.40 Cal WIN Brass

Steamdonkey · April 21, 2013, 05:07 PM

Hi All,

Great forum, lots of helpful info here.

When reloading .40 cal brass for target shooting is there anything to choose between cases stamped WIN vs. WINCHESTER? I thought I read somewhere that WIN stamped brass was inferior to others, but I can't find anything to support that now. I also have some Federal and R-P (Remington?) cases, are those considered good for reloading?

Is there a general consensus on which brands (in .40 cal) are easiest to work with or which can be reloaded the most number of times?

Thanks

PS- For what it's worth, when I'm at the range I'm using a Storm Lake Barrel in my Glock 35.

**Unclenick** · April 21, 2013, 05:26 PM

Welcome to the forum.

I assume you mean .40 S&W and not .40 Super or .40 Taurus.

AFAIK, all brands reload. If you have an unsupported style barrel, you may get a bulge in the cases that needs to be ironed out. Redding and Lee both make tools that make it possible to do that. If your gun has a polygon rifling rather than conventional rifling, it can be unsafe to shoot lead bullets in it.

AFAIK, the headstamps saying Win or Winchester are both made by Winchester. They may be different for reasons of which line of ammo (white box or LE or premium) they came from. I've had trouble in the past with Remington's .45 Auto being so thin at the case mouth that it work hardened easily and would then spring back out enough after resizing that it was unable to hang onto the bullet well. Check for that.

Gster · April 21, 2013, 06:17 PM

I've reloaded Win., Winchester, Fed, Speer, RP, Blazer,ect for my .40 and all reloaded and shot just fine.

Steamdonkey · April 21, 2013, 11:43 PM

Yes, I'm shooting (and eventually reloading) .40 S&W and the barrel I'm using is fully supported and has rifling that's compatible with unjacketed lead bullets.

I saw a YouTube ammo test video that briefly discussed speculation that Winchester whitebox purchased from Walmart may come from a different assembly line or process than the same ammo purchased at other retailers. Maybe that's why I have two different headstamps from the same type of ammo, who knows.

It sounds like all the brass I have in hand is suitable to be reloaded at least once so I'll hang onto it until I get my remaining reloading supplies. Thanks for the input guys.

Sevens · April 21, 2013, 11:53 PM

I load .40 S&W and my first choice in brass is Winchester stamped. I've recently found a few that say "WIN", it appears to be new on the market. Haven't loaded it yet, but I'm not worried about it.

R-P brass is, IMO, the second worst out there. It's thin in the case mouth and especially with .40cal, I don't trust it's propensity for poor case mouth tension. I do indeed use R-P in some other chamberings, I do not care to use it in .40 S&W.

What's worse than R-P? Well, A-Merc, of course. It is the worst brass ever produced by God or man. Recycle it. All of it.

Quote:

I assume you mean .40 S&W and not .40 Super or .40 Taurus.

Unclenick, .40 Super is not all too common... but at least I have heard of it. But I would like to hear an explanation of ".40 Taurus." Before your post, I've never seen nor heard of such an animal.

Steamdonkey · April 22, 2013, 12:45 AM

Quote:

What's worse than R-P? Well, A-Merc, of course. It is the worst brass ever produced by God or man. Recycle it. All of it.

I'm really glad you mentioned that. I've not heard of it but I'll be sure never to buy any or attempt to reload it. I did a quick Google search and it seems to be universally hated. Truly bad stuff.

Nobody seems to be complaining about Winchester brass and that's mostly what I have so it looks like I'm in good shape.

I noticed the R-P and Federal casings I have are a few tenths of a gram lighter than the Win and Winchester stamped brass. I don't know what accounts for the difference in weight, the wall thickness seems to be the same but still, something is different...

April 21, 2013, 05:07 PM	#1
Steamdonkey Junior Member Join Date: April 21, 2013 Posts: 3	.40 Cal WIN Brass Hi All, Great forum, lots of helpful info here. When reloading .40 cal brass for target shooting is there anything to choose between cases stamped WIN vs. WINCHESTER? I thought I read somewhere that WIN stamped brass was inferior to others, but I can't find anything to support that now. I also have some Federal and R-P (Remington?) cases, are those considered good for reloading? Is there a general consensus on which brands (in .40 cal) are easiest to work with or which can be reloaded the most number of times? Thanks PS- For what it's worth, when I'm at the range I'm using a Storm Lake Barrel in my Glock 35.

April 21, 2013, 05:26 PM	#2
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,061	Welcome to the forum. I assume you mean .40 S&W and not .40 Super or .40 Taurus. AFAIK, all brands reload. If you have an unsupported style barrel, you may get a bulge in the cases that needs to be ironed out. Redding and Lee both make tools that make it possible to do that. If your gun has a polygon rifling rather than conventional rifling, it can be unsafe to shoot lead bullets in it. AFAIK, the headstamps saying Win or Winchester are both made by Winchester. They may be different for reasons of which line of ammo (white box or LE or premium) they came from. I've had trouble in the past with Remington's .45 Auto being so thin at the case mouth that it work hardened easily and would then spring back out enough after resizing that it was unable to hang onto the bullet well. Check for that. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

April 21, 2013, 06:17 PM	#3
Gster Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2012 Location: N.central Pa. Posts: 302	I've reloaded Win., Winchester, Fed, Speer, RP, Blazer,ect for my .40 and all reloaded and shot just fine. __________________ Gun control means: Being able to hit what you are shooting at.

April 21, 2013, 11:43 PM	#4
Steamdonkey Junior Member Join Date: April 21, 2013 Posts: 3	Yes, I'm shooting (and eventually reloading) .40 S&W and the barrel I'm using is fully supported and has rifling that's compatible with unjacketed lead bullets. I saw a YouTube ammo test video that briefly discussed speculation that Winchester whitebox purchased from Walmart may come from a different assembly line or process than the same ammo purchased at other retailers. Maybe that's why I have two different headstamps from the same type of ammo, who knows. It sounds like all the brass I have in hand is suitable to be reloaded at least once so I'll hang onto it until I get my remaining reloading supplies. Thanks for the input guys.