Mixed Brass Question

[PapaWheelie]

I'm just getting into reloading for my 357 with light to medium loads. I just bought 500 cases, once fired and mixed, on line. They weren't kidding when they said mixed - 20 different types. From what I've read there is no problem mixing brass with the target loads I'm planning but I've never heard of some of these. Are there any on this list that I should not use or have caused problems in your experience? I have no problem tossing any questionable brands.

Winchester
Star
R-P
G.F.L.
Federal
PPU
Blazer (brass)
Aguila
X-treme
PMC
Horniday
A USA
A-Merc
S&B
Sig
CBC
IMI
Jag
Deco
NNY

 

[ken158]

Examine carefully after tumbling, toss any that have issues, resize and examine again. I would trim for OAL. When priming, be a wary of primer pocket tightness and toss any that are sloppy. Should be fine for target loads. Buy yourself some new brass for heavy loads and hunting. You want factory ammo for self defense.

 

[Speedo2]

Based entirely upon my own "science experiments" with 9mm range pick-up brass, I would rate the quality of the head stamps in the following order:

Excellent: SIG, X-Treme. WIN, R-P & StarLine

Good: PPU, GFL, S&B, Hornady, Aquila

"Meh": Federal, Blaser, All Else

The above ranking is based on standard deviations and extreme spread of the weights of the cleaned (but not de-primed) 9mm pick-ups. 357 brass may be an entirely different kettle of fish, but it's what I've got to go on. 357 brass pick-ups are uncommon around here. -S2

 

[PapaWheelie]

357 brass pick-ups are uncommon around here. -S2

Thought it would be here too so figured I have to buy it. It will be lot easier for me to save the brass when you just swing the cylinder out and dump the brass vs. crawling on my tired old knees picking up semi-auto brass.

 

[Willyboy]

Mixed Brass

I just reloaded some 357 mixed brass with RP,winc, GLF, CBC, and a couple
of PMC. The PMC had a really different feel in resizing, all the rest felt about the same. Maybe the PMC is thicker? I have used Jag in 45Colt and was quite pleased with it. Willyboy

 

[Culina]

Winchester--- good stuff, its Winchester
Star--- Star Line, when I buy new brass, this is what I prefer
R-P--- Remington-Peters, its ok, but I wouldn't buy it
G.F.L.--- Fiocchi, good stuff
Federal-- No complaints
PPU--- Prvi Partizan Užice, its Serb
Blazer (brass)-- its ok
Aguila--- ok
X-treme--- no experience with this one
PMC-- I like the brass alloy but often the flash holes are off center
Horniday--- Hornady it used to be good brass when Norma made it for them, not sure about now
A USA--never heard of it
A-Merc--never heard of it
S&B-- Sellier & Bellot another eastern european headstamp
Sig--- No experience
CBC---Magtech
IMI--Israeli Military Industries
Jag-- never heard of it
Deco-- Are you sure its not Geco?
NNY[/QUOTE]


When I get a quantity of brass, I try to separate out the ones I want to keep and then shoot all the random headstamped ones when I go shooting somewhere I don't feel like picking up brass.

 

[scooter123]

I would avoid the A-USA and A-Merc, IIRC they are both made in the same plant and in some calibers feature a VERY funky stepped ID. Thankfully they seem to be quite rare in range brass in my area

 

[OKFC05]

I picked up some amerc .45 brass somebody left on the range, and found out why they didn't bother picking it up. The brass had large variance in thickness and length. I trimmed and few, then put the rest in the salvage recycle bucket when I saw the thin areas.

 

[BB4XL]

I would avoid the A-USA and A-Merc, IIRC they are both made in the same plant and in some calibers feature a VERY funky stepped ID. Thankfully they seem to be quite rare in range brass in my area

Toss both of these. They are junk.

 

[PapaWheelie]

Appreciate the replies, Thank you. I think I'll take the advice, reload the questionable stuff once and toss.
Israeli Military Industries? You know I do remember seeing what looked like an ordinance mark - but don't remember on what. Wonder where they came from.

 

[AManWearingAHat]

Winchester--- good stuff, its Winchester. Mine has varying thickness on rims. May jam in your case holder.
Star--- Starline is excellent brass
R-P--- My favorite brass for wadcutters
G.F.L.--- Good to go
Federal-- Favorite brass for range loads
PPU--- Good stuff
Blazer (brass)--Good stuff
Aguila--- Good stuff
X-treme--- Fine
PMC-- Fine
Horniday--- Hornady it used to be good brass when Norma made it for them, not sure about now
A USA-- GARBAGE. RECYCLE IT.
A-Merc--GARBAGE. RECYCLE IT.
S&B-- Great!
Sig--- No experience
CBC---Works well
IMI--Check IMI. I throw out all their 9mm brass because they reinforced the case head, reducing capacity. Could cause a dangerous pressure situation. Make sure its not the same on their revolver stuff.
Jag--???
Deco-- Probably Geco, works fine
NNY - NNY is cyrillic for PPU. Works fine

 

[robertrwalsh]

Based on my experience, AMERC is junk. You should crush it and discard it so nobody else will pick it up by accident. S&B is good but can be hard to prime. I think the pockets are slightly tight and the shoulders are more square than many brands.

 

[andy52]

I would avoid the A-USA and A-Merc, IIRC they are both made in the same plant and in some calibers feature a VERY funky stepped ID. Thankfully they seem to be quite rare in range brass in my area

I agree with this.

 

[mikld]

I've been reloading 357s since the late '70s and not found any cases that were really "bad", and have used many of the ones you listed, 13, and you listed a couple I've never heard of. While I have not tried any, the A-Merc as been reported to be very poor brass in several reloading forums, and if/when I come across any, I toss it. For a new reloader, it's OK to sort brass by headstamp and when I start a load work up, I stay with one mfg. until I reach "the" load and after that I'll often go to mixed brass for my reloads. When I started reloading, way pre-web, I sorted my brass by headstamp, partly because I was inspecting them anyway, and my COD and ignorance. Today I sort by headstamp for my accurate rifles, during a work up, and of out of boredom...

38 Special, mixed brass
357 Magnum, standard loads, mixed brass.
357 Magnum, heavy, near max loads, sort by headstamp.
44 Spec., mixed brass.
44 Magnum, standard loads, mixed brass.
44 Magnum, T-Rex Killer loads, sort by headstamp.
380 Auto, 9mm, 45 ACP, mixed brass...

 

[PapaWheelie]

Seems to be a consensus above so I'll pitch the A USA, A-Merc, Jag and IMI to start. Too much at stake to screw around with questionable brass.
Thanks for all the replies guys, exactly the info I was looking for.

 

[scattershot]

A-MERC is usually of poor quality, with off center flash holes, etc. Maybe OK, but check them just in case. Never heard of Jag, Deco, or NNY, sorry.

 

[rockquarry]

I've used range pickup mixed brass and am very familiar with all the attendant headaches that can go along with its use. Brass costs more than it ever has, but amortize the cost over the life of once-fired, same headstamp brass or new brass and it's really very cheap without all the accompanying potential problems of pickup brass.

Mixed pickup brass with an unknown history may work fine, but it will never work better than new or once-fired brass with the same headstamp.

 

[Turn4811]

Mixed pickup brass with an unknown history may work fine, but it will never work better than new or once-fired brass with the same headstamp.

This!

I sort 45 and 9mm by mfg. With the exception of A-Merc, A-USA, X-treme, and any Tula headstamp anything not made in the US will get 1 reload and shot at the fu-fu range that discourages policing your brass.

When I go to my favorite range with my reloads I know what headstamp I am shooting. When I get home usually 95% of the brass is the headstamp I took with me. Anything extra is range pickup that will get extra scrutiny. I always come home with more brass than I carried with me.

The 9mm because of internal volume and quality of the brass issues. The 45 to get only small primer as I have gone to the dark side. My 44 and 357mag is all starline. I have a pile of US made mix 38spl that is my plinking stock.

 

[10mm_Shooter]

OP, you asked about target loads(to me that means mid range lead rounds < 1000 fps) , for general plinking the mixed brass is fine, as long as the brass is serviceable it will be fine. The only thing to be aware of is the slight variation in case lenght may create inconsistent crimps, but again we are talking target loads right? which typically only need a very mild crimp anyway.( no need to over work the brass) The Hornady brass will be noticeably shorter than the others. No need to trim pistol brass, but you do need be aware of variations, you may need to adjust your crimp die on the fly. I try to sort and load brass based on head stamps this helps.

 

[PapaWheelie]

Right now all I'm loading for is for indoor target <1000 fps and low 900's the range I want to be in. I just tossed all the brass that was suggested above and sorted all my brass by headstamp. Since I bought these once fired I have been trimming all to 1.280" for uniformity of the taper crimp and, from what I've been reading, that should be the last time I need to trim as long as I stick with the .38 loads in the 357 brass. I shot my 686 today for the first time ever and used the first 200 reloads I made. I'm happy to say they all went bang and produced better than expected groups at 50 feet.

And today I also learned why they call Unique combustible dirt....