Saving brass, does brand matter?

[91FXRS]

I don't reload yet but I do plan on it in the future. I have been saving all my brass and a lot of what I shoot is Winchester white box you find at Walmart. What I'm wondering is does it matter what brass you use when you reload, are some better than others? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[shooter1054]

For my use I'm not too worried about brands. I also collect brass from the range. I look it over befor and after I clean it if it looks worn or bad I crush it and throw it in the bucket. For my hunting rounds I'm a little more particular. It's probobly on the optimum for accuracy but for just practice brass brands are not important to me.

 

[shootinghoosier]

I shoot handguns a lot for practice/plinking, and I am not finicky and will use whatever brand for however long the brass stays in good shape. Been doing it for over 30 years and never had a problem. Keep saving your Winchester white box brass or give it to me!

 

[G-Niner]

A little info from my archived files:

Good to go brass:
Starline (*--* Two Stars with line between them)
Winchester (Winchester, WIN, WCC?)
Norma (Norma)
Magtech (CBC)
Hornady (Hornady)
Independance (*I*)
Israeli Military Industries (TZZ)
Federal (Federal, FC that is not 40S&W)
Eldorado (ELD)
Remington (R-P, UMC)

Shootable, but not as good:
Speer (Speer)
Precision Made Cartridge (PMC)
Company? (HY)
Aguila (Aguila)
Fiocchi (Fiocchi)

Junk Brass:
American Ammunition (AMERC) - avoid this like the plague.

Federal (FC that is 40S&W)
Armscorp (ACP)
Company? (NNY)

Sellier & Beloit ( S&B ) - Mixed reviews, some ok, some bad, usually the problem is related to primer pocket size.

Got this off the Glocktalk reloading forum. Lots of good info over there.


No guarantees, obviously.

 

[clyde]

Mixing is fine, just inspect carefully as brass life will differ between brands.

 

[gunman41mag]

Mixing is fine, just inspect carefully as brass life will differ between brands.

For target shooting I like shooting the same brand brass

 

[red_zr24x4]

Mixing is fine, just inspect carefully as brass life will differ between brands.

^^This^^
I have about 6 5gal buckets of 9mm they all load and shoot fine
30-06 I have about 6 different brands all work fine in the M1
.223 , again about 6 different brands all work fine in the AR and Savage

 

[42769vette]

ill mix brands on bulk ammo, but i dont even mix firings of the same brand on precision ammo

 

[Iroquois]

Never noticed any problems mixing handgun brass, just avoid military crimps or sort
and separate them . Rifle brass is another animal. Different makes may stretch at differing rates,have thicker necks and walls [different capacities],softer brass, ect.
I've always had better luck sorting it. Again avoid mil-crimps if you can...what a pain.

 

[JoshuaW]

As stated, military crimps are about the only PITA. I still have no problem with them in 9mm, they are just harder to seat the primer. Im sure someone will correct me saying that I should get rid of the crimp first, such is life. Most of my 9mm is WWB, the brass is as good as ever.

 

[spencer rifle]

I only do 9mm at present, and the only problem is S&B. You gotta pull hard to get the old primers out, and pull firmly to get the new ones in. I can tell an S&B case just by feel in the reloader. They still go bang, though.

 

[shooter1054]

I've loaded S&B in 357 mag and they were actually easier to prime and decap than the others

 

[sloughfoot]

I like all years of Lake City and WCC. Good general purpose, short range brass out to 300 yards. Winchester is heavier than either of those two, on average. If I use the same powder charge in Winchester as WCC, the primer pockets expand after a couple of firings. Lakke City and WCC run from 91 to 96 grains with most around 94 grains and can be sorted by weight easily if needed.

For consistant, no prep brass, R-P can't be beat. Each piece weighs 94.2 grains. I use it for my 600 yard loads.

Lapua is good, consistant, expensive, heavy brass. I tried it and didn't think it was worth the extra money.

Malaysian military is the heaviest brass I have ever seen in 223/5.56. I don't use it for good loads, just for 55 fmj plinking loads. I don't even care how many I lose in the grass. It runs about 98 grains or so.

Norma and Federal brass is soft and heavy. Useful life is short. They both run about 96 grains or so.

 

[ckcollins2003]

I don't reload yet but I do plan on it in the future. I have been saving all my brass and a lot of what I shoot is Winchester white box you find at Walmart. What I'm wondering is does it matter what brass you use when you reload, are some better than others? Any advice would be appreciated.

As far as accuracy goes, at least with a rifle (I don't reload pistol) you'll want to stick with the same kind of brass due to thickness. You won't notice much difference at 100 yards, but if you are going to shoot 500 yards or so you'll notice a difference between case thickness.

The more thickness, the more neck tension. I use either Winchester or Lake City depending on when I need new brass and when the next gun show is.

If you're only reloading to save money and are only plinking out in the backyard, just use all that you got and have fun!

 

[sloughfoot]

As far as accuracy goes, at least with a rifle (I don't reload pistol) you'll want to stick with the same kind of brass due to thickness. You won't notice much difference at 100 yards, but if you are going to shoot 500 yards or so you'll notice a difference between case thickness.

The more thickness, the more neck tension. I use either Winchester or Lake City depending on when I need new brass and when the next gun show is.

If you're only reloading to save money and are only plinking out in the backyard, just use all that you got and have fun!

Neck tension is the same no matter the "thickness" of the brass. The neck tension is always .001 with a properly designed die. The expander ensures this.

The "thickness" of the brass defines case capacity and subsequently, pressure of the load.

What you call "thickness", I call "weight". Same concept, different words.

Your last sentence is absolutely true. For plinking just use all you got and have fun.

 

[ckcollins2003]

Neck tension is the same no matter the "thickness" of the brass. The neck tension is always .001 with a properly designed die. The expander ensures this.

The "thickness" of the brass defines case capacity and subsequently, pressure of the load.

What you call "thickness", I call "weight". Same concept, different words.

Your last sentence is absolutely true. For plinking just use all you got and have fun.

I'll have to find a way to measure the tension. The person who taught me to reload told me that different thickness would cause a different shot. I actually do get different shots between my LC and my WIN brass, but that could just be all in my head, making me shoot differently I guess

So does "weight" or "thickness" as I call it really make a difference in how your bullet flies? I would think pressure would be different, which would either slow your bullet down or speed it up but I'm not 100% positive...