Thanks for the additional info guys.

I think I may have just gotten lucky. The chimney I tore down last week, I left the portion in the basement in place until today. I found a band about two feet thick of good bricks that look to be the same size as the outside brick. I will tear them out tomorrow and see if the sizes are the same.

Would anyone like to comment on if the brick might be suitable for exterior applications? Any way to tell if it will be hard enough??

Thanks,
P