PPU .45 brass quality and measuring case thickness.

[flyrobb]

I got four 2.5# coffee cans of outdoor range pickup brass from my Bro. Since I didn't pick it up I have been sorting through it whilst watching the tube.

Only segrated the Winchester and Federal at first because there was quite a bit of both. Then realized they must get a good deal on Remington because was finding a lot of that. Segregated it because I have heard it's not very good. The other brand, PPU, started showing up and ended up with about 125 PPU cases.

So two questions:
1) Any input on PPU brass?

2) Can you reliably determine the brass thickness by weighing the cases? I seem to have a difficult time measuring brass thickness with my digital calipers. When I measure RP, which is supposed to be thinner it seems to be the same as everything else. Heck the same case measured at different areas can vary.

Now when I weigh brass Winchester and Federal are the heaviest, RP close but the PPU brass is noticeably lighter.

I've got enough Federal, Winchester and other mixed I don't really need to load the RP and PPU but just was curious.

[dg101win]

PPU comes from Serbia. I have used it in 45ACP and 38 SPL. it does a good job of killing paper at the range. I have only reloaded the 38 brass. It loads just as easy as Winchester,Federal or Remington brass.

[dannyabear]

PPU is considered junk by most, I throw it away, it is very inconsistant

[dswancutt]

I'm with dg101win, I haven't noticed any difference in loading PPU compared to Winchester, Federal, Remington etc. Guess I'm too dumb to know the difference.

[SLT223]

I've loaded PPU in .44 Mag reduced to hot 44 Special...about 20 times. These were all range pickup. These breach gaskets seem to work for me.

[BLUEDOT37]

I had a similar situation on a bunch of "gifted" range brass. I tossed the PPU.

I was pleased with the RWS and S&B brass that I hadn't had any prior experience with though.

Case weight won't tell you about the distribution of metal in it's case construction, only infer it.

.

[rwsmith]

PPU is Pee-EW. It'll shoot and reload, but don't expect much. They manage to introduce a great variety of problems in their ammo/brass.

[dswancutt]

Originally Posted by rwsmith

PPU is Pee-EW. It'll shoot and reload, but don't expect much. They manage to introduce a great variety of problems in their ammo/brass.

Can you please provide examples of said problems.

[Ballistic147]

I've loaded a fair amount of it in 9mm, 40S&W, 44Mag, and 5.56. The pistol brass was no problem at all. The 5.56 brass worked but was super hard to get sized correctly. It was really sticky in the sizing die even using Imperial Sizing wax and getting the shoulder bumped back far enough was a challenge. No other brand of brass gave me this problem. Never loaded any in 45acp that I know of.

[max]

Due to a fiendish plot, you might want to check your brass to see if it is large or small primer.

[flyrobb]

Originally Posted by max

Due to a fiendish plot, you might want to check your brass to see if it is large or small primer.

I'll be sure to check'em. I've heard those Serb's are a crafty lot!

[Freischütz]

My experience with PPU brass is limited to 6.5×55 cases. Case life is as good as Norma, but neck thickness is extremely variable.

[Rule3]

What exactly is wrong with the brass? There is a lot of a anecdotal replies but nothing factual?

I have no experience with it one way or another, but the factory or company has been around for a very long time and gone through a lot of hard times and managed to survive. They must do something right,

I wish more rifles were built like some of the Yugoslavian rifles (SKS) back then. They would build 4 rifles out of the metal used in those rifles today

Prvi Partizan Ammunition


1928
1935
1947
1970

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Yes, there is a lot of funky junk brass out there these days so one needs to be careful on what the pick up,

I swept up a pile of once fired "brass stamped (FM) Freedom Munitions. As I do with all brass I pass a large magnet over it. Ding! turns out it is steel with a brass plating. It is sold as
American Steel Ammo! But hey, it's made in the USA!

American Steel 9mm 115 gr RN New | Freedom Munitions