Sven
Member
I suppose this has been asked before, but what's the opinion out there about the quality of Winchester vs Federal vs Starline brass? Loading for .40, 10mm and .45 autos.
Thanks.
Thanks.
brass quality between major suppliers
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When I buy it, I get any once-fired US commercial or US military pistol brass.
Never had any particular problems with brand.
When I pick up the "range trash" I immediately throw out all AMERC and military brass that I'm not certain of the headstamp, plus tossing out everything that looks worn or damaged. Some of the .40 shot in oversized chambers is a PIA.
Never had any particular problems with brand.
When I pick up the "range trash" I immediately throw out all AMERC and military brass that I'm not certain of the headstamp, plus tossing out everything that looks worn or damaged. Some of the .40 shot in oversized chambers is a PIA.
roughedgekid
Member
If I have to buy new I go with starline.
All of the name brands are good except A Merc (but even that has gotten better per some tests I have read) Some folks have their own anecdotal reasons for one brand over another, For general range shooting it all works.
I have yet to read or see a statistical valid study/test of brass proving one superior to another.
Dillon BLUE brass is of course the best
I have yet to read or see a statistical valid study/test of brass proving one superior to another.
Dillon BLUE brass is of course the best
For new brass, I like Starline. When it comes to once-fired, I fine Winchester and Remington to be very good... about equal in every respect. I do not care for Federal brass, especially in rifle calibers. This stems from my experience with some .308 match brass by Federal. I bought 100 new cases, loaded them with a standard load that I had used for years with Remington brass. After the second load, the primer pockets on the Federal brass had opened up to the point that the brass was no longer usable. I went back to Remington brass and never had a similar issue with primer pockets opening up. I will say that when it comes to .38 Special and .45ACP I prefer to use my own once-fired brass over range pickups. HTH. Sincerely. brucev.
Jefftyler
Member
Most of my .40 is range recovery. Only problem I've noticed was reloading Blazer brass I found. Primers would reseat way to easy so now I just toss it in the scrap bucket. I like Starline the best in general.
The only truely poor quality name brand brass I have come across is
a bag of new unfired Winchester 44 mag brass. I loaded two 50 round
boxes using my normal loading procedures with 296 powder and 240 gr
JHP Hornady bullets. Some time later when I got them out of the closet
to shoot a few rounds I discovered that all but a very few of the cases
had developed longitudinal cracks rendering them useless.
a bag of new unfired Winchester 44 mag brass. I loaded two 50 round
boxes using my normal loading procedures with 296 powder and 240 gr
JHP Hornady bullets. Some time later when I got them out of the closet
to shoot a few rounds I discovered that all but a very few of the cases
had developed longitudinal cracks rendering them useless.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
I too will use almost any brass other than A-Merc. If I were to buy new brass it would be Starline because it's very good brass even though the price is below most other companies.
It says A-MERC on it from my experience.
Truly awful brass.
Starline is the way to go for new bulk brass. Great brass, best price.
Most of my .38 Special is a mish mash of mixed headstamps from commercial reloads. Most seems pretty comparable. I have some W-W and Winchester brass that has survived over 10 loadings. C-B-C (Magtech from Brazil) seems really durable too. Most of my early failures have been mouth splits in nickel plated R-P and Federal brass.
ACP230
Member
I bought new .41 Magnum brass from Starline when I started loading the .41.
Most of my other brass is a mix of brass from factory loads I bought, range pickups and once-fired stuff from various purveyors. Got a lot of mixed .45 ACP and .38 Special hanging around. Bought a bunch of .45 ACP Winchester match when my son started shooting Bullseye seriously. It was fine brass and most of it is still being loaded.
I find Remington feels different when loading than other brands but it
seems to work as well as the others I have.
My favorite brass? Starline and Winchester or Winchester and Starline.
Depends on the day I'm asked I think.
Most of my other brass is a mix of brass from factory loads I bought, range pickups and once-fired stuff from various purveyors. Got a lot of mixed .45 ACP and .38 Special hanging around. Bought a bunch of .45 ACP Winchester match when my son started shooting Bullseye seriously. It was fine brass and most of it is still being loaded.
I find Remington feels different when loading than other brands but it
seems to work as well as the others I have.
My favorite brass? Starline and Winchester or Winchester and Starline.
Depends on the day I'm asked I think.
dirty gary
Member
A MERC is the headstamp of American Ammo. I like Winchester, but most of the big names work fine. Buying new brass is something I try to avoid, but difficult for less common calibers (221 Fireball, 50 AE etc).I have a lot of brass for guns I don't own (yet), but someday it will come in handy 
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Fishslayer
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
When I bought new brass for Big Dog .357 Magnums I went Starline. Unlikely you'll find much 10mm range pickups so I'd go Starline for that.
For .45ACP IMO there is really no reason for brand new brass. I started out buying used brass at Castboolits.com.
In .45ACP I like just about any name brand. It's low pressure so strength isn't a huge issue. One of my favorites in pickup brass is PMC. It's thick & really grips a .451" bullet.
R-P brass, however, is thinner & I've found it works best when loading .452" lead bullets. I won't load .451" bullets in it.
For the 10mm Kurz (.40 S&W
) I'd use pickups for low power target loads. I don't own a .40 & just see to many stories...
For .45ACP IMO there is really no reason for brand new brass. I started out buying used brass at Castboolits.com.
In .45ACP I like just about any name brand. It's low pressure so strength isn't a huge issue. One of my favorites in pickup brass is PMC. It's thick & really grips a .451" bullet.
R-P brass, however, is thinner & I've found it works best when loading .452" lead bullets. I won't load .451" bullets in it.
For the 10mm Kurz (.40 S&W
) I'd use pickups for low power target loads. I don't own a .40 & just see to many stories...
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I did an informal study not too long ago where I cut several brands of 45 cases in half then measured and weighed and compiled a table of results for comparison. I posted it on another forum a while back and didn't get much response, I'll post it again here for you to see as a new thread called ...
http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/233680-pick-your-range-brass-long-pic-heavy.html
http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/233680-pick-your-range-brass-long-pic-heavy.html
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Winchester is actually one of my favorites too but statistically out of 21 brands of cases I sectioned and measured under a microscope Winchester had the worst overall consistency of the bunch, placing last in the list with even Amerc doing slightly better (based on Std.Deviation results of 20 sample cases per brand)
Federal was the most consistent with Star-line #2 Remington was in the middle at #11
When considering the consistency of brass thickness at the mouth (measured in 4 places on 10 cases) Federal comes in #1 again Remington moves to #9 and Winchester is #10
I have always heard that Federal is known as being soft and for developing loose primer pockets, which I see in 223 often but I have noticed a lot of loose primer pockets with R-P too. Federal's place as #1 in my study, quality wise may not necessarily be what it seems.
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