S&B 10MM Cases

[AJ]

Was reloading 10 MM today. I have cases from just about every manufacturer out there. I noticed a cracked case and then another, and finally one split almost completely down the side. All were S&B cases. None of the cases I have have been reloaded that much, no more than a few times. Just don't shoot 10MM that much. Was wondering if anyone else had noticed this. Not overstressing the cases as my loads are mid-level loads. Just curious is all.

 

[M29since14]

As you describe, I have a mixture of various brands and my 10mm loads are never very vigorous since they are generally for indoor target shooting. I don't recall noticing any cracks with any of them, including S&B. Sounds like you might have some from a batch that weren't annealed/tempered quite right. You're not flaring them too much, are you?

 

[AJ]

As you describe, I have a mixture of various brands and my 10mm loads are never very vigorous since they are generally for indoor target shooting. I don't recall noticing any cracks with any of them, including S&B. Sounds like you might have some from a batch that weren't annealed/tempered quite right. You're not flaring them too much, are you?

Just belling enough to get the bullet started. You can barely feel the flare with your fingers. I was thinking maybe brittle brass.

 

[M29since14]

Probably so.

 

[6string]

Yes, it is odd that it is just this brand.
But, a symptom does not necessarily equate to the problem.

Measure the fired cases, or do a chamber cast, and compare that with the I.D. of your resizing die.
You may be overworking your brass, have an oversize chamber, or undersize die.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

S&B makes some fine ammunition in my experience but no company is immune from occasional QC hiccups. Depending on when the cases were made…such as during the last great ammo shortages…spotty quality control might be more likely than otherwise.

S&B is now owned by and part of the Colt CZ company which I think is good news.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

in my experience but no company is immune from occasional QC hiccups.

I had a batch of brass from B.E.L.L. in the early 80's. It was the 450 Basic brass, to form it into 450 3 1/4" Nitro Express all I had to do was full length size and trim to length. In the sizing, about 1/3 of the cases had long shards of brass pop out of the inside case wall. I called Bell and ask what I did wrong. She said "Nothing!" They bought over two tons of brass from India and the Tin and Zinc content were not as had been specified! They sent 35 replacement brass from a different lot number.

Ivan

 

[gwpercle]

I've noticed it also .
S&B is better than nothing ...
but not much better.
My first choice is Star-Line and any case from an American ammo
company .
I had a batch , two boxes , of 9mm Luger S&B ... the ammo shot okay ...but ...reloading them was just a nightmare and
case life ... sucked rocks ...
No More S&B for me !
Gary

 

[tlawler]

I've got three classes of 10mm cases:

2K Starline that I bought new and only use in my revolvers. The only way I can get a nice "plunk" with a moon clip full of rounds is to use only cases that haven't run through an auto. I use this exclusively in my 610's and Ruger SRH.

Next, I have about 1K Starline that I bought as "once fired", the problem is that it was once fired out of a glock and most have a slight bulge that won't come out completely no matter how many times I run it through the bulge buster. It still runs in everything, but won't plunk smartly in a 610 cylinder. I use this mainly in my S&W 3rd gen's like 1006, 1076, and CS10 and also in my CMMG Banshee and an RIA TAC16 Ultra 1911.

Lastly, is everything else, which is all of my mixed headstamp stuff. I cull all of the really cheap stuff and sell it, then I'm left with Federal, Winchester, Sig, Underwood, PMC, Top Brass, and S&B. These are cases that I expect to lose a few of every outing and not really fret about it. I use it mostly in my striker fired 10mm's like M&P 2.0, FN510, and a Sig/Mauser 10mm conversion.

I've had a few split cases over the years and one rather spectacular rim and base separation that was an Eldorado case. None of my splits were S&B; I think Top Brass is the worst offender in the spilt case dept. I've become a lot more circumspect in my case inspection and even use a borescope camera on my press with good lighting as a second inspection step.

 

[BillBro]

I have about 700 pieces of s&b 10mm brass that Ive loaded a few times each and have had zero issues other than with certain brands of primers the pockets are a little tight. Believe me, I dont load light or medium when I load 10mm 95% of the time.
Personally I think s&b makes excellent brass and it is far and away the preferred brass for the 6.8spc crowd, of which I am one. S&B also made brass early on for Hornady in that cartridge. I have 6.8brass that Ive loaded a ridiculous number of times, again, over any published data.
No, I have to disagree with the sentiment that their brass is no good.

 

[Rule3]

SB makes great ammo and brass. Some of the primer pockets in some brass are tight

 

[AJ]

Found three more split S&B 10MM cases this morning at the range after firing them.

 

[Jack Flash]

I had splits in once fired Fiocchi brass (.455 MkII). I found that the problem was isolated to one box (one lot number).

Are you experiencing the problem with multiple boxes / lot numbers or is it with just the one box / lot?

 

[AJ]

I had splits in once fired Fiocchi brass (.455 MkII). I found that the problem was isolated to one box (one lot number).

Are you experiencing the problem with multiple boxes / lot numbers or is it with just the one box / lot?

Not sure where I got this brass anymore. Some I bought from Starline, some is from new ammo that I bought and some is range brass (probably once fired as the reloaders pick their brass up as I do.). I have about 35 or so pounds of cleaned brass waiting to be reloaded.

 

[H Richard]

I do not like S&B brass of any caliber. I usually pitch brass if I pick up any S&B.

 

[abigails&w]

The S&B 10mm 180gr FMJ SB10A are lower power than other 10mm factory loads, they are some of the, if not the lightest factory 10mm today if I am not mistaken. I'm thinking that maybe these S&B rounds have thinner case walls than other 10mm brass?

 

[AJ]

The S&B 10mm 180gr FMJ SB10A are lower power than other 10mm factory loads, they are some of the, if not the lightest factory 10mm today if I am not mistaken. I'm thinking that maybe these S&B rounds have thinner case walls than other 10mm brass?

Good as guess as any. Hard to tell about recoil as my Ruger SR1911 10MM has been ported.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

S&B brass has worked fine for me

The S&B 10mm 180gr FMJ SB10A are lower power than other 10mm factory loads, they are some of the, if not the lightest factory 10mm today if I am not mistaken. I'm thinking that maybe these S&B rounds have thinner case walls than other 10mm brass?

I handload & rarely buy factory ammo but when testing the Kriss Vector SDP-10, 6.5" bbl, I tried some 180gr S&B & Blazer Brass ammo, just for grins, & the S&B was the slower of the two (1155fps -vs- 1222fps).

However, in testing various brands of 10AUTO brass in the CMMG Banshee MK.10, 8" bbl, which tends to bulge the brass of full/max loads (as does the SDP-10 but to a lesser degree), I found the S&B trended to bulge slightly less often than the others.

Accordingly my S&B brass has been set aside for use in them.

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[BillBro]

I picked up over 300 9mm cases yesterday, s&b. Not entirely sure Ive used the 9mm before but definitely like the 10's and have a very large stash of them, already loaded.
I prefer loading all the same brass for large runs of ammo.

 

[toad67]

Never had any S&B 10mm's split, but I did pitch about 1,000 or so of them in the scrap bucket because they had some of the tightest primer pockets I'd ever seen, even after being pin tumbled w/o primers in them.