Sgt Preston here. Earlier this week in another thread, Smith Crazy discussed measuring the wall thickness of a "bunch" of brass. I have at last guess about 3000 rounds of 45ACP brass that are in constant circulation. 2000+ are loaded ready to go, some have been cleaned & inspected & are ready for loading. Others have been cleaned, but need inspection, still others are dirty & need to be cleaned when the container gets filled. My brass is a collection of stuff I picked up off the deck, bought at gun shows and some was given to me by old timers (I'm 64+) who intended to load & never did. Some of it was 30+ years old when it arrived at my door. I shoot it all. I do carefully inspect each piece of brass under a lighted magnifying glass after cleaning & before reloading. So tonight I went thru about 250 pieces of dirty brass & sorted it by manufacturer. Using a very good quality pair of dial calipers, I measured samples from each manufacturer 4 places at 90 degrees apart. There were a lot of variations at different places on the brass. The figures I have listed are the "average" of the 4 readings. There were a lot of different manufactures. Here is the list:
Federal .012
LC .0115
RP .011
Winchester .0115
PMC .012
RA 67 Match .011
WCC 92 .011
CBC .012
CCI .011
WCC 74 .012
Western .011
TZZ 89 .011
WRA 89 .0115
RA 80 .011
NNY .011
Hornady .012
Speer .014
IMI .011
3-D .0115
*--* .0125
FC 65 .0115
FC 61 .0115

Only the Speer clearly had a clearly thicker wall at .014. All the others were between .011-.012. Some of the brass had very different readings at different spots around the brass. For example .010, .015, .011, .014. A better method of measuring would be to clean, de-prime & resize the brass before taking the measurments & then using mics made for measuring cylindrical tubes (with a round rod that would fit inside of the brass). I'm not sure how to use this information, but here it is. Sgt Preston USMC LLA

Thanks Sarge. I just sorted about 500 cases of 45s and what a pain in the rump. I just separated them by headstamp and by overall quality. I shoot a PC945 as you do and it will eat about anything but sure likes certain types better. It seems to digest Win, FC and Speer the best. I get kind of particular about loading for it. When I want to shoot the best groups I can I load on my RockChucker instead of my 550b. I also do more case prep work by closely inspecting the primer pockets after I ream every one out to make sure they are as clean as possible. I also weigh each charge on my Lyman DPS dispenser and scale. I shoot 230 grain Win FMJ off the bench and accuracy is great with 4.4 grains of Titegroup. Back to measuring the cases I just can't bring myself to do it as the gun and loads I am making now shoot better than this old man can hold.

Thanks Sarge for doing that. The reason I asked in the other post was because of the "problem" the other poster was having. I shoot mostly lead bullets. If I am developing a load and have to have my bullets oversized, say .453" and I get a case with the wall thickness on the high side, .012" or .013", it is going to look terrible after seating the bullet. There is going to be a ridge around that case something fierce.

If there are those kinds of problems with the components that are used you may make the wrong determination of what the problem is.

One could come to the conclusion that your die was sizing things too small when in fact the case wall is too thick for the bullet diameter chosen.

If a factory crimp die is used you will loose the advantage of trying to have a bigger bullet as it will be resized in the case to a smaller than normal diameter.

Maybe I am over thinking this but it came to mind anyway!

Sgt Preston back again. I simply just reload my old cases & shoot them over & over. What I have found is that they will ALL feed up the ramp, go into the chamber, fire & be extracted cleanly IF: I carefully inspect the cases prior to loading; pay attention when I'm loading, & use my case gage as the "Final Test". My groups are probably not be as small as Littledragon's or Skip's. BUT when I finish shooting at the range each day, 98-99% are in the bullseye & the other 1 or 2 are very, very near by. For me that's close enough & much better than 98-99% of the people at my range. So my conclusions is that all the brass will work for my needs. If someone wants tighter groups, having new, single source brass would be a way to eliminate a lot of variables. I do think there is a point of "Diminishing Returns" where one can spend more time & more money but not get significant improvements. For now I'll just keep reloading them & shooting them & put my efforts on my "sight picture & trigger". Preston

Colt 1911 fixed three dot sight system

Ammunition 230Gr-FMJ reloads

Mixed head stamps

Target 25 yards standing off hand 50 rounds

While I’m an advocate of safe reloading I’m not slavish about certain details. Mixed head stamp cases no problem. Cleaning primer pockets not part of my process. Weighing cases I’m sixty-two years old don’t have the time to waste. There are more Saturdays behind me than in front of me I’d rather be shooting. With the 45ACP if it can’t be done on a Dillon 550 or SDB unit it’s not going to be done.

Your so right sarge. I have thought to myself what can I do to make my round more accurate. The reality is most if not all of the rounds I load will shoot better than I am able to while applying the skills I have to the actual shot. There is definitly a point of diminishing return. For me that is after a good case cleaning, inspection of the case and the primer pocket, along with trying to do produce the exact same results with each pull of the handle. I know one thing, there are probably more variables in me applying myself to the shot than there is in all the reloading steps put together. But isn't that what makes it a challenge and so much fun?

Nice group Dennis. By the way thats my first name to. I like the looks of your Colt. Reminds me of my PC945. Your right about the time it takes to do all the little things it sure can add up and at my age I don't like wasting to much time. I have found my 550b to be a very good press. I have had a few things that Dillon has had to replace on it but overall a good press. I am waiting on Dillon to replace the powder bar in my last quick change setup I bought to load 45s. The small powder barsshould have a thickness of .358-.359 inches. The bar I have is .355 to .356 inches. This lets 10 to 15 small grains or flakes of powder accumulate on the top of the powder bar after each pull of the handle. After loading a couple hundred rounds I have powder all over the place. When that new bar comes I will reload about 90 % of my 45s on the 550b. Keep up the good shooting!

I got tired of bottom feeders, both carp and semi's (though I still carp and gripe some) long ago. My revolvers don't care about headstamp, OAL, bullet design or crimp. I just pull the trigger and they go bang. Moon clips are another story. I don't use them that much, but for when I do I keep the Winchester brass separate. Slides into those clips like butter, while Speer and CCI require a bigger hammer to get in and out.

Dennis40X;
Excellent shooting!

I, too, use mixed brass in my .45 ACP's and have excellent results. I load on a Dillon 550B (have one for small primers and one for large primers).

I do NOT clean primer pockets. Cases are cleaned, then inspected for split cases with the "hand shake" method (quick and sure) before reloading.

When I was shooting IPSC, I much preferred military cases because they WERE thicker (no deep seated bullets when striking the frame and barrel ramp). These days I mostly shoot my 625's and will use most any case. Of course, the military cases need to have the primer pockets swaged the first time (use the RCBS Swager).

I cast my own bullets and size to .452" for all of my .45's.

At age 73 (this June 4th) wasted time is not lightly tolerated. However, with good loading practices, one can load match quality ammo in minimum time.

On the other hand, if I were a Master bullseye shot (I'm just a High Expert) I would consider one lot of cases (a LARGE lot ).

Dale53

Sgt Preston,

Thanks for the info.

I think you've confirmed that, for the most part, major brand brass is all pretty much consistent. The Speer being the exception, but not by enough to matter much, if at all. Don't know what that very slight increase in wall thickness will translate to in reduced case volume, but I suspect not much. I tried to measure case volume once and determined it to be a form of torture. I use mixed brass for most uses having been convinced long ago of the relative consistency between brands you've just demonstrated again. When specifically going for an accuracy load, however, and particularly in magnum handgun calibers, I'll stick with one headstamp, preferably from the same lot. Just makes sense.