357 brass

[bjames]

hello new guy question have been away from shooting for around 15 years getting back in . how is the quality of foreign made hand gun brass my experience is with winchester & remington only. thinking of buying once fired range brass cheaper than new will use with 158 grain cast loaded to around 1000 fps.

[9.3X62AL]

Welcome aboard, BJames!

I haven't tried much of the "foreign" brass in any caliber, but Norma is first-rate.....and priced accordingly. Graf's and Hornady import some Euro brass that is quite good, and priced like domestic stuff.

Like you, most of my 357 Magnum brass is R-P or W-W. Having no complaints with this stuff, I just stick with it. Purchased as component brass from any of the Internet suppliers, it's still pretty reasonable. So much so, that I would wonder about the quality of stuff priced significantly less than R-P or W-W. Just size and expand the new stuff--check for length variance--and go forth.

[klausg]

bjames- for me the jury is still out on a lot of the foreign stuff, not enough experience with it. Let me encapsulate what experience I do have:

Aguila- no problems yet, I have around 30 rounds that are on reload #8
PMC-other than the occasional off-center flash-hole, no problems
PMP-only have .45 auto, no problems to date, reload #3
CBC-same as PMP
Fiocchi (sp?)-same as PMP
S&B-seems to be good stuff

I have a few other oddballs in singles & doubles that I've picked up, no problems w/ them, but I have so few that I can't remember the headstamps. I have heard that A-Merc is just plain junk. Hope this helps
-Klaus

[Paul5388]

Fiocchi is made in Ozark, MO now. They have been in the US since the '70s or '80s in cahoots with S&W and/or Alcan. IMI/TZZ/Samson are Israeli products and very good quality. CBC is also Magtech if I'm not mistaken, made in Brazil.

[bjames]

Thank you for the replies. It jogged my memory of surplus 5.56 mm brass decapping, tumbling, sizing, trimming, primer pocket swedging, not to mention the dirt, dried mud, and other debris inside brass. I found some reviews on foreign brass. Some reviews were good, some of them weren't so good. I will stick with Winchester and Remington brass for now.