Hi guys I'm new to reloading and I have been collecting bass so I found these steel case 380 at Walmart for $15.00 and figured I would get them for some range time and for the brass for reloading. I didn't see that they where a steel case until I got home. Can I reload these cases or just let them go in the scrape jug at the range?? How many times can you reload a brass case before it need to go to the scrape jug at the range and what about the steel case if I can reload them how many times can they be reloaded.

No , steel cases are not workable

This is my understanding of the issues. I'd never investigated why they weren't workable, but your question caused me look into some other forums. So this is what I concluded from other places - not because I've tried doing it.

Re: The Reloading Process
* When resizing you'll have steel (cases) on steel (resizing dies). - if you don't have carbide dies.
* Reports say that using carbide dies *and* case lube can enable resizing
* Even with both of those - people say expect stuck cases. Reports are of heads being broken off. Then you have a case without a head stuck in your die.

Re: Shooting reloaded steel
Steel is not as maleable as brass. As a result:
* With resizing it becomes brittle much more quickly, making it prone to cracks or failture
* It won't form as good of a seal in the chamber (maybe not at all) which enables gasses to go all sorts of places - which can lead to catastrophic gun or shooter issues

OR

In short - it's not worth it. Even if you manage to resize it - steel cases usually are berdan primed and I doubt you can find berdan primers in pistol sizes.

Back in the day I reloaded UMC steel cases in 45 acp. Worked OK in a 45 colt 1911. Stick with brass and toss the steel.

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S&W Accumulator

At one time, I reloaded both .30 Carbine and .45 ACP steel cases from WWII. It can be done, but the force required to resize is greater. Also the GI .45 ACP cases at that time used a non-standard primer, and it was necessary to ream the primer pocket to allow a large pistol primer to fit. Generally, while it can be done, it's not worth the effort to do it.

Thanks for the info guys!!! Now I can go to the range and just use the broom to clean up instead of going around and picking up the casings by hand.

I have reloaded steel cases, both Boxer and Berdan primed. Boxer primed steel requires no special attention, and I reload .45 ACP and .223 if I'm shooting a lost brass match. They get my steel and I keep my brass. Steel cases are almost always good for at least one reloading. I reload Berdan primed 7.62x39 steel cases with the Tula KV-24N primer simply because I have acquired a large quantity of Z-Max bullets cheap and I don't want to lose any of my precious brass. It can be time consuming but steel cases are very plentiful and my handloads are loaded to a much higher standard than anything Tula factory loads.

I think Tula .380 ACP steel cases are Berdan primed and even I wouldn't bother with those.

Dave Sinko

yes and no.
if your a seasoned vet of the press that knows every nuance there is to the art ... you can pull that stunt off.
but that does not describe you, the rookie reloader.
even us seasoned vets avoid this. its a pain in the backside and slower than slugs on depressants marching through peanut butter.

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it just needs more voltage

not recommended

If your range recycles the casings, they won't want steel mixed with the brass. My range does not allow steel.

Lots of good info in this thread - from my (brief) research it is possible but the significant risks are not worth the limited rewards and that it should be left to worst case scenario situations.

For me I use steel and or aluminum cases in places where I can't easily or don't want to collect my spent cases as they generally are less expensive than factory brass ammo.
If you get supplies on sale in bulk etc and reload each brass case at least a few times (and I have read some folks have been reloading the same rifle cases for decades) then the cost per reload can be lower than the best prices on the cheap stuff.

For example - a LGS has brass Lawman 9mm on sale $12.99 for 50 and another LGS has aluminum Blazer 9mm on sale for $9.99 for 50 - my cost per reload (not including the original brass) is currently $5.55 for 50 rounds.

So what I do is buy brass case when I get really good sale prices to make up any brass I lose (and its good to have some factory rounds for comparison or if someone else needs ammo I give or sell them the factory stuff). Although the last few trips to the local range I have come home with more brass than I took because I have only run across one other person at my local range who reloads - and he was shooting some odd ball rifle caliber.

- my local range does allow non-brass but charges extra for it - it is good for outdoor use so I don't have to scrounge through the grass to find my cases - brass catchers help but in my experience work better on the AR than on my pistols (and I have tried several different versions - rail mounted - velcro - elastic around your palm).

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. If I had something to prove I might reload a few but I usually just buy ammo with real brass or buy new or once shot brass and don't fool with steel. Or aluminum.

Oh, remember that the carbide ring in your resizer, though harder than a brickbat, is very brittle.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Short answer is yes, you can reload steel cases, but why?

Unfortunately this thread shows the general lack of basic knowledge of the subject exhibited by so many that do not hesitate to post on a subject they know nothing about! Let's look at what really is the situation!

1) Steel cases are made of quite soft steel. They are easily sized but lose their ductility in one or two loads and spring back so they will not hold a bullet.

2) WWII EC and ECS .45 cases used standard .210 primers. The early F.A. primer that was .204 was not loaded after sometime in the 1920s as I recall. Regardless EC & ECS cases can be loaded with standard LP primers.

3) Most steel cases are Berdan primed. True, they are European so that wold be expected. Same for European manufacture brass cases.

4) Can't get "pistol size" Berdan primers? BS! All you need to do is find a distributor which stocks the correct size. They aren't S, L, SR, etc, Berdan primers are sized by diameter in millimeters with no regard to whether they are to be used in rifle or pistol ammunition, usually. Old Western Scrounger used to be a source.

5) Will wear dies. Just lube them a bit heavier than brass.

6) Is there a good reason to load steel? Absolutely not. Likewise any Berdan primed cases. While either can be done there is no good reason to do so, but let's not fabricate baloney excuses as to why it cannot or should not be done like many have done.

RWSmith makes some good points, but it is not likely you will break a carbide sizer in a good quality die. This one place where lube in a carbide die makes sense.

venomballistics, do you know the vacant brick building on the SE corner of 60th and Pacific in Omaha? That used to be "Arms and Ammo" until a fire destroyed it sometime in the 1970s and it was never rebuilt. Never opened elsewhere again either. Too bad, because Jim was a fine man to deal with. When I was in High School and frequenting the store he never talked down or acted like a 14-16 year old kid wasn't a worthy customer. Different times and people!!!!!! I miss them all.

For the record, I started shooting a 1911 about 1960, when most GI ammunition available was EC and ECS. Could buy GI hardball bullets for something like 2 cents. My first reloading was steel cases, Pistol 6, (how many of you even heard of this one?), and those GI bullets. Loaded in standard steel RCBS dies (that I still have!). Didn't hurt the dies a bit. This is how I know you only get 2 loadings! Gave it up as a waste of time real quick.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I re-load 7.62x54 Russian steel cases.
I convert the berdan primer to use a standard LR first. You need a primer pocket swage and a method to turn the berdan primer face off along with most of the internal anvil. A lathe works for me.

The actual sizing, crimping, ect of the steel case isn't any different IMO than most brass cases on my single stage press.

A clean case, lube them and follow the standard loading methods and they don't handle any different than brass.

Is it worth it?,,probably not. I do it 'cause the cases are there for the picking and the loads I am making are generally light to mid-range loads using cast bullets. But sometimes I use jacketed.
I reload the case 5 or 6 times before tossing them.
(I use .308d 30cal bullets btw and find them very accurate dispite all the hand ringing on the net over the .311(+) groove dia of the MN rifles.)

I've done it, just to satisfy my own curiosity, but not recommended. As Sinko notes, they are good for one, maybe two reloads. For that, you get an increase wear on your dies & of course the debate on steel vs brass wear on the gun. So I don't, but know in a SHTF I can. The other issue will be many steel cases are berdan primed, so check that first. In lower pressure rods, like the 380, brass can last upt0 20X reloaded, so just not worth messing with steel cases IMO.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

.45 ACP was one of the first handgun cartridges for which I reloaded. Had a lot of WWII EC and ECS cases, so used them. Still have 'em some 30 years later; most have had ten or more reloadings. (Not so much recently, as I just sorted through several thousand brass cases.) No dramas as long as the zinc plating (or whatever it is) is intact.

The .45 Wolf cases proved not so useful. Rather higher forces required to size, and are harder to extract, so light loads have to be run up some. Haven't cycled any more than twice, too much bother.

BTW, oldest brass I have is about 1918, but quite a bit of 1930s FA that gets run through the rotation regularly.

Would think that steel .380 cases would be potentially useful, as it runs at about the same pressure, but only if there's a compelling reason, like having a bucket full, boxer primed.

I have reloaded steel cases quite successfully. I regularly reload steel .45 ACP brass that I pick up at the range. I then use these reloaded steel rounds when I shoot at places that casings may be lost (high grass, swampy areas, wet/muddy areas....). That way if I lose them , so what. If I happen to find them, well I just reload 'em again.

"2) WWII EC and ECS .45 cases used standard .210 primers. The early F.A. primer that was .204 was not loaded after sometime in the 1920s as I recall. Regardless EC & ECS cases can be loaded with standard LP primers."

Absolutely not so. They are slightly smaller than standard. Normal LP primers will crush when insertion is attempted unless the primer pockets have been reamed.

I looked it up on Google maps, yup, still standing.
Sad to say that I wasn't here long enough to see the shop in its former glory.
Not too long after the demise you describe, we lost what may have been one of the best shops in the state of Wisconsin.
Bills house of guns was located in the middle of nowhere, in a fairly sizable, and modern building.
If they didn't have it, it wasn't invented yet.
Unfortunately, Bill got himself jammed up with a nose full of coke and a couple of professional women down in Florida, leading to the fall of a great empire.
Took nearly a decade before cinemos filled the void.
Tom used to run that shop rather similar to what you described.

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it just needs more voltage

So you mean.......don't.....bother......right?

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Early in my reloading days, I tried reloading some U.S. military once-fired steel .45 ACP cases just to see if I could. They were, of course, Boxer primed. They worked. It seemed like they might be pretty hard on the dies, though. I never repeated the experiment. The Russian stuff, I believe, is all Berdan primed anyway. Just toss 'em. I commend the OP for his manual dexterity in reloading those itty-bitty .380 ACP cases. Too small for my wooden fingers!

The current Tula 45acp is boxer primed. I think the 40 & 223 as well. Steel cases just do not perform as well as brass. They were never really designed to b reloadable.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

One advantage with steel cases is you can pick them up with a magnet. I was at a commercial range several years ago where they had a "rolling magnet" to pick up steel cases. It worked pretty slick.

Back to the .45 steel cases. In addition to the EC and ECS steel case ammo from WWII (which I had several thousand of at one time), there was some postwar GI .45 steel case ammunition made also, and I have seen it with TW headstamps from the 1950s (Twin Cities). Those TW cases will accept regular Large Pistol primers OK, as I have loaded some of those cases.