What Pistol Brass is Best?

[trapper9260]

I use free or once fired brass. I will get Starline brass of odd ball rounds if they have it.I take what I can get. As for pistol brass if you are at your own home range or where ever you will use it . Some time you will not find all your brass.Wheel gun is different.

[Motor]

I think a better question would have been:

What pistol brass and in what caliber should I avoid?

Honestly. Unless you are someone shooting thousands of round a year in competition I don't know how you could really tell which is "best"

I've been reloading pistol ammo since day one back in 1985 and I honestly can't say I have a favorite brand let alone one that I'd call best.

Motor

[vzerone]

I've been shooting for a lot of years and a lot of calibers. First let me say the U.S. major brands aren't the same brass cases they were way back. For that matter some of them don't even make their own brass. Okay I've never liked Remington pistol/revolver brass. It's notorousily thin especially in 32 acp and 45 acp and it gives up the ghost fast especially to neck splits. Old Federal pistol/revolver brass was among the best. I have some old Federal 9mm and 45acp that was nickel that I have worn all the nickel off and still using it, not a one lost! Some of their rifle brass was very good, but it went down hill fast. The pistol/revolver stuff still seems pretty decent. Winchester stuff was good both rifle and pistol/revolver, but the rifle brass, in my opinion, had gone done hill. They are one of the companies that have brass made for them. Norma is toted as being at the top, but I think it's soft and I've seen too much of it age harden and split. Lapua is very good brass and very expensive. Starline seems to be pretty decent. They are just expanding into more rifle calibers so time will tell there. JAG is quoted at being at the top. The ones I have are very good. They say that Sig brass is made by them, but I can't vouch for that. PMC used to be very good brass, but they moved out of the U.S. Aguila use to be trash, but they are a whole better company now. Sellier & Bellot is okay. Privda is okay, but they are suppose to have a better line of ammo (which might mean the case too) that we don't often see in the states. RWS, never used it.

....oh and Motor you don't have to shoot 1000's and 1000's of round to know which brass is good and bad. Thin pistol/revolver cases will tell you that in the first reload.

[EDG]

Cheap and free are the best brands.
If it is cheap you never sweat losing a few or scrapping a few that really need to be junked.

[Clark]

7.62x25mm Tokarev: S&B is better than Starline for primer pocket max pressure.
38 special, old RP target brass is thin wall and will be the most accurate with LSWC
45acp with feed ramp intrusion, Starline +P is better than Starline 45 Super for avoiding guppie belly case bulges

[BigMagShooter]

i'd say 44 mag pistol brass is best...

[Sailormilan2]

I have a 38 Super, unsupported chamber. I've fired some stout loads in it, and the only brass that's given me trouble has been Aguila. I've had two case blowouts.
So, I've dumped all my Aguila brass.

[Tom W.]

Let me add to my first statement.
For the last three or so years I've been shooting handguns at an indoor range. I saw where people are buying factory loads and just leaving the brass everywhere. HMMMMM......once fired brass..... as of today I found that when I take the broom and sweep the floor to place the brass on the wall behind me it causes me to just have to collect it. I now have a 50 cal ammo can that is full of 9mm brass, cleaned, sized and deprimed that I'll probably never use all of them. I refuse to trim the brass, it just isn't worth the time..
My .45 acp supply is close to the same, and I don't even own anything but boolit molds in any .45 caliber...
I think it's an addiction.

[Walks]

I bought 500 cases from starline in .44WCF about 10yrs ago. Stuff was hard as a rock. too thick to load a .427 bullet in my old 1st gen COLT. Most cases were too long or too short. It didn't expand well enough to seal the chamber when fired with Black Powder in my Uberti 1873 rifle. I now use it only in a Late manufacture WINCHESTER 1892 Carbine. Never had a problem with WINCHESTER or REMINGTON. They are more expensive now, but still work better for me.