Can we create a stick on good vs bad brass to reload?

alank2 · 03-23-2008, 09:57

Hi everyone,

I recall a thread not long ago where people were talking about how hard they inspect calibers, for example 9mm was inspected very hard because it is quite a strong case for the typical 9mm loads put on it, and 40sw was inspected more carefully because it is much closer to the "edge" than 9mm for example.

Also was a list of good brass and bad brass.

Could we create a sticky that would list calibers and everyone could chime in about headstamps considered good or bad. We could just have people post their experiences and update a top level message. Obviously there could be disagreements where one person says this headstamp is decent while another says it is trash, in which case we could go with 3 categories for headstamp: Good to go, Mixed Review, Junk Brass.

Maybe a 1-5 rating on inspection necessity. 1=super strong brass, just a basic inspection down to 5=inspect it extremely well or its going to KB!.

What do you guys think?

I love to dig up all the free brass at the range, it sure would be nice to have a list of what to throw in the scrap bin right off the bat...

Any brass not actually made of brass is of course junk. This includes Wolf steel cases and CCI blazer aluminum cases.

In the format company name (headstamp [other headstamps])
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Good to go brass:
Starline (*--* Two Stars with line between them)
Winchester (Winchester, WIN, WCC?)
Norma (Norma)
Magtech (CBC)
Hornady (Hornady)
Independance (*I*)
Israeli Military Industries (TZZ)
Federal (Federal, FC that is not 40S&W)
Eldorado (ELD)
Remington (R-P, UMC)

Shootable, but not as good:
Speer (Speer)
Precision Made Cartridge (PMC)
Company? (HY)
Aguila (Aguila)
Fiocchi (Fiocchi)

Junk Brass:
American Ammunition (AMERC)
Armscorp (ACP)
Company? (NNY)
Federal (FC that is 40S&W)
Sellier & Beloit (S&B) - Mixed reviews, some ok, some bad, usually the problem is related to primer pocket size.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks,

Alan

podwich · 03-23-2008, 10:14

AMERC=bad.

dudley · 03-22-2009, 22:03

Federal for 223 BAD

TrooperBrian · 03-24-2009, 18:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by dudley

Federal for 223 BAD

Any claims on this? I've used FC brass for a long time and have yet to run into a single problem. Most of the time it was because I didn't ream out the primer pocket enough.

***Fire_Medic*** · 03-24-2009, 18:13

Anyone know what brand "PPU" brass is?

Good or Bad?

gwalchmai · 03-24-2009, 18:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire_Medic

Anyone know what brand "PPU" brass is?

Good or Bad?

Prvi Partizan, 31000 Titovo, Uzice, Yugoslavia (see above link)

Most of the yooropean brass I've run into (S&B, Gecco, etc) is OK, with some calibers being better among brands. I've reloaded a few PPU in 9mm and had no problems.

mitchshrader · 03-23-2008, 10:47

Starline = Good

alank2 · 03-23-2008, 10:59

Hi guys,

Well that gets us started! After a bunch of posts I'll modify the first post to include a summary!

I'll throw another one in, Winchester = good.

Maybe we don't need to do it by caliber...

Thanks,

Alan

***Jeff82*** · 03-23-2008, 11:18

Maybe mention separating cases by weight and not mixing +p cases with non +p cases...

Rico567 · 03-23-2008, 12:00

I've shot a lot of "pickup" brass in my time, some say a bad habit, and they may be right. Nevertheless, through thousands of rounds I've had no reloading issues, except with the one headstamp that pops up in forums again and again, including this one- AMERC. Under no circumstances attempt to reload this stuff.

(Note: I'm not including in this discussion things like aluminum or steel cases. This stufff should not be reloaded, and I'm assuming people on this forum know that.)

fourrobert13 · 03-23-2008, 12:29

Stay away from FC & AD brass when it comes to rifle reloading. Some one already covered amerc.

I'll load up just about every thing else.

***Jeff82*** · 03-23-2008, 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by fourrobert13

Stay away from FC & AD brass when it comes to rifle reloading. Some one already covered amerc.

I'll load up just about every thing else.

Ok. I'm just guessing here:
FC=Frontier Cartridge and AD=anno Domini?

alank2 · 03-23-2008, 16:23

Hi,

If you can, please post the company and the headstamp.

What is the deal with FC is this federal cartridge or something else? Is it good in some calibers and not others?

Thanks,

Alan

alank2 · 03-23-2008, 16:37

Hi,

I found a thread with some BigSlick wisdom I included.

What is the deal on the NT marked stuff (not toxic). Does some of it work fine and others not?

Thanks,

Alan

fourrobert13 · 03-23-2008, 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by alank2

Hi,

I found a thread with some BigSlick wisdom I included.

What is the deal on the NT marked stuff (not toxic). Does some of it work fine and others not?

Thanks,

Alan

All of the NT stuff I came accross was 45 acp. It used small pistol primers instead of large. I didn't understand why, and I never attempted to load any of it.

sig2009 · 03-23-2008, 17:53

I think you should remove Speer from the not as good section!

Apocalypse_Now · 09-05-2008, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by sig2009

I think you should remove Speer from the not as good section!

Several of the "not as good" are just fine reloading brass

ncfyrfyter · 08-05-2009, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by fourrobert13

All of the NT stuff I came accross was 45 acp. It used small pistol primers instead of large. I didn't understand why, and I never attempted to load any of it.

The NT is the WinClean ammunition manufactured by Winchester. The box states that the brass is non-reloadable.

ragsflh · 11-05-2012, 07:49

nt brass just uses small primers i have it in 45 acp,40 sw 10mm

SILVERBACK32 · 03-23-2008, 16:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by alank2

Hi everyone,

I recall a thread not long ago where people were talking about how hard they inspect calibers, for example 9mm was inspected very hard because it is quite a strong case for the typical 9mm loads put on it, and 40sw was inspected more carefully because it is much closer to the "edge" than 9mm for example.

Also was a list of good brass and bad brass.

Could we create a sticky that would list calibers and everyone could chime in about headstamps considered good or bad. We could just have people post their experiences and update a top level message. Obviously there could be disagreements where one person says this headstamp is decent while another says it is trash, in which case we could go with 3 categories for headstamp: Good to go, Mixed Review, Junk Brass.

Maybe a 1-5 rating on inspection necessity. 1=super strong brass, just a basic inspection down to 5=inspect it extremely well or its going to KB!.

What do you guys think?

I love to dig up all the free brass at the range, it sure would be nice to have a list of what to throw in the scrap bin right off the bat...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Good to go brass:
Starline (Two Stars with an arc between them)
Winchester (WIN, WCC?)
Norma (Headstamp?)
Company? (CBC)
Hornady (Headstamp?)
Company? (*I*)
Company? (TZZ)
Federal (Headstamp?)
Company? PMC? (ELD)

Shootable, but not as good:
Remington (R-P)
Speer (Headstamp?)
Company? (S&B)
Precision Metalic Something? (PMC)
Company? (HY)
Aguila (Headstamp?)
Fiocchi (Headstamp?)

Junk Brass:
AMERC (AMER?)
Armscorp (ACP)
Company? (NNY)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks,

Alan

What's wrong with Speer?

Mtwain · 04-27-2013, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by SILVERBACK32

What's wrong with Speer?

Spear brass is good, however some primers are a bit to big and a little bit of the primer is sheared off leaving a thin piece behind. I use Winchester primers and gave up on the Speer brass because of this.

freakshow10mm · 03-23-2008, 17:32

Hornady brass is stamped Hornady.
Fiochi brass is stamped Fiochi
Norma brass is stamped Norma.
Winchester brass is stamped Winchester
Federal brass is stamped FC
ELD brass is Eldorado
PMC stands for Precision Made Cartridge
S&B is Sellier and Beloit (sp?)
*I* is Independance
Amerc is American Ammunition
Aguila is stamped Aguila
Starline is *--* but looks curved because the brass is round
UMC brass is stamped UMC and is a Remington company
Speer headstamp is Speer

robert91922 · 08-06-2009, 02:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakshow10mm

.
Fiochi brass is stamped Fiochi
.

I have about 7 different types of Fiocchi 9mm rounds in my personal stock, but cases are all stamped GFL. Please check again.

380Seecamp · 08-06-2009, 04:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert91922

I have about 7 different types of Fiocchi 9mm rounds in my personal stock, but cases are all stamped GFL. Please check again.

http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/headstampcodes.htm

This web site (above) lists F, LE, GFL, PS, and FIOCCHI headstamps for Fiocci. I've never seen the "FIOCCHI" headstamp myself. Got lots of "GFL" in my collection.

mteagle1 · 12-31-2009, 14:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by 380Seecamp

http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/headstampcodes.htm

This web site (above) lists F, LE, GFL, PS, and FIOCCHI headstamps for Fiocci. I've never seen the "FIOCCHI" headstamp myself. Got lots of "GFL" in my collection.

The Fiocchi 40 S&W frangible are marked FIOCCHI.