PMC cartridge brass ROCKS!

[Rampant_Colt]

I have Winchester, Remington, Federal and PMC brass that i load for my various .44s.

IMO - PMC brass is by far much better than the big three in .44 Magnum. 'Better', meaning thicker brass and better quality. The only way i can describe the brass as being better is by handling them individually - the big 3 have a cheaper feel to them, and the PMC brass cleans up nicer than the big 3 brass after vibrating

If asked in what order of quality, i would say PMC, Winchester, Remington, and last, Federal.

I bought a bunch of the .44 Mag PMC ammunition on a closeout a few years back and wasn't sure of their quality or performance.


GOOD STUFF!

I would also like to comment on the excellent cartridge brass that Impact 3-D Ammunition used. Sadly, I do believe they're out of business.

This thread is merely my opinion on the subject

Please add your favorite cartridge brass and why

[gb_in_ga]

Oddly enough, I have had problems with PMC brass. That is when loading .38 Spl wadcutters. The thicker brass tends to bulge with the deeper bullet seat that wadcutters use. So, when I'm loading up a batch of WCs, PMC is one of the headstamps that I cull. I don't throw them away, they just get used for something other than WCs.

My favorite brass? There's lots that I like, most are at least usable, a few are problematic, and some are junk (AMERC comes to mind, as well as steel cased, aluminum cased, and/or berdan primed) -- but my very favorites are:

Handgun -- Starline. I've had no issues with starline brass. None.
Rifle -- Norma. When only the best will do.

[GP100man]

+1 for starline , pmc is thick & when loadin some boolits of say .4305-431 it won`t chamber in a tite chamber, when starline or winchester will, i have batches of rem. that i`ve lost several to splittin

GP100man##

[Shane Tuttle]

PMC is close to the bottom of the list for me....maybe piled on top of AMERC...

Starline, Norma, and Lapua are my favorites not necessarily in that order.

For everyday good reloading/plinking brass I like Independence, Olin's stuff, Remington/UMC, and Federal.

S&B used to be up on my list, but is starting to falter...

[Darren007]

The best all round brass IMHO is Winchester.

Followed by Remington. Federal comes in last. Ironicly I think Federal has the nicest shine to it after tumbling but my groups seems to open up when I load and shoot Federal and I dont know why.

Never tried Starline. I have loaded the brass from Wolf Gold ammo and it was some pretty good stuff.

[bigautomatic]

The best brass? Free brass, of course.
In most handgun calibers, Starline is tough to beat. In rifles, I prefer Lapua.

[joneb]

I have had good results with Winchester brass, Federal is ok but Remington brass can be a pain I find that 2-3 % of Rem brass has flash holes out of center, Whats up with that

[Sevens]

In one of my calibers (10mm) I have a small supply of PMC brass and it's my least favorite of all that I have. It's harder to resize, doesn't work well at all with cast bullets and it's sure not my favorite.

My least favorite of all brass is A-Merc. Every time this topic comes up, I will shout A-Merc at the top of my lungs just in case there's anyone who hasn't heard the name pop up when we are talking about dog**** brass. This stuff is the most out of tolerance, most unsafe bunch of crap I have ever seen and I won't use it. Seriously-- if you are new at the bench and you don't know what BAD brass looks like, find yourself some A-Merc and prepare to be enlightened.

Close to as bad would be Selior and Belot brass. I see this stuff giving lengthwise splits, and that's once-fired factory brass that hasn't even been reloaded. I use S&B brass to make up dummy cartridges when adjusting dies for flare, bullet depth and crimp. I don't make up loaded ammo with S&B brass.

I believe in the quality of Starline brass, but I have also seen rare occasions with an odd piece of it that isn't perfect. In other words, I believe it is some of the best you can buy, but that will NEVER replace good, quality inspection of your brass.

Seems that much of what I reload is LC and Winchester manufactured milsurp brass. I have a large mass of Federal brass in .38 Special, but it's tough to see the limits in .38 brass.

[Shane Tuttle]

Close to as bad would be Selior and Belot brass. I see this stuff giving lengthwise splits, and that's once-fired factory brass that hasn't even been reloaded. I use S&B brass to make up dummy cartridges when adjusting dies for flare, bullet depth and crimp. I don't make up loaded ammo with S&B brass.

I believe in the quality of Starline brass, but I have also seen rare occasions with an odd piece of it that isn't perfect. In other words, I believe it is some of the best you can buy, but that will NEVER replace good, quality inspection of your brass.

That's what I've been experiencing lately with S&B. Also, on my rifle brass it appears to become brittle much sooner than most of my other brass. I find this especially strange since I neck size only after fireforming my brass.

You couldn't have said it better, Sevens. Not inspection...quality inspection...

'Better', meaning thicker brass and better quality. The only way i can describe the brass as being better is by handling them individually - the big 3 have a cheaper feel to them, and the PMC brass cleans up nicer than the big 3 brass after vibrating

I find this statement quite troubling. Just because the brass looks better doesn't mean anything to the actual quality of brass. Do you judge guns the same way? Just because a gun looks/handles better at the gunshop without firing it doesn't mean it's a better gun...

[45Marlin carbine]

some years back I bought around 600 rounds of PMC 7.62X30 ammo. the performance of it was disappointing (I've read that the quality has improved) but the brass itself is good quality my handloads from it shoot as well as my loads in Lapua (the best X39 IMO)

[Hawg]

I tried some PMC once. The loaded rounds aren't worth throwing away. Didn't try to reload the brass. My favorite overall is Starline but I prefer Winchester for my 44-40's. I use Remington for my rifles.

[VonFireball]

I use Remington for my rifles.

Hear that.

Anything with a necked case gets remington. Annealed necks from the factory=less split casings and more shooting.

[DEDON45]

I have some PMC .44 Brass, seems fine... in .45ACP, I have some PMC brass... a number of them (say 10% or so) have their flash holes off-center. Not enought to keep my decapping pin out of them, just enough that i can see it. Doesn't seem to affect ignition, though.

[mattamuskeet]

From now on, i'm only buying starline for the .44. I was having trouble developing consistent hunting loads with my other brass (mainly R-P). I got some starline nickel plated and my problems ceased. One reason is they seem to hold a tighter crimp than other kinds.

[BerettaFox]

So in reading this, do y'all throw away a whole batch of brass when a few of them eff up?

[TexasSeaRay]

Oddly enough, I have had problems with PMC brass. That is when loading .38 Spl wadcutters. The thicker brass tends to bulge with the deeper bullet seat that wadcutters use. So, when I'm loading up a batch of WCs, PMC is one of the headstamps that I cull. I don't throw them away, they just get used for something other than WCs.

That's been my experience with PMC brass and .38 WCs.

I actually get along with PMC brass all right for jacketed bullet reloading. The brass is a little thicker and doesn't seem to flare as well for larger cast rounds--especially if they need to be seated a little deeper.

So in reading this, do y'all throw away a whole batch of brass when a few of them eff up?

If it's a junk brand or non-traditional brand, you bet I do. Not worth my time or aggravation to mess with something that might or might not shoot to my expectations.

My target rounds in 44 Special are all Starline--simply will not load anything else in that caliber. For 44 Magnum, I like Remington. It doesn't last as long, but I get my most consistent groups with it.

I save my nickel-plated .38 brass and use it for either +P jacketed loads or for testing out new cast .358 boolits. As I continue to tinker and experiment and LEARN more and more about the mystical, magical world of boolit casting, half the fun is loading up your newest "laboratory creation" and heading out to shoot them and do side-by-side comparisons with known bullets and alloy mixes.

The nickel plated stuff helps me never mix up those rounds--that and they go in ziplock bags rather than plastic ammo boxes.

My best rifle rounds in 30-06 come with a particular batch of Federal brass I have. The PMC brass I have is more rugged, it seems, but gives me the least consistent groups.

It's a strange world out there. What works for me might have you pulling bald spots, and vice versa.

Jeff

[CowTowner]

I don't throw it away. The landfill is the wrong place for even the worse brass on the planet to end up. I have a bucket that I toss the bad stuff into and when full, to the recycling center I go.

[scsov509]

I've never really used much PMC brass in handgun cartridges, but I've shot a ton of it in .223 and had it work great. PMC shoots sub-moa in my AR, so no complaints here.

[GASCHECK]

6.5x55 PMC factory loaded rifle brass stretched for me. Winchester didn't. 'Nuff said. I love Starline handgun brass!
Gascheck

[RidgwayCO]

I've had excellent luck with Starline in .380 Auto/.44 Russian/.44 Magnum, Winchester in .44 Special, Remington in .357 Magnum, and Fiocchi (GFL headstamp) in .38 Special. I just purchased some Hornady brass in .44 Special and I'm looking forward to trying it. The Hornady case weights are very consistent.

[Rampant_Colt]

[Starline brass is expensive!]
I prefer to buy factory loaded ammo and save the empties..


Right now i have S&B and Wolf 6.5x55 in factory loaded ammunition. It 'feels' like the Wolf brass is better than the S&B. We'll have to wait and see until when i reload 'em.

I also have some PMC .38 Special brass that appears slightly thicker than the Winchester casings. If i can get motivated enough, i'll do a water volume test comparison between these empties

[amamnn]

Not that I think anyone should give a hoot---but still---

I've shot a few hundred rounds with PMC brass both factory rounds and reloads in .38 spcl, .357 mag, .223 rem, .30-06 spfld, and 8X57mm. I can't say it was my favored brass in any of those calibers. Their .44 brass could of course be different, but I doubt it. Starline remains my fav handgun brass and Nosler my fav (with certain reservations) rifle brass.