Brass is Brass Right?
Sitting here for these weeks, I thought I would do a little quick and dirty test of different brands of brass. They are all .38 Special, and all the brass was brand new never fired. What I wanted to see is if one brand has longer life than the others. The brands I tested were: Winchester, R-P (Remington-Peters), Federal, Magtech, and Starline.
All brass was twenty five cases; all shot with the same bullet, primer, and powder. All were shot in the same gun, my New Model Ruger Blackhawk which has the 4 3/8 inch barrel. The gun was cleaned between every brand of brass. The load used was the Lee 125 grain Round Nose Flat point which was powder coated and sized to .358. The gun powder was Hodgdon HP-38. 5.3 grains weighed out on my electronic scale. The average velocity was 1050 feet per second according to the chronograph at A Place to Shoot Range here in San Antonio. All shots where at the 30 meter pistol range there at A Place to Shoot. All trim to length was out of Lyman’s 4th edition Cast Bullet handbook.
What I considered brass that could no longer be used was:
1. Cases that developed a split in the case mouth.
2. That had to be trimmed in very few firings.
3. Primer pockets that became loose.
4. Or all three of the above.
The first set of twenty five cases that I reloaded was the Winchester. The Winchester gave a pretty good showing. I got eight reloads out of these cases until one case split about 1/8 inch at the mouth. The trim length was still very good not needing to be trimmed at all. The primer pockets were still tight and the rest of the cases were still usable.
The next were the R-P. These went eight reloads. On the eighth firing three cases split half way to the rim. They also had to be trimmed twice as they had grown longer than the Lyman suggested length. Primer pockets were still pretty tight but not as much as the Winchester brass.
The next was Federal. I was really disappointed in these cases. When I first started into reloading, Federal was the new kid on the block and the only other brass we had to chose from was Winchester, R-P, and for funny calibers, Norma. Federal used to be the go to brass, but this quick test said different. Five reloads was all I got. Four split necks and the primer pockets were pretty loose. What a disappointment.
The worst of any of these cartridges was the Magtech. Two firings before 2 split necks, two more firings and three more split necks. My brother used to have a supplier of this unused brass but they can keep it. I tried to keep firing these to find out just how long they would last, but the primer pockets got too sloppy. I would stay away from this brass unless someone gives it to you.
The last brand is to me was the new kid Starline. Starline has two types of .38 Special brass one head stamped +P and one just stamped .38 Special. According to Starline there is NO DIFFERENCE NO MATTER WHO TOLD YOU. I don’t care if your fairy god father tells you there is a difference there ain’t none. I have the ones stamped +P. As of today I have reloaded these twenty five cases eleven times. I have had to trim them once and the primer pockets seem to be almost as tight as when I first reloaded them. One case looks like at the next firing that it may split. I will have to keep an eye on it. I am impressed.
Although every gun writer says that you can save money on reloading your spent cases, you can only do that if you get a minimum number of reloads out of the most expensive component in reloading. The brass case. That is why I did this little test. Understand, I am not trying to sell you anything. Use the brass that you like or have experience with. Or the brass you can get since we are in a shortage right now.
If I have said bad things about your favorite brass, well, it is time to put your big boy pants on and try it yourself. What I have found is that most reloaders like to reload and don’t care about cost as even one reload is cheaper than factory ammo. My brother, God rest his soul, was like that. It was just fun. My Uncle Art, God rest his soul, wanted to save every penny possible so he could afford to shoot more.
What is reloading to you?
ACC
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Originally Posted by Burnt Fingers
