“Lot of 1000. Had a few 10mm cases mixed in, one 9mm, and even a solitary .22 case.
This is not a negative comment. There were a few with primer crimp rings, mostly WIN NT. All in all a very good lot of brass, typical for once-fired range brass. I would not hesitate to order brass from them again”
“Overall, I am delighted with this purchase of 4000+/- 40 S&W nickel, “once fired” casings. I spent about twelve hours on a single stage press de-capping and sizing them.
I prefer nickel plate pistol casings purely for cosmetic reasons but as you know, reloading components are in short supply and it is nice to see someone “recycling” range brass. Your sorting of casings by caliber and color is/was superb and cleaning is acceptable. I also picked up some range brass for 380 and 9mm from a couple other providers. Their cleaning was a bit better but sorting was not as consistent as yours and about five percent were disposed of as unusable casings. So far, there are no unusable 40S&W casings from you. Belling of case will most likely correct the very few casings with a creased mouth.
De-capping and sizing multiple head-stamps is hindered with primer hangs requiring two or three more pulls on a single stage press to clear primer from pocket. These “primer hangs” are nearly exclusive to Speer head stamps. In addition, many primers fragment during the de-capping process which deposits enough debris to require another cleaning. This is a real detriment to multi stage progressive presses that I personally do not use. I do not experience primer hangs or fragmentation with CCI primers.
Reloading “once fired” range brass takes some additional work when compared to hand loading of new brass and reloading of known casings. I anticipate three maybe, four reloads will be effected with this range brass. About the same as I get from new DoubleTap or Starline casings.
Due to many pistol manufactures producing sloppy chambers, moderate to severe low case bulging is encountered and must be corrected to SAMMI specs before proceeding with the additional reloading stages.
For the past fifty plus years, I have hand loaded all my ammunition with new casings, from Double Tap or Starline for pistols and Lapua for rifles. Additional components include: CCI primers, IMR propellants and various bullets. I will discard these casings after four pistol reloads and six rifle reloads. There seems to some perceived notion that “reloading” affords some economies, for me this is simply not the case especially when time/labor is thrown into the cost equation. Plain and simple, I do not like factory ammunition even though it is cheaper.
Lastly, I do not consider hand-loading/reloading a hobby. It is a ballistics requirement for any precision shooting, especially long range rifle at a 1000+ yards. However, at eighty years of age, I am finding my hobby of shooting to be a perishable skill.”
