CMV Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I am new to this forum and tried searching this issue but I didn't have any luck. I have read some threads wherein there seemed to be open dislike of Federal brass. I am going to start reloading .40 for limited (I just ordered a Bedell Limited gun 2 weeks ago so only 3.5 months to wait!) and want to start accumulating some .40 brass. Anybody tell me what the problem is, assuming there really is one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scout454 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I've loaded at least 100,000 pieces of Federal brass over the years - some as many as 10 times - with no problem. Federal brass is on the softer side and in rifle calibers tends to stretch a bit more than others but this is not an issue in pistol calibers - especially .40S&W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I've loaded at least 100,000 pieces of Federal brass over the years - some as many as 10 times - with no problem. Federal brass is on the softer side and in rifle calibers tends to stretch a bit more than others but this is not an issue in pistol calibers - especially .40S&W. I run mixed in my 9mm open and haven't had a problem with any of it. Can't say about 40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I use federal in my 9mm major loads, but they are once fired and they stay where they lay. I don't use the federal military FC i think because they have swaged primer pockets that are just not fun to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I've loaded at least 100,000 pieces of Federal brass over the years - some as many as 10 times - with no problem. Federal brass is on the softer side and in rifle calibers tends to stretch a bit more than others but this is not an issue in pistol calibers - especially .40S&W. +1 I think this is mainly a rifle thing that does not afftect the pistol calibers very much. I had a source for once fired Federal 10mm and 90% of my current brass is Federal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerba Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I don't use the federal military FC i think because they have swaged primer pockets that are just not fun to deal with. Federal military FC are a pain in the a$$ in 9mm. Crushes my primer almost every time. I'll be cranking along and then CRUNCH. F#@%ing son of a b@#$& - an FC casing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 FC marked 40 and 10mm brass is ASKING for a case head seperation that may or may not hurt you and the gun. Do not use FC marked 40 or 10mm brass. Federal marked 40 and 10mm is good brass, as good as anything else. FC marked 9 is fine for me, goes right through the presses. No problems at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 FC marked 40 and 10mm brass is ASKING for a case head seperation that may or may not hurt you and the gun. Do not use FC marked 40 or 10mm brass. Federal marked 40 and 10mm is good brass, as good as anything else. FC marked 9 is fine for me, goes right through the presses. No problems at all. When discussing 10mm, I can't DISAGREE more. I have fired hundreds of thousands of FC 10mm (from the FBI) through my various 9x25 Open guns and have NEVER had a single case head seperation. I have been shooting these for well over 10 years, including loading 10mm for bowling pins at way over 200PF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Hmmm, I have only seen 3 case head seperations with 10mm and all were FC marked 10mm, two with factory ammo...... I will retract my statement though, I have only seen and shot a thousand rounds of 10mm at the absolute most in my lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folsoml Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I've not had a problem with .40 brass, but there is some Federal NT .45 ACP brass that uses small primers. Most people hate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Avoid Federal NT brass like the plague it is! I've got 2K of those bastards and can't get Federal primers to seat in them no matter what I do (ream the pocket/remove the crimp/remove the crimp even more). My only hope to salvage them long enough to leave at a match is Winchester primers. I haven't seen any failure with multiple loadings of nickle and brass FC brass with major loads. I'm going to stay away from it in the future because of what I'm reading here, but it's been as good as anything else for me. I will admit I don't have a lot of them though. You can't go wrong with Winchester or regular Federal, and Remington seems good in the .40 as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph796 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Avoid Federal NT brass like the plague it is!I've got 2K of those bastards and can't get Federal primers to seat in them no matter what I do (ream the pocket/remove the crimp/remove the crimp even more). My only hope to salvage them long enough to leave at a match is Winchester primers. I haven't seen any failure with multiple loadings of nickle and brass FC brass with major loads. I'm going to stay away from it in the future because of what I'm reading here, but it's been as good as anything else for me. I will admit I don't have a lot of them though. You can't go wrong with Winchester or regular Federal, and Remington seems good in the .40 as well. What does the "NT" stand for in Federal NT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph796 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Avoid Federal NT brass like the plague it is!I've got 2K of those bastards and can't get Federal primers to seat in them no matter what I do (ream the pocket/remove the crimp/remove the crimp even more). My only hope to salvage them long enough to leave at a match is Winchester primers. I haven't seen any failure with multiple loadings of nickle and brass FC brass with major loads. I'm going to stay away from it in the future because of what I'm reading here, but it's been as good as anything else for me. I will admit I don't have a lot of them though. You can't go wrong with Winchester or regular Federal, and Remington seems good in the .40 as well. What does the "NT" stand for in Federal NT? Non-Toxic - Did some quick research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMV Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 Thanks to all for replies and answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclez Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 All *Federal* stamped brass works fine for me in all calibers. The *FC* stamped in .40 however has been known to be weak brass. Weak brass in a high pressure .40 does not mix well. Can't speak for the 10mm mentioned above as I have not seen any ill effects with those but on the other hand I don't know many people who shoot the 10mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryBadshot Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 All *Federal* stamped brass works fine for me in all calibers. The *FC* stamped in .40 however has been known to be weak brass. Weak brass in a high pressure .40 does not mix well. Can't speak for the 10mm mentioned above as I have not seen any ill effects with those but on the other hand I don't know many people who shoot the 10mm. OK.....we have "NT" which= non-toxic (just ask someone shot with it) and "FC" which ='s what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 friend had 2 case head seperations with FC brass, stay away from it. .03 cent piece of brass is not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclez Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 NT is made by Winchester and has small primer pockets and from what I understand, Federal and Speer are also making these small primer NT cases. FC (Federal Cartridge) which is Federal's line of Military brass along with LC (Lake City). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g56 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 I have never had any problems with Federal pistol brass, a lot of people seem to dislike Federal rifle brass, and one person took the time to produce this photo and measure the web thickness of 223 cases, as you can see, the web on Federal rifle cases is on the thin side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryBadshot Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve J Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Federal is the worst with plated bullets. My experience is with Ranier and Xtreme (old West Coast) 45acp. It didn't matter how hugely I belled the mouth or how much I reamed and reamed the interior of the case mouth, the plating would push up every time. Inside diameter too small or rough or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 The 223 rifle brass is the major problem. The 308 brass seems to be more resilient. I still wouldn't deliberately buy Fed rifle brass in any variety unless it was free/cheap. There's too much better stuff out there to mess with Federal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeman711 Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 I've run through around 25,000 rds. of Federal 40 cal. both brass and nickel without a problem. All was at least once fired, and all reloaded to 170 PF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devldogs55 Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 does anyone know why the brassman guarantees all of his brass except Federal? I like Federal brass and have never had a problem. I always reload my once fired factory Federal ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 does anyone know why the brassman guarantees all of his brass except Federal? I like Federal brass and have never had a problem. I always reload my once fired factory Federal ammo. Funny you should ask. I also like Federal brass (at least hand gun brass in .40 and .45). I asked Brassman and they responded saying that handgun brass should be fine.. it's just some of the older rifle brass that is a potential problem. Soft brass and could have loose primer pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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