Best Brass to use in 45LC.

[Changeling]

Buck Owens brought up a good point in my other post about dies, that was the cases themselves can vary in there thickness.

What are considered the best cases to get? Linebaugh thought Federal were the best in his 45 article but I don't know how old the article was so that could make a big difference. I am not partial to WW cases I have had to many problems with them on stout rifle loads.

[Ctkelly]

Starline is generally very good brass for all pistol calibers. Starline says directly on their website they test their 45 colt brass to pressure levels of the 44 mag so you should be okay to load to the ruger only levels.

Currently they have alot of back ordered products. But from what I have read on various forums, if you order now....you usually get the brass before the ETA date. No promises, but many have reported this as being the case.

[anachronism]

I haven't flogged a 45 Colt for several years now, but we always used Starline brass for the really hot loads. Second place was Winchester, used for "daily" loads. We always sold off our Remington brass to the cowboy shooters.

[Johnch]

I only run Starline for my warm to Ruger loads
As I have had low case life with even warm loads with Fed ( but produced the best accuracy load )
The Win and Rem both produced so so accuracy and poor Case life IMO with warm loads
Not even Ruger loads

I do have 500 Rem cases that I use only for plinking loads , Cowboy action pressures
Out of those cases , some are on the 18 loading , but I anealed them every 8-10 times I load them
I have only lost a few to split necks , normaly on the first or second loading

John

[Mk42gunner]

Another vote for Starline.

Robert

[Dale53]

I'm a Starline fan and order direct (they offer "direct from the manufacturer" prices and pay shipping). They require minimum orders. Most general pistol calibers require a minimum of 500. If you are going to shoot a lot, consider getting a thousand. The price is better and they'll all be from the same lot.

FWIW
Dale53

[MT Gianni]

Get all you can in one lot and work your loads up with that. As I'm sure you've read, neck size it if you are getting too much base expansion.

[runfiverun]

stick to one brand is right.
a test i done once showed 50 fps vel difference in cases alone.
and that meant 100 fps in the 4 brands i tested that day one 50 fps lower two near the same and one 50 fps higher.
the different brands were pretty consistent amongst themselves.

[Firebricker]

Starline is definately the way to go IMO FB

[Edubya]

Starline. Deburr them when you get them though, I've put scratches on my sizing and crimp die before I realized that I needed to do that.
EW

[Bullshop Junior]

When I buy new - Star-Line
If I get it used or free? What ever I have is good. I have al sorts of branda and they all seem good. Out of the ones I have The Remington and Star-Line crack the most, but they also are the oldest most used ones.

[Rico1950]

++ on the Starline. Win & Remington for Colt SAA loads.

[Bucks Owin]

Buck Owens brought up a good point in my other post about dies, that was the cases themselves can vary in there thickness.

What are considered the best cases to get? Linebaugh thought Federal were the best in his 45 article but I don't know how old the article was so that could make a big difference. I am not partial to WW cases I have had to many problems with them on stout rifle loads.
Linebaugh also recommended WW cases for his loads. Yes, they may be slightly thinner walled but they also have slightly more powder capacity and primer pockets stay tight a long time with heavy loads IMO. I have to toss the occasional case due to splits after many crimpings. The problem is with die manufacturers who stick with SAAMI .45 Colt dimensions for a .454"+ diameter bullet! That's fine if you are shooting a Colt SAA etc, no so fine for a .45Ruger....JMO, Dennis (Who also will use Fed and Starline but has 100's of fine WW cases and so uses them the most. I don't like much of anything Rem, but that's just me) ;-)

[Bucks Owin]

stick to one brand is right.
a test i done once showed 50 fps vel difference in cases alone.
and that meant 100 fps in the 4 brands i tested that day one 50 fps lower two near the same and one 50 fps higher.
the different brands were pretty consistent amongst themselves.
In a word..."case capacity"...;-) Dennis (oops, that's two words :lol:)

[Changeling]

Linebaugh also recommended WW cases for his loads. Yes, they may be slightly thinner walled but they also have slightly more powder capacity and primer pockets stay tight a long time with heavy loads IMO. I have to toss the occasional case due to splits after many crimpings. The problem is with die manufacturers who stick with SAAMI .45 Colt dimensions for a .454"+ diameter bullet! That's fine if you are shooting a Colt SAA etc, no so fine for a .45Ruger....JMO, Dennis (Who also will use Fed and Starline but has 100's of fine WW cases and so uses them the most. I don't like much of anything Rem, but that's just me) ;-)

You are right about the Winchester cases being thiner (higher case capacity) and that the Remington cases had problems, lots of problems.

In my wild cat rifles, the Rem cases let go any time they wanted to, impossible to judge when to toss, I quit using them darn near from the start, The WW cases were more predictable and you could retire a lot when it started showing a few splits. However what I didn't like about them is when they let go sometimes, they REALLY let go. I've never used Starline so know nothing.
This all turned out to be the brass composition (yes, they are different) of the different manufacturers. Rem was just plain to brittle, evidently they don't think so.

Thanks for everyones input.

[Base534]

I am using Starline cases but i have found as others have told me that i need to lube a few cases here and there in the carbide sizer die or its a pain.

[44man]

I am using Starline cases but i have found as others have told me that i need to lube a few cases here and there in the carbide sizer die or its a pain.
Yes, I do that in my Hornady dies too. I like Unique case lube or Young Country, just a light smear every now and then.
With Hornady or a carbide die, you can neck size to just below a boolit base for a long time before they get hard to chamber. Then a FL once will keep them going again.
But fellas, I have Rem .44 brass that has been loaded over 40X without a single loss. I am still shooting them. I use Rem in the .45 without a single loss.
The reason I don't like WW is the necks are not thick enough for consistent case tension and I have had many with flash holes way off center. I have had to file rims to fit recessed chambers too.
Starline is still the best for ANY round.
I ONLY get a split neck at the first loading because something was wrong with the brass. Happens with every brand and the rest keep on going.
Now forming new Rem brass to another caliber for a rifle has given me trouble. I annealed at the start, formed (One step.) and annealed again. Reamed and turned. I loaded and shot with good results, however, all the loaded rounds in the box I had left split when sitting for a year or two. Had to dump them all.

[NVScouter]

If your cylinders are in good shape and you lightly expand/crimp I say whatever.

I have a couple lots of seperated brass but mostly I shoot my big "bin o' brass" that is a hodge podge with 3-10 loadings on it. I have a couple other bins in the 15+ loadings that have been trimmed. When my generic lot needs trimming it goes in the last bin for mild loads.

I havent seen any real difference in brass manufacture as I have in reloading styles. The only exception is Remchester brass has more case prep before loading the first time due to minor manufacturing issues.