At a gun show today I purchased several hundred used 38 Special Cases.
Included were quite a number of Sellier & Bellot cases. They look very
good.
Have any of you reloaded them and if so, did you experience any unusual problems? Would appreciate your comments.

I've reloaded them, because I picked up several hundred at the range two years ago.

They seem a bit thin, and on the second reloading, I got about 10% case splits, which I thought was unusual...but have only loaded about 200 or 300 of them at least four times.

Also, at first I think the primers were a bit hard to seat as it seems that the pockets were a bit tight.

Just watch for split cases after the first reload.

I believe my load is 4.6grns. Unique under a 158gr. LRN...(without looking)- so nothing terribly hot.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I have loaded some S&B brass in 38 Spl, 45 ACP and 8mm. The 45 and 38's loaded fine except for having tight primer pockets. None of the cases have split after several firings. The 8mm I tossed in the recycle bucket after reloading it once. The stuff was splitting at the mouth and had splits in the body of the case.

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too TOO young!!

i reload in 9m/m for many years no problems

I've also loaded S&B cases in .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 9mm and .45 Auto without issues. None have split to date and they seem just as good as any others I've used.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Ditto to the tight primer pockets. Mostly 45ACP though.

My experience is tight primer pockets with 9MM. I don't reload the S&B 9MM brass anymore - just toss it.

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Lorin

I got some .357 Mag S&B brass in a bulk lot of once fired brass I purchased. I ended up taking a case deburr tool and slightly chamfering the primer pocket to make them easier to load. Sort of a pain to do but the brass is working fine.

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Andy

I noticed that S&B 9mm cases were considerably shorter than minimum.

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Got a Phd from Hard Knocks U

The only drawback I ever experienced with S&B brass ( in .38 Spl & .45 ACP) are their very tight primer pockets : this demands either primer selection or very careful primer seating.

True, case wall thickness varies a bit, but not more so than in any other make, including Remington or Winchester brass.

No problems with S&B .38 special cases for me. Part of the "tight primer pockets" issue is that S&B puts less bevel on the pocket entrances than most of us are used to. You can chamfer the pockets or just pay close attention to alignment and primers will seat without problems.

I have reloaded several calibers of the S&B. Will concur with the "tight primer pockets". They get better with subsequent loadings.

With the .357 magnums, I have found at least two suppliers to S&B (slightly different head stamps). One of the head stamps seem thinner than the other and have had several split casings after a number of cycles. The other head stamp seems on a par with other manufacturer's brass.

I use an RCBS APS primer tool and have never noticed any problems with tight primer pockets.

I have had problems with split cases on the first reload with some .357brass.

I've also had some .38s that are still going strong. I don't have a lot of experience with it so Arub may be correct about the differing suppliers.

I had a lot of problems try to reload their 45's with Wolf Primers..

Thanks for the replies. I will watch for splits and be prepared for tight primers.

I have reloaded Sellier & Bellot cases in 9mm and 223. The 9mm has worked just fine even after five reloadings but the 223 has up to a 5% split necks on each reloading. I will not be loading it any more it will all to to the dump.

Like many others...I found the primer pockets to be my only issue.

Because I use a progressive and try to take advantage of the production potential...I have done my best to cull out S&B (.45 ACP, .38 Special & .357 Magnum).

I've not dumped the stuff...I had enough accumulated of each caliber that I was able to offer it to others here who do not find the tight pockets an issue at their bench. Several reloaders got a Care-Package from me when I spun the stuff out.

Bob

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"Onward thru the Fog"

I haven't run any once fired S&B yet (I've got about 1 1/2K of it in .38 Special). But I sure do thank all that chimed in on it! Now I know to just go ahead and treat them like any military brass and automatically chamfer the pockets.
Thanks again folks!

Hey Spottedog,
I do not know that I'd automatically do that. Try some first. There is enough difference in the replies to suggest that some are getting along fine. They just go easy and do not "jam" that primer, they put steady/easy pressure on the primer and it goes in fine...

Try working with the brass before you go to the trouble of re-working the pockets. If you are on a single-stage or turret press...you may be fine with the results....and...the pockets will loosen a bit with re-loading....you may get more uses of the brass if you can use the brass the way it is...just a thought.

Remember, a single-stage press is not a volume unit so you may find the S&B brass will work. I do not have near the problems (quantity wise) with the .38/.357 brass as I do with the .45s...

Bob

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"Onward thru the Fog"

I'll be using a RCBS Single Stage so I won't be loading in a hurry. Maybe I won't have too much problem. I will try some after Thanksgiving.

I've only ever used S&B brass in 303 British and it has given no problems. The original 100 cases still in use after 5 loadings (low end loading) and neck sizing only. Annealed necks after load #4. No primer pocket issues.
They were given to me because the guy heard bad things about S&B brass in general and didn't want to deal with them.
Maybe it depends on the lot or caliber.

ancient-one,
Yes sir...worth a try....brass is not cheap and I've not noted any quality issues with S&B brass....just the issue with the tighter pockets.

Bob

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"Onward thru the Fog"

I've reloaded some .30 carbine cases. Seemed as good as anything else.

The tight primer pockets, and to my opinion not enough radius on the primer pocket, causes loading problems. I throw them away. My Dillon 550 doesn't like them at all.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Have reloaded hundreds of S&B cases in .223 with no problems, in fact my most accurate loads have been made up in S&B and IMI .223 cases. Have also loaded a considerable number of S&B 9mm and .380 cases without incident.

S&B is an old-line Czech company, and their products should be good. Any problems with case splits, etc. experienced could just as easily be attributed to aging as to manufacturer. I've had Remington, Federal, and Winchester cases fail too, in fact recently I had a large number of reloads in Federal .44 Special cases split on firing, but they were sort of old.

I have reloaded a ton of the S&B especially in 9mm and 45 ACP. It seems to be good brass and I get no more splitting than with any other brand.
The primer pockets are a little tight on the first reload but after that it feels normal.

Good brass but requires care during the primer seating operation due to the lack of bevel on the edge of the primer pocket.

a remington or federal primer is more easily seated than any of the others. i have used a lot of the 9mm and some of the 45acp and 38 spec. and seems to be true across the board. after a few loadings, then winchester or cci will seat more easily too. don't know about the foreign primers though.

Hi,
Yes, 38 & 357 cases thin and prone to cracking. Primer pockets on the small side, often crushed primers at seating unless S&B primers are used, then it is OK when loading cast bullets sized .358". Non standard primers and pockets theretoo for small pistol primers, the 45 & 44 are no problems related to primer seating. The 357 cases are so thin that bullets are not held firmly in place unless they are of .358" dia like the S&B bullets. PMC bullets 158 gr JSP (.3565) could be pushed into the case by finger force after seating!!!!!

Personally I regard S&B as low quality ammo compared to other inexpensive brands, this, based upon the following experiences;

1)Shooting buddy had his brand new Glock 9 mm blown up when firing factory S&B 9 mm fmj non-toxic, first couple of rounds went fine then the gun went to pieces,luckily no injuries since the shooter was a southpaw, he may otherwise have ruined his thumb.

2)Another shooting buddy repetedly had bullets stuck in the bore of his 45 ACP which I had to help him to push out, S&B ammo too. Fortunately he was observant and never fired a new round into the obstructed bore.

3)At the neighbour club S&B 22 LR ammo was purchased for the club guns and there was at least one incident where round(s) went off in the magazine at firing (possibly a case flaw that permitted flash to enter & ignite adjacent round).

4) At opening a new box of 38 Spl. WC and loading my gun one cartrige felt very light, it was just a case with a primer, no bullet in it.

5) At a couple of occasions I got 357's where the case mouths were so badly damaged that the rounds would not chamber into the cylinder.

None of the above 5 incidents ever happened to me with other brands of ammo, not even other budget brands, during my +30 years of handgun shooting so not likely to be coincidentally only.

Reuters

They say that confession soothes the soul so here goes. Because of the cold weather, I brought my reloading stuff from the shop into a spare bedroom. My intentions were to load some .357 target loads and maybe a few .38s.
I walked in there a few minutes ago and saw the S & B cases sitting there so clean and bright and I just could not help trying one. You know the rest of the story. A primer part of the way in and still in the shellholder. Tomorrow it goes out to the shop for a try at backing out the primer.
You guys gave me plenty of warning, I just had a spell of STUPID. The rest of the cases will make good .22 rifle targets.