Are These Headstamps OK?

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layusn1

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I went to the range this weekend and got a pretty sweet deal. I usually get there an hour or two before the range opens and pick up brass so I get a fair amount but this weekend the owner asked me if I would go every other weekend and take all of the cases off the range. Darn cheapskate doesn't want to pay me though..lol. Anyway...I usually run across a few headstamps that I don't have enough of to consider worth keeping for reloading/trading purposes but now I am sure I will be having TONS more brass on my hands. So, the question is, do you guys find the following headstamps worth reloading:

S&B, SME, *I*, PMC, Prvi Partizan (the one with the three Cyrillic letters)

I'm sure there are a few others but I can't really think of them off the top of my head right now. I know nobody really considers reloading Amerc, or at least not more than once, but are then any others that should avoided? Thanks.
 
Never heard of the SME either huh? I always thought it meant Subject Matter Expert...lol. So the Prvi Partizan is ok huh? You said your not picky but is it a general consensus that this brass is worth reloading? I have a bunch in the recycle bucket that would really add to my stockpile if I pulled it all back out.

Hmmm...get this....looks like the SME is S&B...
http://www.igman.com/ammunition/codes/S/SME-Czechoslovakia.html
 
I forgot another one...I think it was CBC. I find this about them:

http://www.igman.com/ammunition/codes/C/CBC-Brazil.html

Brazilian Cartridge Company. I see a fair amount of their brass as well. I have never seen it for sale, or at least don't recognize what name brand it might be sold under.

Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos, Avenida Industrial No 3330, Santo Andre, Estado de Sâo Paulo, Brazil (ca'1997: Av Humberto de Compos 3220, 09400 000 Ribeirao Pires SP, Brazil)
 
CBC brass is okay for plinking stuff not for match, remember that and you won't be mad. Their stuff has improved over the years, probably due to feedback from American shooters/reloaders.
 
You can tell if the CBC (MagTech) is once fired by the mark struck in the primer that looks sort of like this: Λ

I don't know if ALL of their ammo has that mark but lots of it does.

Or do their primers for reloading also have that Λ mark as well?

The *I* is Israeli IMI and is really good stuff. PMC is good.

S&B can have tight primer pockets but is okay for reloading a few times, at least in .223 Remington. I've loaded a lot of their .223 brass with average results for plinking and practice. Their .45 ACP is pretty good as well!
 
*I* is not IMI unless I am mistaken, but I can't remember what it is right off hand. Good stuff according to posts here on THR. I have scrounged some in .45 and it shoots just like all the rest.
 
*I* is Independence. It had some quality issues at one time, but I think they've worked them out. I've loaded their brass in .38 Special and .45 acp, and it's worked just fine for casual shooting.

Hope this helps.
 
"SME" is also made by Sellier & Bellot, but for an offshore contract; all of these should be OK to reload, provided they're Boxer-primed (and a substantial amount of the Privi Partisan I've seen is Berdan).
 
Privi/nny is good stuff, I've reloaded some twice. The PMC I've reloaded in the past has been good (6.5x55, 45, 38), but I haven't tried any 223 yet. I've heard a few rumblings about SB, primer pocket issues mostly, but I've probably got 500 or so SBs I've accumulated so I guess I'll have to try it out
 
S&B has "snug" primer pockets, which I find to be a plus. I don't have any problems priming them at all and when they finally do wear out, the primer pockets are still good.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
S&B = Sellier & Bellot it's good Brass and their ammo is good too. http://www.sellier-bellot.cz/

SME = (Sorry, I have no idea)

*I* = Independence Ammo, it's good Brass and ammo. It's made in Brazil and is part of Alliant Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co which is part of Alliant Techsystems. They do a lot of work for the Government.

PMC is good Brass and ammo. I think it's Korean ammo and they have been around for a long time. http://www.pmcammo.com/

Prvi Partizan makes good ammo and I think they are Serbian. I have shot off a lot of their 7.62X39mm and 7.62X54R ammo and it's acurate. I haven't reloaded any of their Brass. http://www.prvipartizan.com/index.php
 
The PMC Company in Boulder City, Nevada, has closed and sold all it's equipment to Jamison International, of Sturgis, South Dakota. The name may have been sold to another company, but the production facility is closed in the U.S., where the majority of their pistol and revolver ammunition was made.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
So really what I am seeing around all of the various forums is that all brass is really pretty good and can be reloaded without issue with the exception of Amerc. The only real issue is if you were to buy or trade for "once fired"? I assume you would want to stick to the bigger names (military brass aside) like WIN/WW, R-P, FED/FC, and maybe S&B?
 
layusn-
Some guys care a lot, some don't. With rifle brass I am very picky, as specific charges give certain results with specific cases. Pistol brass is much less specific for me. I loaded a true mixed batch the other day, a few pieces of brass were in there that I had never heard of, but it really doesn't bother me.

I found a .40s&w case from LC, that was a new one to me.:confused:
 
That is weird. I found a cool case yesterday. I hope I can clean it up. Its pretty dirty and the inside is kind of rusty which is really sad to me but I think it is really cool. It is a 45 case and the headstamp is E C S 43. I just think its cool to have a 45 case that old.
 
The ECS 43 case is steel and was made during World War II, when brass and copper were in short supply. I've got a whole bunch of them, along with others. Now if you had a bunch of the 1943 pennies that were made of steel, you'd have something.

I don't doubt that Lake City is making .40 S&W ammunition, since the Coast Guard now uses that round exclusively in their Sig handguns. I've got a couple of rounds of LC .38 Special brass that I've got several loads on, too.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
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