Mismarked brass?

spacecoast · March 6, 2010, 08:00 PM

While going through today's range pickup I came across two pieces of brass that are .357 SIG, but are marked Winchester 40 S&W. Odd thing is, both of them are green on the bottom, almost like someone marked them with a marker. Has anyone ever seen this before?

Boomer8404 · March 6, 2010, 08:19 PM

I have, well not the green but you can make .357 sig brass outta .40s&w brass by necking it down. My 2cents.

Brian Pfleuger · March 6, 2010, 08:23 PM

Somebody probably did it because they couldn't find Sig brass. 40SW is approximately .02 short when formed to 357sig. It only matters because Sig is supposed to headspace on the mouth, but it doesn't anyway, so being .02 short really doesn't hurt anything. I wouldn't personally reload someone else's, but I wouldn't have a problem doing it myself (mild loads only) if I were short on brass for the Sig for some reason.

bluetopper · March 6, 2010, 09:16 PM

Like previous stated, somebody necked down some 40S&W brass.

zippy13 · March 6, 2010, 09:26 PM

I use a colored marker to ID my brass. I use two different SWC weights in .45ACP and the loaded rounds look almost identical. Coloring helps. Also, when doing my final inspection, after re-loading, some brass goes into the "last time" category -- these get marked with a black "X" at the base.

spacecoast · March 7, 2010, 12:21 PM

Thanks for the explanation, that seems like a lot of work to make .357 SIG brass, it's not tremendously plentiful at our range but I usually find a few pieces each trip. Tons of .40S&W, though. Maybe it's not that big of a deal.

**Unclenick** · March 7, 2010, 12:31 PM

These days an awful lot of self-loading pistols end up headspacing on the extractor hook rather than the way they were originally designed to. Generous chambers allow that.

If you shoot in matches with other people using the same caliber, you find most every shooter comes up with his own Magic Marker design and color combination to put on case heads. That is, as Zippy said, to ID his brass from that of others when the RO gives the call to police brass. When I shot in bullseye matches, it was considered common good manners to leave cases mouth down on the bench at the end, if they were not your own. That way folks missing brass from another relay would have a chance to spot them.

zippy13 · March 7, 2010, 01:23 PM

Unclenick,
If you have a some nice R-P ACP cases with red over back, they may be mine.

March 6, 2010, 08:00 PM	#1
spacecoast Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2009 Location: Sunshine and Keystone States Posts: 4,461	Mismarked brass? While going through today's range pickup I came across two pieces of brass that are .357 SIG, but are marked Winchester 40 S&W. Odd thing is, both of them are green on the bottom, almost like someone marked them with a marker. Has anyone ever seen this before?

March 6, 2010, 08:23 PM	#3
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	Somebody probably did it because they couldn't find Sig brass. 40SW is approximately .02 short when formed to 357sig. It only matters because Sig is supposed to headspace on the mouth, but it doesn't anyway, so being .02 short really doesn't hurt anything. I wouldn't personally reload someone else's, but I wouldn't have a problem doing it myself (mild loads only) if I were short on brass for the Sig for some reason. __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

March 7, 2010, 12:31 PM	#7
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,060	These days an awful lot of self-loading pistols end up headspacing on the extractor hook rather than the way they were originally designed to. Generous chambers allow that. If you shoot in matches with other people using the same caliber, you find most every shooter comes up with his own Magic Marker design and color combination to put on case heads. That is, as Zippy said, to ID his brass from that of others when the RO gives the call to police brass. When I shot in bullseye matches, it was considered common good manners to leave cases mouth down on the bench at the end, if they were not your own. That way folks missing brass from another relay would have a chance to spot them. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

March 6, 2010, 08:19 PM	#2
Boomer8404 Senior Member Join Date: February 3, 2007 Location: Far West Texas Posts: 109	I have, well not the green but you can make .357 sig brass outta .40s&w brass by necking it down. My 2cents.

March 6, 2010, 09:16 PM	#4
bluetopper Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2005 Location: Northeast TX Posts: 1,197	Like previous stated, somebody necked down some 40S&W brass.

March 6, 2010, 09:26 PM	#5
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	I use a colored marker to ID my brass. I use two different SWC weights in .45ACP and the loaded rounds look almost identical. Coloring helps. Also, when doing my final inspection, after re-loading, some brass goes into the "last time" category -- these get marked with a black "X" at the base.

March 7, 2010, 12:21 PM	#6
spacecoast Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2009 Location: Sunshine and Keystone States Posts: 4,461	Thanks for the explanation, that seems like a lot of work to make .357 SIG brass, it's not tremendously plentiful at our range but I usually find a few pieces each trip. Tons of .40S&W, though. Maybe it's not that big of a deal.

March 7, 2010, 01:23 PM	#8
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	Unclenick, If you have a some nice R-P ACP cases with red over back, they may be mine.