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Gun Reports - News

Update: DoD Ammo-Case Destruction Policy Withdrawn

The Department of Defense has announced it has scrapped a new policy that required destruction of fired military cartridge brass.

The Defense Department liaison was responding to a letter yesterday to the Defense Logistic Agency's Vice Admiral Alan S. Thompson from Tester and fellow Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus.

Tester and fellow Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont, had written the agency that prohibiting the sale of fired military brass would reduce the supply of ammunition.

The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), a field activity of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is the Department of Defense (DOD) activity responsible for the disposition of excess and surplus DOD Property. The DRMS had recently determined that releasing the empty cases for public sale “would jeopardize national security.”

“Upon review, the Defense Logistics Agency has determined the cartridge cases could be appropriately placed in a category of government property allowing for their release for sale.”

Georgia Arms and other ammunition vendors will be reoffered “the cases that have been held pending completion of the policy review. As was previously required, buyers who purchase cartridge cases from the government must be approved to do so under Trade Security Controls.”

Reader Comments

This new administration is going to push the wrong button one too many times and start something that they are not prepared to finish. They tried to slip one in on us under the guise of national security and didn't get away with it --- this time. Diligence in Minute-man fashion is required with this "Change" administration!

Comment by: GERRY R | March 19, 2009

Amen, Gerry. This is not a time for Deep REM sleep.

Comment by: TIM C | March 19, 2009

My thanks to Georgia Arms. Sure they were looking at a huge hit on their business, but in the process everyone was helped. Jobs were saved and an industry was not crippled.

Comment by: photofree | March 19, 2009

I'm curious to know how the sale of brass cartridges would threaten national security more so today than in years past. This just proves that the overwheloming majority of Americans are quite foolish rgardless of their educational level. We elected these damn fools to represent us..

Comment by: JEFF W | March 19, 2009

Jeff, I believe elected office is now a personality contest instead of a character assessment. This current state of affairs are the wages of warm and fuzzy voting instead of careful, precise thinking. The majority of Americans read their constitution one time in school, then forget it. They don't truly know the limits of power or how many rights they truly have.

Comment by: TIM C | March 19, 2009

Jeff, I believe elected office is now a personality contest instead of a character assessment. This current state of affairs are the wages of warm and fuzzy voting instead of careful, precise thinking. The majority of Americans read their constitution one time in school, then forget it. They don't truly know the limits of power or how many rights they truly have.

Comment by: TIM C | March 19, 2009

This was one of Obama's back-door gun control policies. He thought he could sneak this one under the radar, but we caught him at it. I have written all my Congressmen and told them if any information has its origin in the Obama administration they should consider it a lie from the beginning. No trust can and should be given to this administration. They have lied with a perfect record, I personally wouldn't believe Obama if he said water is wet. The man has no morals, only a socialist agenda he plans to ram down our throats. Keep writing your Congressmen and call him on every lie he tells. When they get the idea we're watching closely he'll lose his powerbase in Congress. Even liberal Democrats want to get re-elected and if we can get them to see he's political poison they will abandon him.

Comment by: TBILL | March 19, 2009

amen gerry r. i don't know who you are but you are wise my friend beyond your years.

Comment by: pa-cman | March 19, 2009

Again, I love Montana! God, I wish I had a senator like Max Baucus.

However, I would like to repeat a caution given to me by an experienced gunsmith and shooter. Don't use surplus 7.62 Nato (.308) fired cases in your expensive sport-utility rifles. Nearly all surplus 7.62 cases have been fired through military machineguns, such as the M-60, and the M-240G, which have very generous chamber dimensions. This supports the reliabilty of the gun, but stretches the hell out of the brass case walls. Neck splits, shoulder separations, body ruptures, and case head separations are common when surplus 7.62 brass is reloaded, so avoid this stuff. The price break isn't worth the potential risk.

Comment by: Gaviota | March 19, 2009

I know for a fact that M14 brass has safe reloading life span of 4X'S. so if you head space the GI brss to your gun, it sould last a long time, as it has with my AR10 & Rem 700. 6X'S at last count.

Comment by: Thomas B | March 20, 2009

Gav - I was USMC Infantry for many years. Not all 7.62 brass is fired from mg's. Yes, there are concerns, but I have also reloaded brass used in M-60's many times. Also, don't assume that 5.56 is free and clear - the M-249 SAW is a 5.56 mg.

As always, use some GOOD common sense (as opposed to Obama common sense) when relaoding and inspect your cases carefully during case prep.

Comment by: P V B | March 20, 2009

I am envious of the really prompt action that Georgia Arms got out of Montana's Congressional Representative in stopping this end-run sneak move by the DOD. Let this be a lesson to all of us that a complaint is empty until communicated. Remember 2007 when the public groundswell and combined voice squelched the Amnesty Movement for illegal immigrants? We all should be just as vocal with the Navy's recent fawning of the Distinguished Service Award to Rep. John Murtha, who's acceptance has stained the reputation of all prior recipients!

Comment by: TW3 | March 20, 2009

PVB and Thomas B, you guys are correct as far as M-14 & M-249 brass, proper headspace, inspection and case prep. If fired in rifles, and care is taken, most brass is safe and reusable for many reloads. I think my gunsmsmith's point is, though, that MG brass is predominant on the surplus market, the brass is heavily worked when fired in MG's, and using small-base full-length resizing dies further works the brass to the point that case wall integrity can become seriously compromised, far more than it would if it was fired in SAAMI-spec chambers and neck-sized.

Of course, my gunsmith has never blown up one of his own rifles, so he may not know everything. However, I've always taken his advice and used new brass, and I've never had a case failure either.

Good luck, guys.

Comment by: Gaviota | March 20, 2009

Maybe the sweetheart in the DRMS responsible for ordering the destruction of used brass should be fired. They could go right on over to DHS where gun owners are considered terrorist. They would feel right at home.

Comment by: jusa | May 21, 2009