I HAVE FINALLY RAISED THE SURRENDER FLAG IN RELOADING 45ACP

[chief38]

Don’t tell me, tell the OP!

Kevin

It's only new once! After that it's range brass at .22 centavo's each. Why should I buy new when I can pick up all the factory once fired brass for nothing? That is as I am now willing to reload SMALL pistol primers. Since I have plenty of SPP's that I paid $27.00 / 1,000 for, I'd feel pretty stupid in paying $220 for 1,000 empty cases from Starline to be used brass after one loading anyway. IMHO that would be a foolish "business" decision!

 

[AJ]

If you have a range where you can pick up other folks once fired brass, why buy new? To me, buying brand new brass that is plentiful at the range is money I can spend on something else for reloading that is truly consumable (powder, primers, bullets). If there is brass that I need then Starline is the first place I look (.32 H&R Magnum & .38 ACP). At the present I have military ammo cans full of enough brass that I am having trouble finding enough places to store it all around the house. I have made the decision that I will refuse any gifts of brass at the range from now on.

 

[zeke]

We all make decisions based on our own circumstances. While am not liking sp 45 acp brass, if was at a range where it was common that would be another story.

 

[BC38]

If you have a range where you can pick up other folks once fired brass, why buy new? To me, buying brand new brass that is plentiful at the range is money I can spend on something else for reloading that is truly consumable (powder, primers, bullets). If there is brass that I need then Starline is the first place I look (.32 H&R Magnum & .38 ACP). At the present I have military ammo cans full of enough brass that I am having trouble finding enough places to store it all around the house. I have made the decision that I will refuse any gifts of brass at the range from now on.

I'm with you. I have a ton of used brass for all the common calibers (380, 9mm, 44mag/spl, 38, 357, 223/5.56). The only thing I buy is the uncommon stuff (45AR, 45Colt, 32acp, 32Long, 25acp, 32H&r, 327Fedmag, & 7.62x39), and I have some once-fired of all of those calibers that I got by buying the ammo and saving the brass.
I've even been known to buy once-fired brass for some of those less common calibers on GunBroker. Though some of them are pretty much unobtanium as once-fired, in which case, new Starline is the best option IMO.

 

[AJ]

I'm with you. I have a ton of used brass for all the common calibers (380, 9mm, 44mag/spl, 38, 357, 223/5.56). The only thing I buy is the uncommon stuff (45AR, 45Colt, 32acp, 32Long, 25acp, 32H&r, 327Fedmag, & 7.62x39), and I have some once-fired of all of those calibers that I got by buying the ammo and saving the brass.
I've even been known to buy once-fired brass for some of those less common calibers on GunBroker. Though some of them are pretty much unobtanium as once-fired, in which case, new Starline is the best option IMO.

BC38,

I am lucky in that one of the range officers shoots .45 Colt, but does not reload. I give him a box of .45 Colt about once every other month. he collects all the .45 Colt cases he finds at the range and gives them to me. Now I have two ammo cans full of the .45 Colt. You don't see much if any .25 ACP or any of the .32 family at our range.

 

[Dan W. Cady]

Sacrilege! I still hate small primer pockets in .45 ACP. I see large pistol primers for sale for as little as 4 cents ea.

My Dillon 550 really runs smoothly when reloading 45ACP with SPP. I have two machines and its easier to have two sets of dies one for each Tool Head.

 

[Dave Haynes]

Too much ammo? When CMP was selling the Greek M1 stuff and US carbine ammo people bought up huge amounts. One individual threw out a number....In Nov1965 at the Ia Drang, the NVA regiments attacking Plei Me had their field hospital and basic ammo cache captured by 1st Cav troopers. The AK ammo reserve was 68K rounds. The CMP member exceeded that number. He maybe...had too much..?

Small primers is an inconvenience for the users of Dillons and other fast high volume machines. For a Rockchucker and hand priming tool reloader, it isn't a problem at all. You can easily spot the SPP vs LPP difference. The .40S&W/45 mix up is a much bigger problem. Crimped military brass is a pain to remove the fired primer.

 

[SSBiggun]

Bastards did it for 10mm too, I H8 SPP brass mix. .45 and 10 both!

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Around here SPP has been easier to find and is less expensive than LPP. It's just plain smart to save and use the SPP 45 auto brass I pick up on the range.

John

 

[AJ]

Too much ammo? When CMP was selling the Greek M1 stuff and US carbine ammo people bought up huge amounts. One individual threw out a number....In Nov1965 at the Ia Drang, the NVA regiments attacking Plei Me had their field hospital and basic ammo cache captured by 1st Cav troopers. The AK ammo reserve was 68K rounds. The CMP member exceeded that number. He maybe...had too much..?

I was a Guard Chief at a Marine Barracks in Calif. We had 150 Marines in the Guard force. Our training allocation of .45ACP was 50,000 rounds a year. yes, it was all large primers!

 

[TAROMAN]

I'm in the same boat. My large cache of R-P .45 brass is starting to give up. Starting to find cracked cases and missing primers. just cleaned and sized it all. When my dwindling LPP supply is gone, it all goes to recycling and will be replaced with SPP.

 

[scattershot]

I

excuse me for jumping in with dumb question

I'm not a reloader, but have about 600 rounds of 45 ACP, mostly Blazer Brass 230 gr. FMJ, Federal/American Eagle, 230 gr. FMJ, Remington UMC, 230 gr. FMJ and a small amount of Federal Hydra Shok 165 gr. JHP. Most all of this ammo is probably 10 years old at minimum, maybe more.

I rarely go out and shoot 45 ACP anymore but would be happy to burn a bunch up and send you the brass for free but question for me is:

How do you tell small from large primers by looking at the various ammo? Physically obvious difference in dimensions? Color?

I sold the Model 25-2, still have a S&W Model 745, and an old warhorse 1943 Ithaca 1911-A1....just don't get any of them out much anymore.

I don't mind collecting brass at the indoor range as it all ends up in my lane anyway, but if it is all this "small" pocket stuff...is it even worth it for you guys?

Just some thoughts from a non-reloader.

I like the SPP .45ACP brass. It’s nice to have options. If you are going to send your empty nrass, brassI would love to have it, and be happy to pay postage..


To answer your question, you can tell small from large primers at a glance once you do it a few times.
Thanks.

 

[shil]

I have a supply of fired .45acp brass, large primer. I no longer plunder range brass on account of I can't be bothered sorting brass by primer size.
I have not reloaded .45acp in many a moon because I no longer shoot much .45acp. Cost of components these days makes it pointless for me to reload for infrequent shooting, and, I am fortunate to have other, cheaper, calibers to play with. When I do shoot it, a couple of boxes of factory ammo, large primer, is affordable and sufficient. I do save the brass for potential future use.

 

[rockquarry]

Around here SPP has been easier to find and is less expensive than LPP. It's just plain smart to save and use the SPP 45 auto brass I pick up on the range.

John

I've never loaded SP .45 brass. Is there a difference in velocity or accuracy between LP and SP primers when using the same powder charge? I assume loads are completely interchangeable but don't know this for sure.

 

[decuerno]

I haven’t reloaded in decades…(I guess as my finances improved I’ve become lackadaisical…. I’m just now being made aware that .45 ACP cases are being made of both sized primers)…. but it should be a simple matter to separate the lg and the sm primer-pocket brass…. Since a conscientious reloader will use a primer-pocket clean-out tool …(and if using crimped pocket ammo , will need to remove the crimp)…. that tool should Instantly identify which case you’re holding. …correct?

 

[jimmyj]

before reloading I clean the primer pockets with a RCBS primer tool. Its real easy to find the .45acp cases with large or small primer holes. I have a large supply of .45acp cases with small primer pockets now so I will use them when the cases with large primer pockets needs to be replaced.