Some things I don't understand (.45 Colt Brass)

I was at a Bullseye match this morning and the match director asked me if I shot .45 Colt. I told him yea and asked him why?
He said there was a bunch of Starline brass in front of the bench at his station. We picked up about 80 looked to be once fired brass.
I was completely bamboozled, I have old brass that is nearly 40 years old and usually shoot them until they split.

I am not a brass rat unless I see something like that on the ground. Unless I am sadly mistaken whoever left them must have been shooting
a lever gun and didn't take the time to fetch them. Am I missing something here?

Sounds like the previous shooter at that station is the one missing something!

Run a few though your FL die. If they require excessive force to size, they may have been used for very high pressure loads. Also, examine the primers and note the force required to seat fresh primers. If they are very easy to seat, or worse yet, fall out, they may have been over stressed by excessive pressure.

Generally, if I have reason to suspect my cases are defective, I'll flatten the case mouths before discarding them at the range. Not everyone will be so courteous.

Some one who bought gun show loads on starline brass , their loss your gain , have found it once in awhile someone who does not reload but bought a firearm in a caliber those who cast their own do load .

I have found Starline brass in .45 Colt to be the best. Some small commercial loaders use Starline brass and the people who buy their ammo don't reload, so let the brass fly. Be thankful for your good fortune. Be aware that many of the Marlin cowboy leverguns in .45 Colt have very large chambers and that most modern .45 Colt dies size the brass excessively.

Best results will be obtained by decapping fired brass with the Lee Universal decapper and NOT full-length sizing the brass. INSTEAD lightly inside deburr the case mouth and flare the mouth using an expander plug 0.002" less than bullet diameter.

Most of the time using as-cast and unsized bullets of .454-.455" diameter bullets will be a friction fit in the unsized cases. You should then only seat bullets to depth and separately crimp using the Redding profile crimp die. If your chamber is so large that unsized bullets fall down onto the powder, then back off the sizer die to reduce only the top 1/2" or so of the case, then expand. Seat and crimp bullets separately! Cases will last MUCH longer.

Some of the semi custom loaders like underwood I sell some ammo in Starline brass.

Lot's of reasons, perhaps a non-reloader with deep pockets. Unless you watched the shooter, it's all speculation. Whatever, just inspect the brass and reload. Starline makes very good brass...

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Originally Posted by mdi

Lot's of reasons, perhaps a non-reloader with deep pockets. ..

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That's my guess.

We've got a few guys at our range that are very wealthy, don't shoot much,
don't reload, and leave some very exotic brass behind.
Brass from some of that $70 a box Weatherby stuff, and brass for those giant .50 cal. handgun cartridges.

You never know. I can understand if it has been used for high pressure loads but you should be able to look it over and tell. I'm like you . . . I have bought new Starline when I first started reloading/shooting 45 Colt and over time, I have accumulated a bunch of range brass as well - all kinds of headstamps - one batch of about 400 cases I purchased was probably 80 - 90% Starline - none shows high pressure indications. I suppose some folks have deep pockets and others may believe that only new brass will give them "accurate" loads.

I was up at the county range in North Tucson a few years ago with a buddy - we were shooting 9mm and 38s and there was only one other guy shooting - he had a big fancy silver 44 Mag. Kind oaf a "showy guy" - carted his spare ammo in a bandolier across his body. I was surprised when he shot as the loads didn't sound like 44 Mag to me. We got to talking and he told e he reloaded his own but loaded milder loads in 44 Mag brass and to insure "accuracy", he only used brass one time. O. . . . K. . . . I asked him what he did with hs spent rounds and he told me that he just chucked them when he gets done shooting. I asked him if he minded if I collected them and he said it was fine with him. I picked up somewhere around 120 cases - all 1 X fired - all Starline IIRC. I tossed them in a large ziplock freezer bag and gave them to a guy I knew who reloaded 44 Mag. I told him how i had come by them and he just started laughing and said . . "his loss, my gain". I later found out that the guy at the range with the 44 Mag was a very well off individual and money was of little concern to him. I still think about his comment that you could only get accurate loads with new brass . . . I'm guessing that's the difference between an "expert accurate shot" and us lowly brass scroungers? :-)

I am a lowly brass scrounger , and proud of being one of us who recycles lead , and brass , I will take all the once fired brass those who do not reload let go to waste , if I can not use it I pass on to those who can .

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Originally Posted by FLINTNFIRE

I am a lowly brass scrounger , and proud of being one of us who recycles lead , and brass , I will take all the once fired brass those who do not reload let go to waste , if I can not use it I pass on to those who can .

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Me too. I don't see a cartridge case, a 308 or a 45 Colt, etc., I see a dime or quarter laying there on the ground (pennies when I see a 9mm). And an opportunity to reload more...

Glad I am in good company here as I have known people who would not pick up change let alone a once fired case , always makes me smile when I see a pile of shiny brass .

I have bought 45 colt and 44 mag and 32-20 brass and it is not cheap , the 450 bushmaster and 458 socom is even more expensive .

It was not casting that brought me here it was seeing a post on 45acp once fired brass that drew me here in the first place , had cast since a teen and started reloading at 18 , but there I was thinking I needed more 45acp and I had just bought some at what I knew was a good price when I saw a thread on google search with some here , and here I am still casting , loading and scrounging fired brass .

45 colt case can take an amazing amount of pressure and not deform. You can pass 454 Casull pressures and not show any signs of failure. So I would not worry about that. A large chamber is harder on brass.

I've only found half a dozen 45 colt cases at the small country range I dig lead on, and of course it was Winchester instead of Starline. I did pick up about the same number of Hornady 454 cases on day. Mostly you see 9mm with a few 40s there. Alot of shotgun shells at about the same 10 yards as well.

I usually find an odd .45 Colt case here and there but never a pile like I did the other day. I know not every one reloads much less cast bullets.

I was shooting one day and a father & son came and set up down from me. The son looked to be in his 30's and the dad was my age. The son
pulled out a box of .45 Colt and a nice revolver. As he shot he replaced the the empties back in the box, when the line went cold his dad asked him
what he was going to do with the empties. He said something about wanting to learn to reload. The dad was taken aback and asked if it was safe to do that.
Then I got involved and assured the dad that I have been reloading since my teens and haven't blown up the house or myself up and as long as you don't do
something stupid everything will be alright. The dad looked at me like I had 3 eyes.