Reloading S&B 9mm Brass

[Sarge]

Never a problem reloading S&B on a 550B or a 650. Works just as well as any other brass.

Be sure to check for pocket crimps on that with a date.

Yeah all these people tossing it can box it up and send it to us!

Friends don't let friends reload S&B brass.

[L3324temp]

I've never had any issues loading actual brass S&B cases on my 650 and I do come across a lot of it.

[NicVerAZ]

I have some S&B mixed with the rest and never had an issue with it.

[Powerslide91]

Just for data and to follow up on my comments: I checked the cases I had issues with and confirmed they are brass, not steel. I'm glad it is working for some.

[seanc]

I buy qty 5600 once fired 9mm for reloading, all mixed headstamp.

The only problems I ever have with any of it is primers seating/crushing.

When I get a piece of brass that won't prime, it is either federal with a crimped primer pocket, or stamped S&B which in my experience seem to have squared off primer pockets.

The fed roll crimp seems to fail like 80% of the time. When the stars align perfectly, they prime just fine, but its rare.

S&B probably fails 10% of the time on my 650...

[Scootertheshooter]

I have used S&B brass without too much trouble over the last few years. I have noticed that if I am paying attention to my brass I will be fine with primer seating. Federal NT screws up more primers than S&B ever has for me.

That NT stuff I throw as well as the ones with 01 stamped on it. Winchester primers go in easier than CCI/federal primers in tight pockets is my experience with the. 650 anyway

[jmorris]

Some S&B 9 is plated steel, some is not. I cull all steel and aluminum cases and load the rest. I can feel no difference between brands on the 1050 but they feel tight on everything else. The primer swage is one reason, the other is that you seat primers on the down stroke along with every other operation.

[al503]

I had a box of S&B just collecting dust and decided to load some up after reading this thread. I took a magnet to all of the cases and had about 12 steel cases out of ~1000. I couldn't tell what was brass and not visually or by the headstamp.

Loaded about 100 on the 1050 and had no issues in both open pistols.

[retarmyaviator]

I had a box of S&B just collecting dust and decided to load some up after reading this thread. I took a magnet to all of the cases and had about 12 steel cases out of ~1000. I couldn't tell what was brass and not visually or by the headstamp.

Loaded about 100 on the 1050 and had no issues in both open pistols.

The magnet test is the best method to pick them out. The only ones I have found that are steel are those with a military headstamp. This consists of S&B along the 9X19 marking and a two digit year code. All the commerical brass I have tested has always turned out to be brass. You will find a mixture in the military headstamp brass.

I have not noticed any difference in reloading the two types either on a 550B or 650. However I do set the steel case types to the side for use in loss brass matches.

[retarmyaviator]

Federal NT screws up more primers than S&B ever has for me.

You will find that to be true if reloading Federal 45NT small primer brass as well. Very tight primer pockets on those. I plan to run what I have left through my 600 swager before attempting to reload them again.

I like the small primer 45 because I do not have to change out the primer system on my 650 when switching from 9mm to 45.

[jmorris]

I have never noticed federal 45 NT brass to be too tight, unless your trying to put a large primer in it. Not even a 1050 can help that problem.

[retarmyaviator]

I have never noticed federal 45 NT brass to be too tight, unless your trying to put a large primer in it. Not even a 1050 can help that problem.

Well, they are out there. I just finished swaging two hundred whose primer pockets were so tight the Dillon swager took a great deal of effort to do the work.

Other Federal NT45s sailed through the priming operation without a problem. Rather than sort through them I just swaged them all.

The reason I started doing this with Federal 45NT was that I was having a large number of crushed primers. Speer and Blazer SP 45 loaded with no difficulty. It is almost as if the Federals have crimped primers.

Edited June 23, 2012 by retarmyaviator

[larryflew]

For a while about 2 years ago all I found at my range was S&B. Consequently have loaded thousands and never had a problem.

Edited June 24, 2012 by larryflew

[roostershooter]

I tend to throw all of the S&B I run into on my bulk brass buys in a 5 gallon bucket. When I get a full 5 gallon bucket I take them to a local guy who processes millions of brass each year, and run them through his machine to deprime and swage all of the primer pockets. He charges me a minimal charge for 10k brass, and I'm happy to have him do it to save me the headache.

All of the S&B I've run into to date have had that red varnish over the primer. That stuff plays heck on my reloading equipment, and I'd sooner have someone else use their heavy duty machine to process than my small outfit that I run.

[lugnut]

It appears that S&B has several variants of their brass- some is brass plated steel, some of their full brass cases suck and some handle primers quite fine. Federal primers insert better than any primers out there but I'm about to start tossing the S&B brass in the trash again. The ones with the red primer paint seem to be the worst and jam up my press.