Quick question about brass

[mellow_c]

I dont reload yet, and dont plan to for probably years to come. But I do save ALL my brass. My question is... is the brass from 9mm Winchester White box ammo re-loadable. Or .38 special Winchester white box? Also, supposing I was to sell a bulk of once fired brass... would a reloader care if it was a mix of different brands... for example "Winchester, Remington, and CCI 9mm brass all mixed in one bag".

Thanx for any advice... I'm getting a nice collection of brass going. I plan on keeping it all. If for nothing else, just too look at, and remember, "I shot all that!"

[DIXIEDOG]

I dont reload yet, and dont plan to for probably years to come. But I do save ALL my brass. My question is... is the brass from 9mm Winchester White box ammo re-loadable. Or .38 special Winchester white box? Also, supposing I was to sell a bulk of once fired brass... would a reloader care if it was a mix of different brands... for example "Winchester, Remington, and CCI 9mm brass all mixed in one bag".

Thanx for any advice... I'm getting a nice collection of brass going. I plan on keeping it all. If for nothing else, just too look at, and remember that "I shot all that!"

The Winchester white box brass is reloadable.

If you were to sell the bulk brass mixed it most likely would sell but for less than if you keep it separated by headstamp.

[BillCA]

I'll expand a little on Dixie's comment.

Almost all brass cased ammo is reloadable if it has a single flash hole in the base (boxer primed). Brass with twin flash holes (Berdan primed) are reloadable but only with special tools. Just recycle any Berdan primed cases.

Why separate your brass by manufacturer? Because each manufacturer's case is slightly different in wall thickness, base/casehead thickness and even slight variations in internal volume. Some brands of brass work better in reloading machines than others too. But it is that internal volume which is most crucial.

If you have 2000 cases to reload and you're asking a commerical reloader to make a stout load (e.g. a .38 +P load), then a load using, say Remington cases may be accurate, but the one using Federal or PMC cases may exhibit poor accuracy due to variations in the case volumes. Or worse, a case with less interior space could increase pressures enough to split or rupture the case.

This is one reason many commercial reloaders shy away from anything resembling a "max" load in their reloading guides.

If you have a lot of once-fired brass, you can probably find a local commercial reloader who will load your brass with one of his "formula" loads for practice ammo. Some reloaders, like Load-X in California, will do custom loads (within limitations and reason) if you're willing to pay a set-up fee. Ask around at your local ranges or gun shops for the name of a reputable reloader.

[mellow_c]

Thank you guys....

I guess I have alot of brass to go through

[Sevens]

Aww, going through lots of brass isn't bad at all. You might consider getting yourself a tumbler even if you don't reload (YET!) because it's a heckuva lot more fun to sort headstamps on clean brass than it is to sift through grungy brass.

Also, I'll add a couple obvious ones to "brass" that you don't want to keep.

First is the really cheap import crap that's coming in lately, especially found in 9mm and .45 that uses a steel case. They are most often berdan primed, but you can usually spot them from the outside by the odd dark red/brown color and the lacquer on them. You don't want to reload those. Also, CCI makes a budget ammo they call Blazer (not to be confused with Blazer Brass) and the regular Blazer ammo is loaded in aluminum cases and you can spot them from a mile away. You obviously don't want them, either.

[ilbob]

Its reloadable.

I don't worry too much about seperating my brass by headstamp. Ican't shoot well enough to notice any difference.

[Sturmgewehre]

I don't sort by head stamp and I pick up all sorts of assorted .45 ACP brass from my local range...



I've never had a problem with accuracy using assorted brass. The following targets were shot at 50ft using assorted brass.





Unless you plan on selling it (it might be more desirable to a buyer if it is sorted) or unless you enjoy sorting brass, I would leave it mixed. You're not likely to notice any performance difference when you do start reloading, I haven't.

[ilbob]

It is more of an issue with bottleneck rifle cases than pistol cases, and sometimes with heavier loads in pistol calibers.

For most reloaders, shooting normal loadings, in most pistol calibers, you won't notice any difference.

[Sevens]

Have to respectfully disagree just a bit about mixing up headstamps.

One opinion is that it doesn't matter for accuracy, and I can't sit here and say that I totally disagree, mostly because I don't mix headstamps, so I don't see erratic performance from my ammo that I could blame on mixed headstamps.

But there is definitely a difference, and it shows in some calibers more than others. In something like 9mm where the internal case volume is horribly small to begin with, variations in brass can make a difference. I've seen it with regards to pressure in 9mm rounds-- using the same powder, same charge, same primer and same bullet, seated to same COAL shows me different visual results across different brands of brass.

If that weren't enough, you can easily feel the difference between headstamps as you run cases through some of your reloading dies. I have mixed a couple WCC cases in amongst a whole slew of WIN cases and I can tell every single time I run one of those through my sizer, my flare die and also when I prime each one. Never fails, I can feel the difference each time I grab one of those.

For safety, I wouldn't campaign against using mixed brass-- if you are following all the proper methods in the first place, I doubt mixed head stamps will make anything unsafe. I am serious about safety at the bench, but I'm not a safety nazi.

Practical accuracy -- especially if you are throwing lead at targets quickly, doing shoot & moving drills, or plinking (which I do a lot of!), I wouldn't argue it matters a heap here either.

But no, I won't agree with anyone who says that it doesn't matter.

In my stock, I use at least 5 different brands/head stamps in both 9mm and .45, and I think I use 4 different in 10mm. I use 3 different in .38 Special, probably 3 or 4 different in .44 Mag. I don't pick any specific one over another, but you can bet for sure that when I open up a box of ammo, that entire box is all the same head stamp.

Oh yeah-- that picture of the .45 brass? Any/all of them might have been chucked and ditched by other shooters, but there's one in there that someone FORGOT, and didn't leave on purpose. It's the Starline piece.

Nobody in the world leaves Starline brass on purpose. Not 'cause it's that good, but because they specifically paid for that brass as new for the purpose of reloading. So when you find a piece with the little stars and the line between them, you've found some other reloader's "one that got away."

[frank_1947]

I sell on this site any many others about 20,000 cases per wk, all pistol 9 mm 38 spl, 40SW 45 acp and others, just sell mixed headstamp no problem but 9mm is not popular on most of these forums only for competition it is the most popular if you know some one who is a member of USPSA have them put it on that site go to members then classified, $30 to 35 per thousand cleaned is what you can sell it for plus shiping, you will need 3000 to 4000 to make it worth their money in shipping, in the past year i have sold 100,000s of thousands there

good luck

[frank_1947]

mellow c

one more thing I and many others shoot 800 to 1000 rounds a month in USPSA and Steel challenge and most use mixed headstamp at well above any books recommended powder charge we shoot 8.2 HS-6 in most 9mm Open class guns no problem, and most the guys who shoot 40SW and 45Acp the same goes for them accept high powder charge only time we use all one stamp is in a big match with big prizes, yes there are some very slight difference in some brands but should never make a difference in most good guns. So if we can run a 9mm in any headstamp there is at 1400 fps at 8.2 HS 6 you have nothing to worry about.

[mellow_c]

Alright... sounds good.

Once again, I have some sorting to do. I'll decide latter if I have the time to sort out my 9mm's, but everything else I can take care of.

If your going to tumble your brass, should the primer be removed first?

I'm happy to see everyone's responses. So far, it looks as though I'd be better off just keeping all the brass I've collected. Since I know it's all once fired. One day, I might start reloading, and then I'll have all the brass I could ever need. Rather then sell it now, and hope I get enough to buy more ammo.

Besides, I'm going to keep buying ammo either way, so I might as well keep my brass.

I'll just keep recycling aluminum cans for ammo money
That and a good 5-10% of my paycheck

[Sevens]

There are three reasons why I like to leave the spent primer in place when I tumble the brass.

1) Tumbling cases with an open flash hole doesn't end up cleaning the damn pocket, which is really the only reason to decap them before tumbling anyway. The pocket is just too small to be scrubbed clean like the brass case body does. You stick them in dirty, the brass comes out clean but the pocket looks just the same.

2) Cleaning media gets stuck in the flash hole. Believe it -- you have to sit there and poke out like 10% of the cases or you risk having a chunk of media there where the primer fires. Not good.

3) Half the reasons to tumble in the first place is to keep all the grit, dirt and filth out of your reloading dies. To decap first you either need to buy a universal decapper, or you have to resize all your cases. Running dirty, grungy brass through your sizing die just mucks it up and leaves dirt in there to scratch the next one.

There are some folks who do tumble with primers out, but I've tried it both ways and won't ever do it again.

[Sturmgewehre]

But there is definitely a difference, and it shows in some calibers more than others. In something like 9mm where the internal case volume is horribly small to begin with, variations in brass can make a difference. I've seen it with regards to pressure in 9mm rounds-- using the same powder, same charge, same primer and same bullet, seated to same COAL shows me different visual results across different brands of brass.

That could be, and I'll defer to your experience on 9mm. While I do reload 9mm, I don't load it often nor is it the caliber I do most of my target shooting with. When I shoot 9mm, it's usually informally at things like pop cans, dirt clods, etc.

With .45 ACP, I have never noticed a difference in my group size using sorted or unsorted brass, and I've fired thousands upon thousands of rounds of reloads at little black dots. So, I've long ago stopped wasting my time sorting .45's.

As for the Starline, you're right. That's not an accidental pick-up. I paid good money for that brass! The Starline stuff isn't a range pick-up, although I did find about 50 Starlines one time at my indoor range. They weren't left accidentally, and they didn't have much wear... If I had to guess I would say they were fired once or twice given the markings on the head (extractor mark, etc.). I felt pretty lucky to have picked it up.

[Edward429451]

Even if you sort range brass it's still going to be like mixed brass because it came from different boxes/lots.

I sort most brass but only recently tried sorting 45acp brass to see if there was a practical difference in accuracy vs mixed brass...

Well the ammo from the mixed brass was somewhat more accurate than the sorted (but mixed lots) brass! One test proves nothing and I'll get around to doing more testing. Coulda even been me.

Generally speaking though I don't think it matters for 45acp brass. Not like I'm trying for long range accuracy anyway.

[frank_1947]

Some people are very extreme when it comes to reloading and casting, but bottom line on accuracy is how well the barrel is fit and that it locks up the same every time, a case can play no factor in accuracy all cases for every caliber have a minimum wall thickness and very little and you can call starline and they will tell you there is no difference in a +p case as there is in any case only reason it is stamped +p is so the loaded round isnt put in a gun that is not made for plus p ammo. I find in all calibers I load and sell some difference in height not enough to make a big difference either, slight vary in speed and pressure and I dont know anyone who trims pistol cases are cleans flash hole.

If you have so many cases it is time to strart reloading, instead of saving money to buy ammo buy a press and dies and reloading isnt rocket science you could teach a monkey to reload, but you will hear many extremes on that also, money seems to be a issue with you so buy a cheap single stage press from lee a set of dies with a taper crimp die 4 die set get a book lyman I liked I imagine Lee has one and read about reloading pistol only if you get to reading rifle it can confuse you there are things you do for rifle you dont do for pistol.

They have a starter kit you can buy, I do not recommend the little measuring cups that come with the kit they are to time consuming but a nice powder measure will save you tons of time.

[ilbob]

I reload handgun ammo with a progressive press. Decapping before cleaning would be an extra step, and I can't see any reason for it.

[mellow_c]

Even more good stuff... Thanx everyone