38 special brass- what brand do you like by best? Any to avoid?

[GT_80]

I'm just getting into reloading 38 special, have all the components (finally- took forever to find primers) and I have a bunch of different brands of (mostly) once fired brass. I inspected all the brass, sorted by brand, de-primed and re-sized all of it, checked case length, trimmed as needed, and I am polishing each brand of brass separately. Once I complete tumbling, I'm pretty much ready to start reloading.

As I was de-priming and resizing the brass, I notice that the Remington UMC and Winchester brass seemed to be the most consistent, and no over length cases in the 350+ that I resized and checked. The Aguila I had close to 300 rounds, and several of them were needing to be trimmed, even though they were once fired. I have a Lyman length checker "card", and a hornady overall length checker as well. The hornady seems to be more precisely machined and has a little more wiggle room than the Lyman length gauge. If they were over length I trimmed them with my lee trimmer on my drill, then chamfered inside and out of the shells.

I am certain I did the process correctly up till now. But being that this is my first time reloading anything other than shotgun, I wondered if any of you had suggestions on brass that is better, or brass I should stay away from before I start adding primers and powder.

I have Remington UMC, Herters, PMC bronze, PPU, Aguila, Winchester, some "US" stamped cartridges which may be armscor, and some perfecta as well. All that is brass, and I have some random nickel coated UMC, and other brands.

All my loadings will be standard pressure, not plus p, and I will be loading some 158 grain lead round nose, some 125 grain berrys plated target hollow points, some 125 grain xtp, and some 148 grain double flat ended wadcutters as well. I have #2 powder and silhouette to load with. Just wondering what anyone with experience has to say, if I am going down the right approach, and what you think about the brass I have.

Am I overthinking it?

 

[Rpg]

I have no brand preference for brass to reload 38s, assuming it's not for bullseye competition. I don't sort brass by brand.

Sorting according to number of times the brass has been reloaded is more useful to me.

 

[GT_80]

I have no brand preference for brass to reload 38s, assuming it's not for bullseye competition. I don't sort brass by brand.

Sorting according to number of times the brass has been reloaded is more useful to me.

Thanks for the feedback. I won't be so anal then lol.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The Columbus police academy tumbled their brass about 5000 at a time, then dumped them on screen for inspection. You just roll your hand across the brass and you will hear a split case. You will find not all brass last the same. The brand that shows up cracked the most is the one you don't want.

Ivan

 

[Troystat]

Unless you are shooting bullseye at 50 yards any conventional brass will be fine. I have noticed that nickel plated brass seems to not last not as long.

 

[DWalt]

The only brass differences I have noticed is that nickeled cases seem more likely to split after a few leadings, and S&B cases seem to have very tight primer pockets.

 

[Sevens]

I could only guess at the sheer number of times I've loaded .38 Special. A fair guess would be something on the order of 35,000 or beyond. I'm only trying to guess at a number to share that I have never in my life trimmed a piece of .38 Special brass. At this point in the game it is a safe bet that I never will. So in my opinion, case length is not something you will need to concern yourself with in .38 Special.

I like lots of different headstamps and I always sort by headstamp in every different caliber I load.

In .38 Special, I like to use R-P for all my swaged HBWC for use in the Model 52 pistols. This is because I find R-P to be the thinnest on the market and it just plays very well with the HBWC and the nice chambers of my 52's.

I like to use all Federal headstamp for cast BBWC that I use in my custom PPC revolvers. I suppose I chose this years ago because these guns demand the soft Federal 100 primer, and so I use the Federal brass.

I like to use S&B and Herters brass for hot .38 loads in my Coonan pistol -- I use this brass because it is cheap and the most likely to split brass I've experienced in .38 and I run this particular ammo with Power Pistol and the Coonan loves to chuck brass in strange directions, so I'm more likely to use it.

For random other .38 loads, most often with a plated 158 grain bullet, I like PMC or CBC or Winchester brass the most, but I'll use any headstamp if I have 50 or more of them to all match up in a box.

I have made the argument many times over the years that there is -ONE- single best place to start a handloading journey, and that one single best possible place is with .38 Special.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I use mostly Federal, Winchester and Remington brass because when I was buying ammo a long time ago those were the brands of ammo I was buying. I kept the brass and have been using it forever.

I broke out 1,200 pieces of Remington cases and loaded them for many years. I must have had well over 40 loads on them. No split case necks, no loose primer pockets. I changed them just because and now I'm doing the same with 1,200 pieces of Federal brass cases.

The Rem cases are fairly soft but neck tension was never a problem. The Federal and Winchester cases are a little stiffer but no problems sizing them at all.

Most reloaders will agree, never ever try loading AMERC brass. It's a waste of time and components.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I have had very poor luck with AMERC brass, as noted above. Every time I find one I crush it and throw it in the trash so it doesn't get back into the component stream by accident.

 

[Ruger 13]

Any American made brass is your best bet as far as consistency is concerned! Lately I've been using Starline for everything I can.

 

[dogdoc]

Starline brass!. Excellent new brass with great consistency . The preferred brass by many of us long time reloaders. Brian Pearce of handloader magazine is a big proponent. I just purchased another 1000 from starline. You often get the best accuracy from using 1 brand of brass but it is not always a huge difference.

 

[Protocall_Design]

With a revolver, especially with moon clips, you get all of YOUR brass back. I have standardized on Starline for all calibers of revo brass except for the auto calibers like 9mm, 38 super, 40 S&W, & 45ACP. Starline has the same groove for moonclips in the 38 Short Colt, 38 Long Colt, 38 Special, 357 Mag. The same (expensive) moon clips fit all of them. I have reloaded the same 1000 38 Short Colt brass for years and still have most of the original 1000. Same for 38 Special.

 

[ggibson511960]

Like many here I have reloaded more .38 Spl than any other caliber, driven by the preponderance of .38 Spl S&W revolvers I like to shoot. Being somewhat obsessive compulsive I sorted lots of .38 Spl to keep brass together by brand. It just looked better in a 50 round M&M plastic box. But the years took their tool on case necks. First to go were the nickel plated, then the rest by shear number or reloads. I finally gave up and tossed them all together and never looked back. My shooting volume is way down what with component shortage and advancing years, so the occasional split neck or loose pocket is a rarity. If there is any difference in accuracy it would take a Ransom Rest and much test shooting to find it. It's not worth the sorting hassle, but inspection continues to sort out the case failures.

 

[oddshooter]

I don't think there's any doubt about buying new brass.

Starline Brass | Rifle, Handgun, and Pistol Brass

Prescut

 

[Ameshawki]

I've used just about every brand out there in the last fifty years. Can't say I've noticed any appreciable difference, at least on range ammo.

 

[nbedford]

I have noticed that brass with a WCC head stamp (Winchester head stamped cases do just fine) just does not crimp down well with my Lee 358 158 TL swc's. Not sure why, but I chunk them. BTW, after that I keep my S&W Model 67 handy and do a "plunk test" with it to make sure my loads will drop into the chambers without any problems (yeah, I know the "plunk test" is for auto's but it works fine for revolvers too). I also for the first time in ages had a case mouth split after I had seated the bullet - the same Lee bullet I mentioned. It was a S&W head stamped nickel case. Since then I have avoided all nickel plated cases. I had read on another forum that the nickel cases were prone to case mouth splits, but that was my first experience. In any event I have plenty of other 38 Special brass; so I saw no point in using the nickel cases, and potentially wasting primers and powder.

 

[stansdds]

If buying new brass, I'd highly recommend Starline, it is really good brass. Nickel cases... I have found that the nickel can flake off from the edge of the case mouth, those little bits of nickel can get into the resizing die and then scratch plain brass cases. Nickel plated cases also tend to suffer case mouth cracking sooner than plain brass.

 

[GT_80]

Unless you are shooting bullseye at 50 yards any conventional brass will be fine. I have noticed that nickel plated brass seems to not last not as long.

I had gotten a bag of random brass from a friend, and it had a few nickel plated cases that were split in it. All the brass I saw was still mint.

 

[GT_80]

wow lots of great advice, and I will definitely look into starline brass if I decide to buy all new components! for now I have about 350 rounds of mixed PPU, Herters, PMC Bronze and Aguila tumbling so I may start loading some tonight.

 

[ACP230]

I like Winchester brass the best.

Still load some other brands though.
Remington seems thinner in the case wall than other
types. No problem because of it, however.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Speaking of Starline Brass, I rarely buy new brass but sometimes I have to. I just bought some 38 S&W brass and 32 Auto brass. I bought them from Starline. When I have to buy new it's always Starline is possible.

Like said above, Excellent Brass!

 

[gwpercle]

If I'm going to buy brand new brass ... Starline .

For 50 years I have reloaded once fired range pick up or once fired from the indoor range . 38 spcl. / 357 mag. Usually mixed headstamp ... I never had 50 new matching 357 Mag. cases !
I decided to treat myself to 100 new Starline 357 magnum ...
the brass was great and having 100 new magnum cases to work with inspired me to order 300 brand new Starline in 38 Special ... and the brass is Sweet !
Having all this new uniform matching Starline brass is like
re-dicovering how much fun reloading is .
Gary

 

[38SPL HV]

I use primarily Starline. I do have on hand factory ammo empties from Remington, Winchester. Suggest you stay away from nickel plated versions - in my experience they have a tendency to split much sooner than all brass versions. Also, trim to length…really helps with your roll crimps.

 

[Kp321]

I load 38 Special for bullseye matches, M-52, and have observed much better accuracy with the same brand brass, no matter what brand. I have more R-P than anything else so that's my standard. I do have a couple of hundred pieces of R-P factory wadcutter brass with the three cannelures that I use on match day. Might make a little difference or not?

 

[Miracle Man]

Starline brass!. Excellent new brass with great consistency . The preferred brass by many of us long time reloaders. Brian Pearce of handloader magazine is a big proponent. I just purchased another 1000 from starline. You often get the best accuracy from using 1 brand of brass but it is not always a huge difference.

Yep

I've reloaded for several years now with Starline brass in 44 mag and 45 LC no complaints.

And like so many others have said if you're just plinking, casual shooting, I wouldn't fuss much about sorting it if you have a bunch of misc.

 

[mikld]

I started reloading 38 Special in 1969 and have used nearly every headstamp available in the US. I have not trimmed any nor "polished" more than just a few "BBQ" brass. I reloaded safely for 12 years before I started tumbling brass and I had no ruined dies or scratched chambers. I just wiped each case with a solvent dampened rag as I inspected it.

The 38 Special is a lower pressure very forgiving cartridge and with correctly adjusted dies all the gauges and measurements are unnecessary. I have 4, 38/357 revolvers that I reload for and have never had a problem with any round chambering. I started seating bullets to the crimp groove/cannelure without any problems (I figgered the bullet designer knew where to locate the groove for safest, best performance and that has worked quite well for all my revolver handloads, 32 Long through 45 Colt). I don't believe I've ever purchased any new 38 Special brass, just purchased factory ammo for brass and many, many once fired and range pick ups. I got 80% of my brass at the local PD range (they didn't mind if I picked up a couple dozen at a time).

Reloading should be fun. If you enjoy polishing, trimming, reforming primer pockets, measuring wall thickness and flash holes, by all means do it. I love reloading but also am a practical feller so I K.I.S.S. Don't overthink an excellent starting cartridge.

Go slow. Double check everything. Most important, have fun...

 

[Valmet]

I have no brand preference for brass to reload 38s, assuming it's not for bullseye competition. I don't sort brass by brand.

Sorting according to number of times the brass has been reloaded is more useful to me.

+1 for me as well. I don't sort by brand but the vast majority of my brass is either Federal (including AE and CCI), Remington, PMC or Winchester. I have some PPU as well that's never given me any issues. I do have a lot of Starline .44 Spl brass that is fantastic.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

The only new 38 Special brass I've bought was when I bought one box each of plain brass and nickel plated, WW I believe. That was 12 years ago. Everything else has been range brass or bought used at shows etc. The nickel plated box is down to about 45 pieces.
Around the same time I did the same with 357 magnum ammo. Reloaded them pretty hot for deer hunting with my N frames. 14+ grains of 2400. Just about all of the nickel cases eventually split at the mouth are gone but still have most of the regular brass cases. Those hot loads were hard on nickel.
I sort the brass from nickel, but not by maker.
John

 

[glenwolde]

I prefer Winchester brass without case cannelures. Second choice, Winchester wadcutter brass with the case cannelures. Third choice, any other American brass, Speer, Federal, whatever.

Second to last choice, foreign .38 brass. Last choice, Remington .38 brass. The foreign stuff usually has thicker walls at the base. The Remington is thin and has difficulty with bullet tension on shorter bullets. But Remington is good for 148gr HBWC.

Brass with cannelures does not last as long, though in the case of wadcutter brass it may be more accurate.

Some reloaders don't like nickel cases and swear they don't last as long. That's not my experience but I don't really care for nickel. I save them for defensive ammo reloads.

Preferred primer in order: Winchester, Remington, CCI but they are all pretty close.

I've loaded over 100,000 rounds of .38 Special ammo over a few ..... decades.

 

[GT_80]

Well, In all the shells I de-primed, resized and cleaned, the only ones that had splits or anything were nickel cases. I think I'll be tossing those.

I did get 100 rounds reloaded last night, only messed one up- the bullet seating due was set very deep, and I pushed an XTP all the way down on the powder I believe. Was so deep in the case it would not come out even with a bullet puller, so I think that round will probably not be safe to shoot, probably put it in the dud bucket at my range.