berettaprofessor
Member
Based on recommendations here, and tired of Starline new 45ACP brass at 20 cents apiece, I tried an on-line source of "mixed range brass". The source doesn't matter because they lived up to their end of the bargain, I just didn't understand what I would be getting. The source noted that there "may" be some pieces with small primers, and they add a few extra cases to make up for those, and it also clearly stated the brass was "previously fired". But for 4 cents apiece? Where do I sign up??
Well, I missed the difference between what I wanted, which was "once-fired", and the stated "previously fired." And I expected "mixed range brass" to be three or four headstamps, because three or four headstamps is all I've ever purchased. As a warning to those novice reloaders like me (I've only been loading 5 years compared to some of you), what I got was:
218 total cases (200 ordered): 169 Large primers, 49 small primers (I don't want to load small primers in 45ACP or keep the cases around because I don't want to watch for them, so if you want'em, let's make a deal for shipping! They were Speer, Federal, Blazer, and a single lonely Win NT headstamp).
Of the 169 large primer cases, they were as follows:
Federal: 48 cases
Winchester 39 cases
Sig: 28 cases
RP: 15 cases
PMC: 10 cases
CBC: 7 cases
GFL 5 cases
S&B 3 cases
PPU: 2 cases
A USA: 2 cases
Extreme: 2 cases
Perfecta: 2 cases
1 case each: Starline, MPR, DRT, Hornady, RWS, Hrtrs
So what's wrong with that? Well, some of the above, say 15%, were quite used, and showed signs of reloading, so I'm not sure how well they can be used again. And, although I don't stick to loading just one headstamp, I like to load and shoot 50 identical cases in a batch for consistency of aim...and didn't reach 50 of any single headstamp. I really don't want to just load all mixed headstamps and take the variation that results, even for plinkiing, so a lot of these cases probably will sit around and pass on with my estate in 30 years. The headstamps from my own new ammo that I have saved are all Winchester, RP, and SB...so I essentially gained 57 cases that I'll maybe use in regular rotation.
57 cases/$8 for the lot + half the shipping cost of $15, so 57 cases divided into $15.50 = 27 cents a case For brass with an unknown history. I could have bought new commercial ammo for that and saved the brass....
I don't think I'll do that again.
Well, I missed the difference between what I wanted, which was "once-fired", and the stated "previously fired." And I expected "mixed range brass" to be three or four headstamps, because three or four headstamps is all I've ever purchased. As a warning to those novice reloaders like me (I've only been loading 5 years compared to some of you), what I got was:
218 total cases (200 ordered): 169 Large primers, 49 small primers (I don't want to load small primers in 45ACP or keep the cases around because I don't want to watch for them, so if you want'em, let's make a deal for shipping! They were Speer, Federal, Blazer, and a single lonely Win NT headstamp).
Of the 169 large primer cases, they were as follows:
Federal: 48 cases
Winchester 39 cases
Sig: 28 cases
RP: 15 cases
PMC: 10 cases
CBC: 7 cases
GFL 5 cases
S&B 3 cases
PPU: 2 cases
A USA: 2 cases
Extreme: 2 cases
Perfecta: 2 cases
1 case each: Starline, MPR, DRT, Hornady, RWS, Hrtrs
So what's wrong with that? Well, some of the above, say 15%, were quite used, and showed signs of reloading, so I'm not sure how well they can be used again. And, although I don't stick to loading just one headstamp, I like to load and shoot 50 identical cases in a batch for consistency of aim...and didn't reach 50 of any single headstamp. I really don't want to just load all mixed headstamps and take the variation that results, even for plinkiing, so a lot of these cases probably will sit around and pass on with my estate in 30 years. The headstamps from my own new ammo that I have saved are all Winchester, RP, and SB...so I essentially gained 57 cases that I'll maybe use in regular rotation.
57 cases/$8 for the lot + half the shipping cost of $15, so 57 cases divided into $15.50 = 27 cents a case For brass with an unknown history. I could have bought new commercial ammo for that and saved the brass....
I don't think I'll do that again.