I ordered a 300 AAC SBR/Suppressor about a month ago and was too smitten of the idea of having it to pay attention to costs or availability on the ammo so I thought that while I wait on it I would start looking into reloading. Of course, I am only looking into it. I don't plan on doing any until I get the gun for testing.

My question is on gunbroker.com I found someone selling Lake City Brass that is already cut and primed for 300 AAC. I emailed the seller asking what primers were used and he said he had no idea. He guessed it was Federal since it came from Lake City. Wouldn't you want to know what you are selling? Seems odd to me.

cost is more than doing it yourself but would still significantly lower my cost per rd compared to the best price i found on subsonic ammo.

I don't like buying anything to do with handloading already done. Past that if it was done in a good manner as long as your not trying to achieve bench rest accuracy I don't think it will make much difference.

In my hunting rounds I have shot federal, Winchester, Remington, and CCI primers interchangeably without any observed effects on accuracy or POI.

I'd want to know whether the primers are crimped. That's a PITA to deal with.

Lake City that used to be 5.56mm sized for 300 BLK is what I presume he's buying. The military crimp should be gone, already. At least that's how I understand it. Yes removing that crimp sucks! Good activity to perform at the fire station on a weekend.

Can you explain the crimp? Not familiar with that.
Thanks

Military brass has a crimp around the primer, much like you crimp bullets into casings. You have to remove the crimp to get the used primer out. If the blackout ammo has been fired sized and re-primed, the crimp has already been removed.

Oh, I see. Thanks

Depriming a crimped primer takes just a little more effort and it's not that big a deal. You always have to do that when you get once-fired 5.56 brass anyway.

I've accidentally reprimed a few LC cases that did not have the crimp removed so I know it's possible. I sure wouldn't want to punch primers into two or three hundred of them, though. It takes too much effort in the sense that it might damage the primer by distorting the cup, and there's the possibility one might go off. So, if you're too lazy you can skip the removal of the crimp and still manage to reprime. If you don't know who did the case forming, you can't really know what you're getting. As JG says, the crimp SHOULD be gone, but that's assuming the conversion was done properly.

I am a bit confused. These claim to have new primers in them already. Isn't the crimped issue with removing the spent primer?

No. To remove the crimp you have to punch out the spent primers first. The crimp makes it very difficult to seat new primers, and that is why you want the crimp removed.

The crimp is an issue with removing the spent primers, but much more with re-priming with a new primer. I didn't even know it could be re-primed with the crimp in place, as I've always removed it before trying. Military brass has an extra ring of brass outside the primer to make darn sure the primer stays in the brass, think full auto fire. Punch the spent primers out, then use a reemer to remove that little ring of brass that was there, then reprime the brass. Lake City is heavy duty, and thicker than civilian brass. If a water bottle is 3/4 full, and you squeeze it, the water rises toward the top. One powder charge in civilian brass will fill closer to the bullet in military brass.

You can find primed brass that has the primer crimped in. If you plan to reload it, you will have to remove the primer crimp. If you don't have a crimp removing tool or device, then it can be a PITA to mess with.

It's not uncommon for suppliers to sell primed brass, and the seller not know what primer was used. Often times it's pulled brass or brass that has been sold several times. Yes, I think it is important to know, but a lot of sellers don't. I have some OEM dealer places I buy from, and they do not know what primer was used. Depending on the source, it's often a military grade primer.

Thanks, I am starting out with an order from you. Looking at the listing it did mention mil-spec primer.

Looking at another that does not have primer, they mention primer has been pocket swagged. Does that mean decrimped?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=383770153

Yes, I saw your order- Thank you! I'll get it shipped either today or Thursday (at the latest).

My brass is easily reloadable, with the primer crimp removed, so you can re-use them. Yes, the primer pocket "swagged" means they removed the crimp, hopefully fully. Sometimes a supplier does not fully remove the crimp. A simple crimp removal cutting tool chucked up into a hand held drill will work very well, also. A buddy made one from one from HD or Lowe's.

Thanks Chad.
On average how many times can you safely reuse brass?

That depends on several things, but one of the biggies is properly resizing during the loading process. Another factor is pressure. Avoiding the highest pressures will help extend brass life. In my opinion, there's no reason to run this cartridge hot, so you should be able to get maximum case life out of it.

Without annealing, 5 times.

With annealing, I don't know when it's no good. Some brass goes beyond 10 loadings. As RiverRider said, the hotter the load the worse it is on your brass.

Not sure what annealing is. My intent will be for subsonic loads only.

It all depends on how hot you load the round, and how long the primer pocket will hold up. Most of the time to primer pocket is the first to open up, and won't hold a new primer. That's when the case is done and trash. Sometimes the necks will split, or get case head separation.

Flame treating the shoulder and neck. Sizing and firing brass work hardens it. Annealing is the heating and softening of metal.

For subs, you can load them probably 20-30 times or more. There's not much pressure in those rounds.

Entire post is great example of the need and benefit of getting several manuals and reading and studying the manuals.

Agreed but I have read many manuals onvarious subjects - not reloading. It is always good to hear personal experiences as well. As noted, I am in the investigation stage. Far from reloading. Several manuals and a lot of personal experience will go a long way. These opinions give good context for what you read in a manual. And I am going to bet some of this isn't in the manual.

If it came from Lake City, its Federal and designed for an auto. You probably cannot even purchase that primer. I'd not worry the 300 Blackout is a long ways off being a target rifle.