Help Identifying .38 Special Brass

[kbm6893]

I was going through my brass bucket to try to cull out some brass that is questionable. I had some split cases recently and I am pretty sure they all came from the same store bought reloads I should never have bought. here they are:

R-P .38 Special-I have a bunch of these so I'm thinking they were factory, but some are gold and some are silver, so maybe not.

S&W .38 Special-When did S&W make ammo?

W-W .38 Special

7 6 on opposite sides of primer pocket, then 027 underneath primer

W C C 87
W C C 76
W C C 91

Super Vel .38 Special

FC NT .38 Special +P
Hi-Per .38 Special +P
MFS .38 Special

Thanks for any help

 

[Rule3]

Headstamp Codes - International Ammunition Association

RP Remington

WW Winchester

WCC Winchester cartridge year of make

SW marketed ammo way back but did not actually make it. The brass is fine.

Super Vel was some "nitche" ammo made to have high velocity with lower weight bullet, Not sure who made their brass.

FCNT Federal non toxic (indoor rang usually) its fine

 

[M3Stuart]

I'm curious; did they split when fired or when being resized?

I ask because I've never, in many thousands of .38 reloads, ever split a case while firing it. Mine only ever split when being resized (I can feel it in the tension on the handle and I know it's a goner).

 

[federali]

WCC Ammo

Ammunition bearing this headstamp was primarily or perhaps exclusively used for the "U.S. Treasury loads" which came out around the late 70s or early 80s, don't remember exactly.

What might blow your mind is that I was issuing the stuff to my troops at the conclusion of an outdoor range session when a single headstamp in the box caught my attention: The headstamp was "F.A.M.E.", a South American ammo maker that must have been buying brass from Winchester. Somehow, that one round made it to the wrong bin and nobody caught it. It is now in my cartridge collection.

 

[MyDads38]

Usually after repeated firing/reloading, you'll see splits at the case mouth. When this happens I do 1 of 2 things:

First, I'll check the case length to see if it can be trimmed to minimum case length (usually 10 thousandths under max length).

If the split can't be trimmed out; I just toss the case. I don't get too many case splits as I only shoot target/plinking loads in 38 Special and I try not to over-work the brass during loading. In my experience, nickel cases split more frequently than brass. Some of my brass is over 25 years old and was used when I shot PPC competition!

 

[kbm6893]

I'm curious; did they split when fired or when being resized?

I ask because I've never, in many thousands of .38 reloads, ever split a case while firing it. Mine only ever split when being resized (I can feel it in the tension on the handle and I know it's a goner).

Don't really know. I was resizing a what i had just fired (100 rounds) at once and noticed them as I was taking them out of the shell holder to throw into the resized bucket. From now on I'll check before I resize.

So should I keep the brass and just toss them if they ever split, or toss them now?

 

[kbm6893]

Usually after repeated firing/reloading, you'll see splits at the case mouth. When this happens I do 1 of 2 things:

First, I'll check the case length to see if it can be trimmed to minimum case length (usually 10 thousandths under max length).

If the split can't be trimmed out; I just toss the case. I don't get too many case splits as I only shoot target/plinking loads in 38 Special and I try not to over-work the brass during loading. In my experience, nickel cases split more frequently than brass. Some of my brass is over 25 years old and was used when I shot PPC competition!

The splits went halfway down the case. Can't trim that much, of course. I was shooting 158 grain LSWC bullets over 3.0-3.4 grains of Red Dot. Red Dot doesn't meter well so I set the scale to 3.2. i allowed a hair under or over the line, so figure no higher then 3.4. Alliant calls for a max charge of 3.4 for regular .38, and 3.0 minimum. I was shooting these from .357 revolvers, so I figured I was safe.

 

[SMSgt]

"The splits went halfway down the case. Can't trim that much, of course."

Make .38 Special "Shorts"?

 

[Jellybean]

I'm familiar with most of the brass you listed. There was nothing wrong with the way they were made and you needn't toss them until they split.

The reloads you bought were more than likely loaded by a local manufacturer that took the used brass back in on trade. There is no way to tell how many times they were reloaded and they probably just kept loading it until they did split. There is nothing wrong with this practice and it's done a lot and as long as the reloads you bought had no issues you don't need to regret buying them.

 

[Rule3]

kbm,

Sent you a PM

 

[Doubless]

In my estimation, 38 Special brass is cheap, even in today's "hoarding" mentality. If I were in doubt about a particular case I would toss it, but no need to do that wholesale, with all the brass you have. Although it isn't good for a firearm, splitting a case now and then probably won't cause any trouble so long as loads are reasonable...

 

[Skeetr57]

The cases marked WCC with a date are military contract cases. WCC is Western Cartridge Co., a part of Olin Industries. You can also find RA with a date for Remington Arms, or FC with a date for Federal Cartridge, or WRA and a date for Winchester. So Far as I know, the government has never loaded .38 Special, but buys it on contract.

 

[alwslate]

Don't really know. I was resizing a what i had just fired (100 rounds) at once and noticed them as I was taking them out of the shell holder to throw into the resized bucket. From now on I'll check before I resize.

So should I keep the brass and just toss them if they ever split, or toss them now?

Cases that split when fired are in no way a danger to you. I
load 38 spl plinking loads in a wide variety of brass, some so
old the original nickel plating is almost worn off. Any time I
fire one of my revolvers the first thing I do is examine all the
fired brass for cracks and toss any I see before doing any
thing else with them. It's worked for me since the mid 60s.

 

[kbm6893]

Cases that split when fired are in no way a danger to you. I
load 38 spl plinking loads in a wide variety of brass, some so
old the original nickel plating is almost worn off. Any time I
fire one of my revolvers the first thing I do is examine all the
fired brass for cracks and toss any I see before doing any
thing else with them. It's worked for me since the mid 60s.

That will be my new practice. Why even bring them home?

 

[Rule3]

That will be my new practice. Why even bring them home?

If you shoot enough and other calibers you can build up a recycle bucket and sell it for big cash money,. A retirement fund Brass price has gone down around here. about a $1.30 a pound. I made about $80 the last bucket I took in. Course it took a year to fill that up. You can put used primers in there also.

If you brass is dirty and you can not see any cracks if you drop it one at a time on a concrete floor. A cracked one will make a different sound. Lots of fun and great exercise.

 

[Foxtrot40]

I found that Super Vel brass is very soft and has a tendency to crush while bullet seating. That brass is a candidate for taking to the recyclers and selling for scrap value.