brass made since the '60's.  I have a friend who has access to three 55 gallon barrels of once-fired WWII manufactured brass that's just been sitting in this other guys warehouse forever.  Growing up about 3 miles from the plant that produced all the Des Moines stamped (DM) .50 ammo I'd like to have it for my own personal use.  Anything to look for with this old of brass other than the obvious rust (supposedly none) and other things?  Didn't know if the older brass was better quality or suffered in quality due to the war time demands or the fact it was all fired from a .50 machine gun.  My friend has reloaded some of his brass 10-12 times without any problems but don't know if it was older or more modern brass.  Hey Sniper...I'm sure to be hearing from you about this since you're close to Ankeny as well!

The conditions of the warehouse and where it is located would be good thing to know. Years it was made, where it was made, and how it looks now.  I have 10 rnds of DM ammo for presentation my Grandpa and Aunt both worked their back in the day.   I'll try and get ahold of you tomorrow if I can.

I knew you'd be responding once you got back from the Hun Farm, Thumper said you'd just left the day before to go down there.  It's my understanding that the warehouse is climate controlled and down south of here a state or two.  The condition is once-fired and is supposed to be in real good shape.  As far as where and what years I don't know, but it's supposedly all WWII manufacture and with three 55 gallons barrels of it there's bound to be plenty of what we're looking for.  Considering we don't reload yet and I still don't have a .50, I figure we'll still be ahead of the game.  I did buy an additional 500 .50 maroon tip projectiles and will be getting an additional 500-1,000 AP as well as about 1,500-2,000 API.  I've got plenty of all the other .50 ammo for now as the prices on them are too steep for me right now to buy anymore.  I think a big bulk buy of primers is next on the list of to do things which would just leave powder to purchase (and the .50)!

It's ALL bad!  I'll have my grandmother in Des Moines come by and pick it up to get it off your hands!

Seriously, as long as the brass is not corroded you should be fine.  The other catch will be how out of spec it is from being fired in an MG.  Depending how on the headspace when fired, you may have some brass that you just cant squeeze back with resizing.  While Im not using WWII brass, the majority of mine is from the early 50's and Ive had no problems.

Also, be carefull of buying pulled bullets.  If there pulled with a collet puller, they may be out of round and require resizing or you to go thru and check each one for roundness.  If theyve been pulled buy using air, you are good to go.  ALWAYS ask before you buy 50 bullets - the "deal" may not be that good.  You can look at the bullets and see if they have collet marks.

Other than the joy of reloading and self reliance, I fine the talon ball to be cheaper than reloading depending on the deal I get.  I may save 10-20 cents reloading but the ball shoots so well in my AR50 that thats what I mostly shoot.