38 brass

[Keith Cservak]

Probably a stupid question but do you all have a favorite brand 38 brass you like to load and why.
Keith.

 

[rebel0994]

I don't have a favorite brand, but for wadcutters I like to use double cannelure wadcutter brass, and for other style bullets I like to use brass cases with no cannelure. I generally don't like nickel plated brass. JMHO

 

[PeterK]

I usually prefer Winchester brass, but I have found that in 38, brass is brass, although I don't shoot wad cutters. Just finished up loading 150 38 rounds for the weekend.

Peter

 

[gutterman]

Starline is a good brand and has been available from Midway and also Missiouri Bullet co. I've loaded with Starline for about 5 yrs now and have no complaints.

 

[Waywatcher]

I can't stand any nickel brass; the nickel partially wears off in tumbling and looks awful, plus I got premature neck splits.

My favorite is Starline brass because the primer pockets are perfect and the case walls are just right.

Remington are second best. I don't care for Winchester, because I found they had shallow primer pockets, or Federal whose primer pockets feel too loose to me.

 

[ACP230]

I prefer Winchester brass but load whatever I have around.

 

[Troystat]

If it is brass or nickle plated brass I load it all, wadcutters on top of bullseye. I keep reloading it until it splits, I have some that I think is older than I am, (50 years old) I don't think I am a good enough shot to tell if any brand is better than another. Just for fun though I do sort it by brand. I do notice that some brands size easier than others.

 

[Cdog]

Overall, I prefer Winchester brass.

Brass, not nickel stuff from most vendors will all yield a good long service at normal velocities in the low pressure .38 Special round.

 

[steamloco76]

Winchester is my favorite , however I load just about any .38 SPL headstamp including W-W, Western, GFL & Fiocchi, PPU, Remington, R-P, CCI, Speer, Starline, C-B-C, Federal and others.

Most nickel plated brass does fail a bit earlier than unplated so you have to watch for neck splits and cracks down the case body.

 

[Steve in Vermont]

My favorite brass is..........free, range picked or donated (to me).

 

[SMSgt]

Makes little difference to me. I stuff it and shoot it.

 

[Keith Cservak]

Thanks guys thats what I was figuring my self just load and shoot it all.

 

[moxie]

Brass is brass. All good.

Any cannelure in the case is essentially ironed out during sizing, so is useless as a cannelure. It's still there but doesn't do anything. The brass is fine though.

 

[David Sinko]

Federal and Remington fit into the cheap moonclips that I use so I guess you can say that I prefer these two brands. And I like them nickel plated too.

Dave Sinko

 

[BLUEDOT37]

If your going to be loading to standard 38 Spcl. pressure then you probably won't have any issues using whatever. I read an article that said some of the factory brass on target loads are thinner cased & weaker & if you're going to be loading hot loads to avoid those. So for target/plinking loads use whatever, but if you're loading anything hot, I'd start with new (Starline) brass. I gave up on nickel plated cases. They just don't seem to last as long & have other issues when reloading.

 

[max]

I have been accumulating 38 brass for 40 years or so. I started with WW, but I have reloaded every major and some minor brands over the years and have found no difficulty with any. I like nickel brass and have used lots of it also. If I was just starting and was going to buy a quantity of new, Starline would be a good choice.

 

[Me239]

I love Starline, but it's just so damn expensive for just plinking. One of my favorite to reload is CBC. The cases are thick and maintain a pretty good luster.

 

[Brettitt41]

I acquired 1500 Lake City brass I am currently swaging the primer pockets on, other than that I load my 105 SWC and 148 & 158 WC in whatever I got.

 

[Bush Pilot]

I load and shoot bunches of .38 special, as long as it isn't split it gets loaded and shot.

 

[Dave T]

I like StarLine and particularly their +P 38 Special. The reason for that is I load the 38/44 cartridge in the +P brass so I won't accidentally get it in a 38 Special not intended for that heavy a load (158g & 1150 fps).

Dave