Favorite and least favorite brass for reloading.

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  • Wolfhound

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    I am wondering what's your favorite brass and least favorite for reloading? Handgun and rifle. I have been reloading for over 25 years now and have had some issues with certain brands.

    For handgun my favorite is Sellier and Bellot. Least favorite would be Amerc Brand which I found to be almost impossible to reload and certainly not worth the effort. Brass with the headstamp AMERC is made by American Ammunition Inc in Miami, FL. It is the worst quality brass imaginable. The flash holes are often off-center, the case diameter is out of spec, and it often splits on the first or second firing.Thankfully there is not much of it around anymore.

    For rifle my favorite is Prvi Partizan simply because they make brass for all the old military calibers I shoot. Some of the worst rifle brass I've ran into was some Lake City 5.56 that was made in the mid 70's. It was brittle and would crack on the neck or shoulder. Other years of Lake City I have reloaded have been just fine.

    So what's your favorite and what has been the worst you've reloaded?
     

    Leadeye

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    Tough to say as I've not had a lot of trouble out of various types of brass over 45 years. Midway is probably the most common brass I shoot and I've had good luck with that. I've made a number of odd cases from other types of brass and I would say I've not had many issues regardless of brand.

    I'm still loading Remington 44 Mag cases I've had since the 70s.
     

    Wolfhound

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    Tough to say as I've not had a lot of trouble out of various types of brass over 45 years. Midway is probably the most common brass I shoot and I've had good luck with that. I've made a number of odd cases from other types of brass and I would say I've not had many issues regardless of brand.

    I'm still loading Remington 44 Mag cases I've had since the 70s.

    Does Midway have their own brand or are we talking Starline brass? Starline is good stuff in my experience.

    How many times would you estimate you've reloaded the 44 Mag brass from the 70's? That's impressive regardless.
     

    Fullmag

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    Had some Amerc brass while back and their gone. What’s gets me is large primer and small primer Federals.
     

    Sniper 79

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    The best is what I can pickup at the range for free. I stick to the big name brands and the rest gets scrapped. I also scrap any NATO stuff.

    Problems I've had.....

    FC 223 being under spec and reports of case head separating

    S&B 45acp primer pockets too tight

    Rem 44mag work hardening on first or second loading and splitting wide open

    All of it hit the scrap yard. Stick to big name American brands now and no issues.
     

    cmann250

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    S&B 45acp primer pockets too tight.

    This. I even tried S&B primers and they’re still too tight.

    Favorite pistol brass- Winchester 45 ACP

    For 223, Winchester or any LC 2011 and newer has been good for me.

    Least favorite 223, some foreign make with off center primer pockets. I bent up several decap pins on them. I’ll have to check my scrap bucket for the head stamp.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    BE Mike

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    With pistol calibers Amerc is the worst by far. It seems to me that Remington doesn't hold up as well as others. A buddy of mine has been shooting some factory new Remington .45 ACP and he is getting about 4% cracked from the mouth down. I've loaded a lot of W-W over the years with good results. A lot of people swear by Federal. Except for the pain of the crimped primer pocket, military brass is good, especially their "match" brass. Starline is very good. For rifle, I find most of them good, but do tend to use Lake City the most.
     
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    Privi is probably my favorite rifle brass. Lasts, good quality, not too hard, not too soft. LC would be next, then most other makes. S&B and Fiocchi would be near the bottom. S&B cases just didn't last and seemed awfully soft, Fiocchi had a lot of off center flash holes.
     

    Karl-just-Karl

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    Amerc I have found questionable but have yet to reject it all.

    GFL in 45 has seemed the worst to me. The primers seat so easily I'm surprised they don't fall back out when I take the case out of the shell holder.

    Blazer brass in 9mm also seems to be pretty easy to prime.


    Blazer brass and Federal 45 can be a pain in the arse if you're not paying attention.


    I felt compelled to chime in here because I really like S&B brass. The primer pockets are tight (used with CCI primers) but it lasts for many reloads (.357 and 45 mostly).

    I wasted a bunch of time prepping brass for .223 Federal, tried to figure out how to tell the good from the bad and just gave up. I have enough LC now to last a long time.

    I also like PMC in 223,308,357. I've had real good luck with them but I have split some .357 cases after only a couple of reloads.
     

    Leadeye

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    Does Midway have their own brand or are we talking Starline brass? Starline is good stuff in my experience.

    How many times would you estimate you've reloaded the 44 Mag brass from the 70's? That's impressive regardless.

    I meant to say Starline, my old brain was stuck on the first Starline cases I bought which had a Midway headstamp. Tough to say how many times those Remingtons have been through the mill, 8 grains of Unique and a cast RCBS Keith Type bullet in lever guns and revolvers.
     

    Trapper Jim

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    I didn't realize the S&B 45 ACP brass was so problematic. I reload a lot of 9mm S&B and it seems like good stuff.
    Define a lot. All S&B I ever saw was A SOB. Pure junk. Just like all other third world crap. Made in America Components operated by American Corporations.
     

    Karl-just-Karl

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    Is the .45 ACP brass that you are using small primer or large primer?

    The GFL in 45 is large primer. Very loose with CCI primers.

    The Blazer and Federal are all small primers. Several folks at my local range shoot Blazer and Federal but don't take them home with them. I ended up getting a bunch out of the brass buckets, usually mixed with large primer brass. Yes, I use range pick-ups in 45.
    I usually prime on the press with a ram-prime system. It's not to everyone's liking but it works for me.
    Since I batch process 45 on a turret, I hate the surprise of finding small primer brass when I try to insert a large primer.

    S&B primes with noticeably more force, but the primer cups aren't flattened (this might be due to using CCI primers) and the brass lasts a long time.
    I have reloaded S&B several times. After about the fifth or sixth time primer seating starts feeling more normal.

    AE is something else I usually end up quickly culling.

    Generally when I am priming 45, when the weight of the press handle is able to seat the primer I separate it out and that is the last time I reload it. Usually what I find when going through the "EZ Prime" tray is GFL, AE, and Remington.
     

    Wolfhound

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    Define a lot. All S&B I ever saw was A SOB. Pure junk. Just like all other third world crap. Made in America Components operated by American Corporations.

    I have about 500 9mm S&B cases that I've reloaded 5 or six times. Never had any issues at all. Seems like really good quality to me. Also have some S&B 223 brass but not a large quantity.

    Edit: Looks like I've managed to bring up the brand that people either love or hate. I seem to have a talent for that.
     
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    two70

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    I'm not too picky on pistol brass but if I'm buying new brass I normally buy Starline.

    For rifle brass, I use Winchester, Privi and Hornady the most and roughly in that order. As mentioned Privi produces a lot of old military calibers but is inconsistent with primer pockets being tight on some and 3-5% of cases per bag being too damaged to use. Hornady is really nice and has a great selection but it little too pricey for me for common calibers. Winchester seems to be the perfect blend of quality and price for me. Starline is pretty good as well but perhaps a touch soft. I only use Remington or Federal if I have no other choice. Nosler brass is extremely high quality but also very expensive so I only use it in my .26 Nosler. Norma seems to be high quality and priced accordingly but the primer pockets are extremely tight.
     

    BE Mike

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    Not to hijack the thread, but since I haven't purchased any .45 ACP ammo in a very, very long time, I need to ask a question. Does all currently produced American .45 ACP ammo come with small primers?
     

    Karl-just-Karl

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    Not to hijack the thread, but since I haven't purchased any .45 ACP ammo in a very, very long time, I need to ask a question. Does all currently produced American .45 ACP ammo come with small primers?

    Blazer and Federal are the only two I am currently aware of that use small primers for 45. This is based upon what I've picked up at the range. I hope someone can come along and add to this if there are more.


    Continuing the thread from the OP, I have become very dissatisfied with Winchester as of late. QC seems to be lacking. I bought a couple bags of 100 357 and about twenty wouldn't fit in my shell holder. The case rims were too large diameter or too thick. I've never had that problem before. I didn't bother looking for a lot number or sending them back. I probably should have. I also saw some strange marks on the brass that caused me to question the integrity of the case. It looked like something went afoul in the drawing process.

    I picked up a box of 500 Starline in 357 and I'm fairly well set for a while.

    Federal brass in 308 seems to get loose primer pockets after 3 or four reloadings. PMC has held up better.

    There is some 9mm floating around out there with crimped primers that give me all kinds of fits using my progressive, but that is probably another topic not really brass specific.
     

    russc2542

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    Not to hijack the thread, but since I haven't purchased any .45 ACP ammo in a very, very long time, I need to ask a question. Does all currently produced American .45 ACP ammo come with small primers?

    Blazer and Federal are the only two I am currently aware of that use small primers for 45. This is based upon what I've picked up at the range. I hope someone can come along and add to this if there are more.

    CCI/Spear. Same parent company as Blazer, not sure about federal
     
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