What is your favorite brass for .45ACP

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Schwing

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Messages
2,265
Location
Layton Utah
I have never bothered to sort by head stamp but am going to start. I reload almost exclusively cast lead. I have the option of buying a large quantity of .45ACP Speer brass on the cheap. Anyone think this is a good option or think another brand might be a better choice?
 
I don't know that I've settled on a favorite 45acp brass yet, mostly using Rem and S&B that I have on hand, and they've been working fine for me. I also have a hundred new Starline that I haven't loaded yet.
But I have discovered that many Federal have a small pistol primer, so I sort those all out for consistency in large pistol primer pockets.

Maybe I'll get around to checking pocket size in those Feds at a later date. For now, I'll use what I have.
 
For me, it is more cases that I will not use. Primarily, AMERC gets tossed out of hand.

I have never had any problems with Speer 45 ACP cases.

But I have not purchased any 45 ACP cases in a long time. I'm well stocked at the present.
 
I have a lot of Speer 45 ACP brass and have never had any problems with it (I also have a "ton" of Speer brass in 9mm). When I'm working up a load (in any caliber) I'll sort by headstamp, but when I find a good load I usually just go with mixed brass. Like cfullgraf, the only brass I toss is Amerc...
 
I think your getting yourself into some unnecessary labor sorting 45 brass. Did something happen that led you to this endeavor? I shoot a lot of bullseye, so like you I shoot mostly cast lead bullets (200 grain LSWC's). I use Lyman M dies and a very light taper crimp, and can observe no difference in the 50 yard slow fire. For 38 special I use a moderate roll crimp so case length is much more critical, there I sort by head stamp, but only to reduce how much trimming I do.

Regards,
Mike
 
I reload a lot of mixed 45ACP range brass. Most of it Federal and Winchester and some Speer. I can't tell any difference in the three.
 
If you get different neck thicknesses in rifle brass this can matter but pistol brass has never been a problem for me. The only way I isolate my 45 ACP brass these days is large or small primer pocket. And scrap the A-Merc. Speer makes Speer, CCI, and Blaser brass. FWIW I had some TZZ Nato with crimped primer pockets that are great after they are reamed as well
 
FREE is my favorite:D

I have so many headstamps and probably some that no one has heard of. I do not pay attention to them except those pesky small primer ones.
 
GBExpat sort of answered mtlucas0311's question for me. It really is mostly an OCD thing. I like to keep about 50% of my brass available (unloaded) I am about to double my .45ACP brass. My brain is hovering on the idea that, if I buy all the same head stamp for this new brass I can wait until it is completely loaded before cleaning and preparing my mixed head stamp brass and vice Versa. I came upon the speer brass and just didn't want to end up with a ton of garbage.

The case length variation I see with my mixed brass bothers me too... even though it doesn't seem to impact accuracy. It just bugs the heck out of me. I worked in a CNC shop for about 20 years and my mind really struggles with variations in just about any metal parts that are more than .0005.
 
Don't scrap Amerc, somebody on this forum said they wanted it! But in my old age I have forgotten who. Anyway I have about 50 cases saved for them so far. They must have much better luck with them than I do.
Catpop
 
I sort all brass, even pistol..... May not make a hair of difference but I do it anyway. I like Winchester 45 ACP brass. Why? Because it is the most I have on hand. No other reason. JMHO

The Dove
 
I started sorting 45 brass a while back. My Lee turret press knows the difference in brass.
I've collected and sorted my brass for years. Surprising, the majority of my brass is Remington. {2 5 gallon buckets of it}

Nothing wrong with Speer IMHO.

OCD? Probably...lol.
 
I have some old remington-peters stuff that is a bit thin when used with jacketed bullets. The extra .001" from my cast bullets makes it work so I guess my favorite is any free brass other than that R-P stuff uncle gave me.
 
I sort out RP brass and SP from all the others. GFL gets sorted for shoot and loose. RP brass has a tendency to run thinner wall = lower neck tension. My preferred choice is Win or Fed (LP).
 
Interesting ... at the moment that Schwing was creating the initial post, I was in the middle of sorting ~5000 pieces of .45ACP brass that I cleaned before Christmas.

PMC, Federal, Winchester, R-P, Speer, WCC, RWS, U.S.A., S&B, Aguilla, Fiocchi, Starline, and a dozen others. :)
 
Nothing wrong with Speer. If the price is the same, I would probably buy Starline, otherwise I would just buy the least expensive.
 
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that 45 acp is the only brass I haven't sorted by head stamp. I shoot very little 9mm and 40 S&W but have picked up a whole bunch when I RO. I can't help myself but to sort it after I tumble it and put away into storage. So I guess I'm as OCD as everybody else.

Regards,
Mike
 
My favorite .45acp brass is - .45acp. Preferably free! I don't sort any brass, in any caliber. I'll pick out the bad ones and Berdans, but that's it.
 
I can feel how soft Remington Peters brass is when I resize it. I always question If there is enough neck tension when I seat the bullet and I feel almost no resistance. It seems to shoot o.k. though.
 
Whatever is laying on the ground at the range.

If I was buying, I would look at Starline first, but I don't think it really matters.

Maybe it does to the Bullseye shooters, but I not in that category. I shoot pretty well, but not that well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

4
  • Locked
What is your favorite 45ACP load?
2
Replies
31
Views
3K
CarlosU
C
S
  • Locked
Sorting .223 brass by headstamp
Replies
11
Views
3K
Ironicaintit
Ironicaintit
crackshot258
  • Locked
Reloading 45ACP
Replies
18
Views
1K
hdwhit
H
merlynski
  • Locked
What is the difference: Federal and ∙Federal∙
Replies
21
Views
1K
Archie
Archie
T
  • Locked
Federal 45acp Brass & primers
2
Replies
38
Views
3K
cw308
C
Back
Top