PMC brass any good?

[kelbro]

Got a good deal yesterday on some PMC 44 Special brass. No experience with that brand in anything but 223. Anybody use it for 44 special?

[Walt]

I have and use PMC 44 mag, 44 spec, 45 auto, 9m/m, 380, and 223 brass. I have nothing bad to say about any of it.

[Catshooter]

kel,

A friend bought a case of .40 S&W PMC ball. After shooting most of the case he started reloading the empties for his Glock.

He is a very careful man and started with low powder charges. I was standing next to him when he test fired the first few. The loads would just barely work the Glock's action but they did. The fifth shot blew up. Popped the mag out and made the extractor vanish into thin air.

Weirdist case failure I've ever seen or heard about. Only the head around the primer blew; you could still read the headstamp but the entire area around the primer pocket and out to the edge of the case walls was gone.

We both figured that he double charged it, so back to the bench he goes.

Next time out the exact same thing happened again. Round #5 and it blew exactly the same. This time of course he triple checked each round prior to seating the bullet: no chance of a double charge. Same loads in other manufacturer's brass never gave him any trouble.

He scrapped all the PMC.


Cat

[Alchemist]

kel,

A friend bought a case of .40 S&W PMC ball. After shooting most of the case he started reloading the empties for his Glock.

He is a very careful man and started with low powder charges. I was standing next to him when he test fired the first few. The loads would just barely work the Glock's action but they did. The fifth shot blew up. Popped the mag out and made the extractor vanish into thin air.

Weirdist case failure I've ever seen or heard about. Only the head around the primer blew; you could still read the headstamp but the entire area around the primer pocket and out to the edge of the case walls was gone.

We both figured that he double charged it, so back to the bench he goes.

Next time out the exact same thing happened again. Round #5 and it blew exactly the same. This time of course he triple checked each round prior to seating the bullet: no chance of a double charge. Same loads in other manufacturer's brass never gave him any trouble.

He scrapped all the PMC.


Cat

Cat,

That's an interesting one. Any further investigation performed before declaring it a brass issue? I am NOT trying to stir the pot...but there could be factors other than the brass causing the blowouts. How about bullet seating depth? Any chance the bullet somehow got pushed deep into the case? I grant that the blowout around the primer is very suspect. Strictly high pressure would more likely blow out at the feed ramp area (unsupported?) of the case. Also curious is the 5th rd of a mag blowing. I agree that suspect lots of brass should go in the scrap bucket, especially when they are as plentiful as 40 S&W.

Just kinda curious....:holysheep

[kelbro]

I'll keep an eye on it. I need to sample the lengths and weights against my Win brass and see how it compares.

I bought it because 44 special has been kind of scarce around here and I'll be danged if I didn't see 4 bags of it at Sportsman's Warehouse today.

[kelbro]

I have heard so many weird things around 40 loads. May be why I never purchased one.

[Alchemist]

Back to OP's question...I personally have never had a problem with PMC brass. .38 Spl, .357Mag, 9mm, .45 ACP, .44 Mag, .223, .30-30 have all seemed perfectly okay. Worked normally through dies and had good case life.

I have had factory loaded cases split on the first firing. Remington & Federal .44 Mag and Winchester .30 Carbine. All split about half the length of the case from the mouth.

Any mass produced item is gonna run into issues sooner or later.

[Johnch]

I have used a lot of it and only had problems 1 time

A few years back I picked up a bunch of 1X fired PMC 9MM at the club

More than a few had the flash hole well off center
So I trashed the lot of it

But I have reloaded a lot of PMC 9 MM brass since then with no problems


Their 357 mag brass is my favorite for hunting loads

John

[jmsj]

My only experience with PMC brass is in 44 Mag and 30/30. I have been reloading the 44 mag brass for a while and wouldn't be able to tell you how many times I have reloaded them, at least 7 times. The 30/30 brass was given to me by a guy that had quite reloading. I don't know how many times he reloaded them but I have reloaded them at least twice.
jmsj

[rintinglen]

i have used PMC brass in 30/30, 30-06, 44 mag, 380, 38 Special, 357 magnum, 45 ACP, 45 Colt, and 9mm. Never had any unusual problems nor did it seem in any way inferior to any other brass. If it were available at a good price, I'd buy it without qualm.

[MtGun44]

.40 S&W is a weird caliber, I don't trust it. I have personally seen a copy of a letter from
a major Federal LE agency to Glock asking for an explanation of why they have had so
many Glock .40 cals blow up with factory ammo.

I also had a friend blow one up, he replaced the barrel with a Barsto and has had zero
problems since.

Something weird going on with the .40 cal, especially in Glocks.

[Cannoneer]

Got a good deal yesterday on some PMC 44 Special brass. No experience with that brand in anything but 223. Anybody use it for 44 special?

I find PMC brass great in .44 Mag, .44 Spl., and .45 Colt and .45-70. We never had a problem with PMC brass when I used to load commercially for an indoor range. Lead or J-word bullets were just as compatable in any caliber we loaded regardless of brass manufacturer.

I personnaly converted some PMC .45-70 to ,45-60 and haven't had a bit of an issue with them.:lovebooli:cbpour::guntootsmiley:

[robertbank]

My experience with PMC is limited to .45acp. Seems to work fine, at least until you can't read the headstamp anymore which is what you kind of expect from .45acp brass.

Take Care

Bob

[tomme boy]

The Glock issue is an unsupported case with a over pressure cartridge. Seems the 2nd gen Glocks were worse than the 3-4th gen. The cartridge just has too much pressure. Had to to get it to outperform the the 9mm and 45.

Offcenter flash hole are very common with PMC. Not just 223. I have had a bunch of 45s also.

[thegreatdane]

There's been no negative experience with PMC anything, with exception of 223 which has primer crimps like no other. I use it with no hesitation.

[robertbank]

Glock never admitted there was a proble with unsuported cases but here is an interesting picture. I doubt unsupported cases is an issue from Gen 3 and 4.

[johniv]

I have used a lot of it and only had problems 1 time

A few years back I picked up a bunch of 1X fired PMC 9MM at the club

More than a few had the flash hole well off center
So I trashed the lot of it

But I have reloaded a lot of PMC 9 MM brass since then with no problems


Their 357 mag brass is my favorite for hunting loads

John

I have found Fed 45 acp brass with offcenter flash holes, dident seem to hurt a thing . this was many years ago and havent seen it since, but dont know that it could hurt anything. jmho
Back to topic, I am using PMC 30 brass now and it seems great , cant seem to find any fault with it.
John

[bobthenailer]

I use PMC brass in several handgun caliber with no problems or special issues .

[kelbro]

Thanks. Seemed to work fine. I didn't miss any more bulls than I usually do.