. The sizing was just a bonus. I don't trim again after the first trim. After third firing, the brass goes in the recycle bucket. All that said, I'd definitely use BRB again. Cost (note you pay your own shipping to get it there - and you pay also for return shipping) 223 processing 1935pcs 1 × 87.10 USD card processing fee 1 × 3.09 USD Subtotal 90.19 USD Shipping 16.00 USD TOTAL 106.19 USD Also note, trim-length this time was 1.754 (previous lot came back 1.750) |
|
|
|
Posted: 1/7/2021 9:44:40 PM EDT
[#39]
One thing I should have mentioned in my prior post.
Looks like this batch was sized base-to-shoulder a little more than the last batch. Measurement taken by using RCBS Precision Mic case gage. In the RCBS Precision Mic case gage, Forster "GO" gage (1.464" dimension) measures nominally at -0.0015 in the Precision Mic. By comparison, a round of Federal M193 measures nominally at -0.002 in the Precision Mic. The brass that came back from BRB had the shoulder pushed back to nominally -0.005 in the Precision Mic. The first batch was about 0.002" tighter headspace than this second batch. So, the shoulder in the BRB brass is pushed back 0.003" farther than a round of M193. This 0.003"might annoy the purist. 0.003" is the amount of "slop" in the headspace dimension when the round is chambered in your rifle. I doubt it matters for service rifle. I'll test some to see if I can see any difference in the accuracy on the reduced 600-yard target posted at 200 yards. If you are trying to visualize how much is 0.003", pick up one of those spent primers from the floor of your reloading room. Look at the mouth of the primer cup so you can see how thick it is. If it's a small rifle primer, the cup is between 0.020" and 0.025" The amount of slop of your chambered round is only 15% of the "thickness" of that primer cup. As Beavis would say, "That's not that much really" <removed> please leave the memes in GD. dryflash3 |
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
