What 40s&w Brass Won't You Reload

[al503]

I think Speer is good brass but I've always had problems de-priming them. Some say they've never had any problems so ymmv. I just don't like anything that either slows me down or causes a problem due to the risk of double charging a case.

Wow, I thought I just had a bad batch. The first batch of Speer's I ever used, I ended up do just a decap process alone on the whole batch before being able to run them thru progressively. After four firings the primer pockets are still tighter than other brass. They may be good but I'll be glad when I wear 'em out or lose 'em.

Hey Don. One thing that helps with the speer brass is putting a slight bevel on the tip of the decapping pin. That usually pushes the primer at enough of an angle so that it won't get pulled back into the pocket if it gets stuck on the decapping pin.

[Tucson-John]

Personally I'd have to say I'd dump those old FC as a friend was one of the first fellows I knew to actually know something about the web problem and showed me one, cut vertically to compare to a modern Federal 40. The webbing issue may be present in older or foreign designs. I have not seen a Sellors & Bedot cut vertically, however. I continually keep in mind that this is a VERY young cartridge! It's popular & accepted but by comparison - it's awfully young.

Weighing brass is not fun but that COULD provide some insight into the webbing height/strength issue especially with the design changes being unannounced by certain manufacturers. When I load 40 I often use lead. I can keep the problems to minimum, especially pressure! I've come to that point primarily due to the problems w/ 40's pressure spikes affected by all these variables. I really do feel that released of the worries & got a chance to grab up a Barstow or a Wilson barrel, here & there for several Glocks I have. I also like the idea of a fully supported chamber on principal.

I've also come to the opinion that an enormous amount of problems occur from folks being victimized by jerks wanting to make a fast buck.

Any brass should only be loaded a given amount - then thrown out.....(not rocket science -I know). But some people will SELL that garbage at shows or trade it to a small shop after they clean it. Even .45acp will pop on you if it's been reloaded 34 times. With today's cleaning materials it not too hard to make brass look new unless you actually have a magnification device. I make it a habit to check "less than new" brass for extractor marks. If I see more than 6 - I dump it. Even a good polishing compound can't totally disguise extractor tool marks. I'm talking about REAL extractor marks (cop-shop type, not something made from running a round through a mechanism for functionality, etc) Same goes for loose primer pockets, a slight dog-eared serration on the mouth edge, or any level of polishing that has started to obscure the stampings in lightly stamped brass (a sure sign it was tumbled more than four times).

Edited January 14, 2009 by Tucson-John

[WatchmanUSA]

I just got a bunch of .40 brass from a vendor that people have suggested on this board. I have not sorted everything but a spot check indicated that there is a lot of FC brass in the batch. Can someone tell me what the specific problem is with FC brass? Will it cause problems in the gun? Will it cause problems with the reloading press? Thanks for the input.

[ChrisStock]

S&B primer pockets give me and my 550 absolute s%$t fits... it gets tossed into the sell for scrap weight bucket with all of the odd caliber rifle brass I pick up. It's easy to spot as all of it I have come across has a red primer pocket. I also pass on Amerc when I can spot it.

[zhunter]

The only brass I don't reload for .40 is the brass I DON'T have

My limited gun runs everything.

Of course, I don't reload NT brass in .45

[Jim Norman]

Speer brass has been problematic on my 650, I don't seem to have the same trouble on the 1050. Funny thing, you can tell Speer without reading the headstamp, the base appears to be dished. I have seen more than a few case head separations in PMC. I've run Winchester until you couldn't read the headstamp. Same for R-P.

Jim

[ebg3]

Lately, I've gotten a batch of speer brass that when resized won't hold the bullet. I don't know if it has been roll sized or what but it sucks.

[raz-0]

I actually check each case for case web cracks on each clean and sort. It's a PITA, but it seems to be necessary unless you are shooting very minor .40 (which I do, but I also load major .40). I also don't bother checking headstamp on the sort as it doesn't matter. It's good case web, weakening case web, and garbage. The garbage gets scanned for headstamps to look for trends. If you ggive cases a decent cleaning, you can see crazing in the case web or somewhere on the bottom of the case before it becomes a full fledged crack. If the partial crack has less than 50% of the circumfrence of the case, it gets minor, no crack gets major, >50% gets garbage. ALL headstamps develop a majority circumference crack after enough uses. Most make it to that state before they start getting case mouth splits.

From lots and lots of looking, this is what i have seen.

PMC - sucks even when once fired. VERY thin just above the case web right where people are seeing case head separations in fully supported chambers, and KBs in unsupported chambers. I just throw it out. You can tell PMC just as consistently by looking inside the case as looking at the headstamp, it's designed wrong, and from the looks of it done that way to use less brass.

AMERC - Short lifespan and probably brittle compared to other things. Most likely to leave you with a freshly primed case that has had the case mouth split when the press bells it. About a 60% chance you catch it before that jsut form examing the case web during a sort.

Federal - Ususally good stuff. Most likely to make it to the major pile the most times.

Federal NT - actually seems to come in completley normal version, and weird flash hole version. If I can't tell from teh flash hole, it gets sorted by amount of crazing or cracking. If I can tell by the flash hole, it goes in the minor pile. The flash hole dimensions don't seem to affect minor loads with fast powders all that much in my experience.

RP - appear to ahve the most metal in the case web, and a case design that makes it the easiest to spot cracks. PRetty good stuff, but seems ot be slightly more brittle than federal.

Speer - Generally good stuff. Has a weird step after the case head. Gen erally seems like a good design, but gunk builds up on that ridge that cleaning media has a hard time with getting out, so they get the highest rates of "screw it, garbage/minor just to be safe."

GZ - seems to actually be decent brass so far, but don't have enough of it to be certain.

S&B - tight primer pockets, but after you manhandle them once, they are fine. The case web actually seems to be a decent design. Pretty thick wtih a circular channel in the case head to make the volume work out, much like current federal. Size/placement of the channel is different.

CCI - pretty much like speer. Seems more birttle and seem to get fewer reloadings out of it. At least the stuff not making the grade and getting case mouth splits on belling and shooting have newer looking headstamps and less extractor wear on them.

Winchester - totally a mixed bag. They come in at least two flavors. Rumor has it some of the whitebox stuff is now contracted to S&B, and from the case head design, I'd agree, but the primer pockets are not as tight, so... The stuff that loks like S&B seems to be great. The stuff that looks more like RP when new seems to get the most visible crazing the fastest. At least it is easy to tell, but between the looks of stuff I sort, and the percentage of "once fired" brass that is winchester, this pretty much is what makes me look and each and every case rather than sort by headstamp for major.

Now that I ahve a camera and lighting that can hack it, i might do a visual guide the next time I do a sort, and you folks can tell me if I'm being paranoid or not.

[D. Manley]

I'd add another or two on the "use with caution" label. I'm seeing more and more of the "NNY" and "PPU" brass which, may well actually be one and the same. I've heard that Privi Partisan actually makes the Academy Sports "Monarch" brand so that might explain why we're getting so much of it locally since there's a new Academy in town. I've seen a few horror stories on this stuff bandied about that don't inspire much confidence in it's quality.

[shooterready]

I don't load S&B or AMERC. Not a problem with most everything else.

[nad1967]

the only thing I stay away from is Nickel cases... life is too short to sort through headstamps

[mr renwick]

I will volunteer to take any unwanted Brass off of anyones hands : )

[Silver_Surfer]

The old "FC" or remington(R-P)

[cjl32]

Majority of my reloading problems have involved S&B brass.

[WatchmanUSA]

Won't use the Federal with the headstamp of "FC". Lots of separations with this brass.

I was concerned with all the warnings I read here regarding "FC" brass. I was especially concerned after I bought some once fired brass that was at least 75% brass headstamped with "FC08."

Knowing that even “facts” can take on mythical connotations on the Internet (I don’t trust everything I read on forums, even ones as august as this one). So I decided to contact the Product Services department at Federal (owned by Alliant Techsystems) to get their answer regarding the safety of reloading .40S&W in cases with the headstamp of FC08.

I was surprised I received such a definitive and declarative response given product liability lawsuits.

Here is their response quoted and it is the entire message content of the email from Product Services at Alliant Techsystems:

"The information you’re getting on the internet is incorrect. .40 brass head stamped FC08 is perfectly safe to shoot and reload."

Take it for what it is worth.

[TISCHLJ]

A-MERC Straight to the scap bucket!

[revchuck]

Won't use the Federal with the headstamp of "FC". Lots of separations with this brass.

I was concerned with all the warnings I read here regarding "FC" brass. I was especially concerned after I bought some once fired brass that was at least 75% brass headstamped with "FC08."

Knowing that even “facts” can take on mythical connotations on the Internet (I don’t trust everything I read on forums, even ones as august as this one). So I decided to contact the Product Services department at Federal (owned by Alliant Techsystems) to get their answer regarding the safety of reloading .40S&W in cases with the headstamp of FC08.

I was surprised I received such a definitive and declarative response given product liability lawsuits.

Here is their response quoted and it is the entire message content of the email from Product Services at Alliant Techsystems:

"The information you’re getting on the internet is incorrect. .40 brass head stamped FC08 is perfectly safe to shoot and reload."

Take it for what it is worth.

The "FC" brass that everyone warns everyone else about isn't the same as the "FC08" you have. When the .40 S&W cartridge first appeared on the market, Federal used the "FC" headstamp. There were numerous documented instances where this factory-loaded ammo suffered case separations. Federal went back to the drawing board and re-designed their brass to eliminate this problem; they changed the headstamp to "Federal". I've shot "Federal"-headstamped .40 S&W factory ammo, and reloaded the resulting cases, with no problems in two different guns.

The "FC08" brass probably indicates a government contract run of ammo produced during 2008. I've never seen it on .40 S&W ammo or cases, but that doesn't mean anything except I haven't seen any. I'd reload it with confidence.

[bwit]

The only brass I've had trouble with is the AP [Armscor]. It seems to be the old stuff, without the 2 digit date on it and some marked 02 [2002]. I understand they had some bad batches 5 or so years ago. You should, when sorting your brass, look for the line on the outside that will start to form where the web is [inside bottom of the case], an 1/8" or so up from the extractor groove on the outside. It starts out as a shiny or frosted spot and before rupture usually starts to look like it is opening up [a ring of small pits] or some appear as an offset of the brass, where it looks like it was fireformed on a ledge in the chamber [it actually is the supported part staying put and the non-supported moving away from it. This is near the failure point -use caution. Usually earlier than most of the above are very evident you'll find the primers gone after shooting or they fall in when priming --this is the ideal time to give up on these. To the scrap bin.

[shopgun]

:

The only brass I don't reload for .40 is the brass I DON'T have

My limited gun runs everything.

Of course, I don't reload NT brass in .45

+ 1. I have two STI limited guns built by Wayne Berquist about 10 years ago. Aslo a Glock 34. I casepro it all. shoot it all and it all works. Just lucky I guess.

[yuthh]

if it's shinny, i use it, unless it's split. I casepro them though.

[Spray_N_Prey]

if it's shinny, i use it, unless it's split. I casepro them though.

+1 and if it's a crappy S&B or military brass (not in .40 but other calibers) I just pull it out from station 2 and run it through my Dillon Super Swager and bam! perfect brass.

[barney88pdc]

So what is the concensus on CCI. I only saw one person state anything and that was it was ok but seemed to split after only a few reloadings.

[Joe D]

I don't load aluminum Blazer and Berdan primed brass. Everything else I love. I will be happy to take all of the other brass you don't want.

[D. Manley]

So what is the concensus on CCI. I only saw one person state anything and that was it was ok but seemed to split after only a few reloadings.

Some people knock it for the sort of "concave" head shape but I use it and to tell the truth, find it as good as most anything else. I seem to acquire more CCI (and now, "Blazer" headstamps) and have had no issues whatsoever with them. If anything, they seem more consistent that some of the "more preferred" brands.

[SIE107]

Anyone that has that S&B brass that don't want it, can send it to me.. I know how to fix that tight primer pocket problem!