Brass for reloading

[SpacemanSpiff]

For all you reloaders out there ...

Is there any type of brass that you stay away from?

I was just priming some S&B 9mm and boy are their primer pockets tight. I threw out 6 out of 100. I guess it doesn't seem like much, but I don't want a 6% failure rate in my reloads . It's the first brass that I've had trouble with. I do realize that tight primer pockets is not necessarily a "bad" thing. I heard from someone that "E-MERC" is brass to stay away from as well. I read reviews somewhere that their brass is thicker in places causing problems.

What do you stay away from and why?

[Guest sling]

I try to stay away from Federal brass... its ok for maybe one or two reloads but the primer pockets get big fast.

9mm brass... eh. Its all about the same. I usually do discard the SB and any mil\NATO brass...

As you noted, primer pockets are way too freakin tight. I've ruined some primers on that brass before. Also, and i'm sure you know already, dont reloading the CCI aluminum casings.

No experience with E-merc.

[John Wall]

You are probably thinking of American Ammunition, marked AMERC. I do not load or shoot it.

For my Dillon 1050, I use Fed, Rem, Win, PMC and Starline. I will load military on my 650. The 1050 does not do well with military brass.

[Guest Mugster]

For crimped primer pockets (most military brass), you need some type of tool to either physically remove the crimp or ream it out enough to get the primer in there. RCBS makes a swage tool for this in small and large rifle sizes, and it works ok.

Lake city federal brass is pretty good, if you can deal with the crimp.

Federal civilian brass will work, but it's pretty soft, and alot of it is crimped. The PITA factor runs high with this brass.

I prefer american mil surp brass of any manufacture or remington commercial. Anything that's made out of brass will work.

I've never heard of e-merc brass. If the primer goes in right, and it resizes, I'd probably try it. I've gotten alot of split cases out of PMC in .223, so while i'm not throwing them away yet, its not my first choice either.

[gunsablazin]

Toss all that A-Merc brass it is not worth a darn for loading. The Federal mil-spec brass can be a pain as well, it has crimped primer pockets and is hard to reprime. It is marked FC and has a two digit date (FC 96) etc. The regular Federal brass loads fine. I have not had any issues loading S&B brass Rem, Win, Fiocchi etc. My .45 ACP collection has just about every brand known to man and it works fine. I spotted a piece of military brass dated 42 and I think it is the oldest brass in the bucket. I picked up some brass marked "Top Brass" recently, I had not see it before but it works fine. For rifles it is more critical to have good brass than for straight wall pistol cartridges, that is one reason I don't bother loading for rifles.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Maybe it was A-Merc. I said E-Merc in my original post.

[Guest Grout]

Amerc aka American Ammunition.The brass is crap.

[SpacemanSpiff]

The Federal mil-spec brass can be a pain as well, it has crimped primer pockets and is hard to reprime. It is marked FC and has a two digit date (FC 96) etc.

I guess I've made a subconscious decision to not use mil-spec brass. All of it I find goes in my scrap bucket. I pick up more 9mm than I can use so a few hundred mil-spec is not an issue.

[Guest ordonnanzgewehr]

If you've got tight primer pockets why not use a "primer pocket uniformer" tool?

it's a $20 reloading tool that cuts the pockets to spec. Much better than throwing away or scrapping perfectly good brass IMO.

[Guest Grout]

Cuz it ain't worth the time to do so.Brass is plentiful and you don't see all that much FC brass laying around anyway.Much easier to toss it in the weeds if you see it.

[chipperi]

Blazer because its aluminum

Military because of the primer crimp

A-Merc because it is crap

And keep an eye out for foreign stuff that is possibly berdan primed because you will snap your primer punch pin

take a look at the flash hole/s

Boxer looks like 0 centered in the case

Berdan looks like 00

Boxer = good

Berdan = no good

[DWARREN123]

Basically any brass cases I find I use. A-Merc is less than great but I have use a few pieces with no problems. Inspection of any and all is what will save you some time and keep you from getting a surprise.

I inspect after each and every step.

Edited August 8, 2008 by DWARREN123

[Guest sling]

If you've got tight primer pockets why not use a "primer pocket uniformer" tool?

it's a $20 reloading tool that cuts the pockets to spec. Much better than throwing away or scrapping perfectly good brass IMO.

Cuz, i can probably purchase 500 or more pieces of once fired brass for that... and its 9mm - one of the most shot cartridge on earth.

Low pressure pistol brass will last boarderline forever. I dont really care if i have to throw out 20 pieces of mil brass out of 500 i pick up at the range

[et45]

Amerc is crap.It will either split during the reloading process or after being refired a time or two.It might be okay in a handgun if you don't mind the hassle but I would not reload any Amerc .223 brass. A case head separation is not easly fixed.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Currently I have about 1500 9mm with a "WIN" headstamp and about 500 with "R P" plus a few hundred others with CCI, Blazer, Speer, etc. I'm not too worried about a couple hundred milspec or S&B or any others that prove some difficulty in reloading.

Thanks for the info.