S&W-F head stamp

[bobsdad]

Hi fellas: I haven't posted for quite awhile, but now have time to get going again. I bought a bunch of old reloads and have pulled them for the brass. The headstamp is new to me. It reads: "S&W - F 357 MAG" around the primer. Does anyone know what the - F stands for? I've never seen it before on a headstamp that I can recall. These look like nickeled cases. Thanks for any info. jp

 

[s&wchad]

Welcome to the forum.

Fiocchi?

 

[Paul5388]

That should be S&W Fiocchi made in Alton, Illinois, or maybe it's East Alton, Illinois. It was the old Alcan factory, but later Fiocchi moved to Ozark, MO without S&W.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Smith & Wesson marketed ammunition under the Smith & Wesson Fiocchi label, back in the late 1970's to 1980's if memory serves correctly. Fiocchi manufactured the product, the S&W name helped it to sell.

 

[Noah Zark]

Smith & Wesson marketed ammunition under the Smith & Wesson Fiocchi label, back in the late 1970's to 1980's if memory serves correctly. Fiocchi manufactured the product, the S&W name helped it to sell.

Correct.

Noah

 

[bobsdad]

Thanks very much for the info

After all of your good info clueing me in to these being Fiocchi manuf. I wasn't sure how long ago I bought these reloads, but it now looks like it was the late 80's or early 90's.
I was able to do some online research. What I found out maybe explains some thing that happened to me subsequent to pulling and emptying this nickled brass.
In trying to fire the live rounds early on, and later trying to fire pulled rounds with just the primers intact, I was getting cylinder jam in my 65-3. Later found I also got it with a Colt Trooper (actually a Peacekeeper). It's possible that these might have slightly large diameter primer pockets?? I do know that firing empty case primers in a revolver does cause cylinder jam quite often, but I was getting also with the live rounds.
After looking at some of the archives on this forum and others about decapping live primers, it looks like I don't have to "fire" the primers, but can just decap them. I'm going to get a Lee Universal decapping die and have at it.
Could this brass though present some problems with proper primer fit?
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my original question.

 

[Paul5388]

I loaded some S&W-F the other day in .357 Mag. The primer pockets are just standard small pockets, unless they have been subjected to over loads. The one stretched pocket I found was actually a W-W.

You can usually feel a stretched pocket by the primer going into place too easily. Another method is to use a set of calipers on the primer pocket. That W-W measured .184" and the S&W-F measured .175".
From a Google search, so take it with the idea it may be a misquote.

SAAMI specifications on primers and primer pockets per "Sinclair International's Precision Reloading & Shooting Handbook" 10th edition 1999

......................Depth min max diameter min max
small rifle primer pocket .117 .123 .1730 .1745
small pistol primer pocket .117 .123 .1730 .1745
Large rifle primer pocket .125 .132 .2085 .2100
Large pistol primer pocket .117 .123 .2085 .2100

.......................Height min max Diameter min max
Small rifle primers .115 .125 .1745 .1765
small pistol primers .115 .125 .1745 .1765
large rifle primers .123 .133 .2105 .2130
large pistol primers .115 .125 .2100 .2120"