What is it with AMERC brass

[375supermag]

Hi...
I can only echo what others have posted.
My experience mirrors theirs.
Amerc brass is junk.
Any I find goes in the recycle bin.

[la5676]

Thanks guys,

I sat in my manchair last night with Frankford and primed close to 1500. I missed a few Win NTs (small primer)when I was culling for the A-Merc, looks like I'm not multi-tasking, but ran across a small primer case I had never seen before. I had thought the only small primered cases were Win NT, but I have one that is a Federal case.

[la5676]

I discovered Amerc 15-17 years ago when I bought a case of 45acp from Sportsmans Guide. After a few bent decapping pins I have since trashed every piece of Amerc I see.

I went ahead and sent them through the decapping stage without a hitch, but I did notice that a majority of them had very off center flash holes. QC at it's best.

[fguffey]

Yep, we all found them the same way. Straight to the recycling bin...

Not to be different, I found cases with small primers while measuring flash holes, the flash hole gage did not touch the case.

F. Guffey

[la5676]

Not to be different, I found cases with small primers while measuring flash holes, the flash hole gage did not touch the case.

F. Guffey

???

Gonna need to elaborate the significance of this statement. For me anyway.

[fguffey]

???

Gonna need to elaborate the significance of this statement. For me anyway.

I have a flash hole gage, the flash hole in cases with small primers are large, my flash hole gage will fall straight through without touching the case.

Some use the primer fit to determine case head expansion, a few understand if the case heat gets hammered the case head diameter increases; same of flash holes, if the case head gets hammered with heavy loads the flash hole will increase in diameter.

No one measures case head thickness from the cup above the web to the case head but when the case head gets hit with a heavy load the case head thickness gets thinner. When my case heads get thinner the diameter of the case head increases.

All of my shell holders are not alike; my favorite shell holder is the RCBS shell holder because they are loose, most of my RCBS shell holders have .011" loose fit between the rim of the case and shell holder. RCBS shell holders are my favorite because they fit like a hand-me-down shirt, they only fit where they touch.

I have another group of shell holders, that fit with no slack. It means nothing to most but if I am using the tight fitting shell holders when I come across a case that will not fit the shell holder I suspect the case head has been hit with a heavy load if I measured before and again after.

F. Guffey

[la5676]

I think you're going to find that a lot of case gauges are made to SAAMI Maximum, or somewhere in between. The point is, cartridges aren't fired in gauges, they're fired in chambers, so they must fit the chamber they're going to be fired in. A gauge simply tells you whether or not that individual cartridge fits in the gauge, but doesn't tell you if it's going to fit in the chamber of your firearm. I've seen lots of cartridges that fit gauges, but wouldn't chamber and fire. They're two different measuring devices.

Hope this helps.

Fred

You are right, I said that wrong. They are machined to max SAAMI specs so as to fit any properly machined chamber. Were I reloading for just one single pistol, the plunk test would be the thing to do. I won't say who all I load for, but it's real close family and friends that like to shoot with me, and are more limited on funds than I seem to be. By using my Lyman case guage, I am pretty much assured they will chamber in anything.

[nun2kute]

THEY ARE NOT JUNK !!! They are perfect candidate to drrop a hunk of lead into and swage into 452 or larger bullets.

We do have a swaging section here.

[Wild Bill 7]

Scrap brass bucket is too good for that brass. The liberals must have conspired to have that brass made to cause us some misery. LOL. I hate that brass also.

[lightman]

Like most of the above posters, I consider Amerc brass to be junk. Its a well earned reputation! I don't swage bullets so whatever I find goes in the scrap bucket.

[fguffey]

I think you're going to find that a lot of case gauges are made to SAAMI Maximum, or somewhere in between. The point is, cartridges aren't fired in gauges, they're fired in chambers, so they must fit the chamber they're going to be fired in.

The Wilson case gage is designed to measure a fired case and a sized case. It is up to the reloader to determine the length of the case from the shoulder to the case head. Many reloaders treat the case gage as a drop in gage. The instructions suggest the reloader use a straight edge. I agree but suggest the reloader take it one step further; I suggest the reloader use a feeler gage set. From the beginning the case gage was designed as a datum based tool. The difference between my datums and the Wilson case gage is the radius; Wilson has used a radius on their datums since the late 30's.

F. Guffey

[Engineer1911]

AMERC = Junk

AMERC ≤ Junk

AMERC brass does not keep the primer in the primer pocket when the bullet is seated.

[mozeppa]

AMERC = Junk

AMERC ≤ Junk

AMERC brass does not keep the primer in the primer pocket when the bullet is seated.

many times the flash hole is nowhere near the center of the primer pocket.

[rondog]

Is AMERC and A-USA the same? Haven't seen AMERC much, but do run across A-USA now and then.....

[ReloaderFred]

Is AMERC and A-USA the same? Haven't seen AMERC much, but do run across A-USA now and then.....

No, they're completely different companies. A-Merc is out of business, and has been for awhile.

A-USA is Armscor ammunition which is made in their plant here in the U.S. Armscor is base in the Philippines, but established a plant here a few years ago, since they've been doing so much business in this country.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[rondog]

Ah, thank you sir! Forgot about Armscor......

[JimB..]

Thanks guys,

I sat in my manchair last night with Frankford and primed close to 1500. I missed a few Win NTs (small primer)when I was culling for the A-Merc, looks like I'm not multi-tasking, but ran across a small primer case I had never seen before. I had thought the only small primered cases were Win NT, but I have one that is a Federal case.

I’ve seen SPP 45acp brass with Win NT, Fed and Speer headstamps that I recall. There are a bunch of headstamps that I routinely toss in the scrap bucket, no idea if they are converting.

[BrutalAB]

A lot of hate for amerc brass. Leads me to believe it is well deserved. Especially considering the only redeeming opinion is to turn it into a jacketed boolit.

Thoroughly enjoyed the gluing primers in anecdote.

[BrutalAB]

Just found my first a merc case i believe. Wouldnt even fit into the shell plate on my pro 1000.
38 special.
Its in the recycling bucket now.

[bullet maker 57]

I agree with all the above. In the scrap bucket.