Trouble Loading Remington Brass

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

cottontoptexan

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
85
I seem to have quite a bit of problems when trying to load rem brass in 45 acp and in 38/357. I have used a set of Lee dies and also the Hornady and the problem persists. After sizing with only the slightes flair to start the bullet the bullet seems to want to be pushed into the case with little resistance. I have concluded the Remington brass is just thinner and will not work well with certain bullets. Some cast bullets will work better than the jacketed ones. Some bullets even without flairing can be started into the resized case with little resistance. Anyone care to comment if they have had problems with this brass. I do not have problems with any other brands just the Remington.
 
I have seen the same thing happen with .44 mag and .45 Colt once-fired brass from Rem. I think the brass has a little less elasticity, and when the expander die goes in, the brass does not contract a little bit, to give good neck tension on jacketed bullets. I tossed all my Rem. brass in the brass bucket at the range, and use Starline, Winchester, and once fired PMC brass.
 
Tossed all my R-P 45 & 357 brass for the same reason. Aguilla 45 brass the same way, to easy to seat bullets. I have no problems with R-P in 9mm, though:)
 
I've been using R-P nickel plated brass in 45ACP for years. Haven't had any problems. I usually use nickel plated for semi-auto handguns because it's easier to find the brass (and sort from the rest of the brass everyone else is shooting).
 
I've used some or a substantial amount of RP brass in most of the calibers I reload without any problems. I prefer RP brass.

Paul
 
No problems with R-P brass as far as bullet tension is concerned. I use a lot of R-P brass in several calibres. Rifle and handgun. the only handgun calibre that I have problems with bullet tension is .38 Special and I solved that with a Lee FCD.
 
I have reloaded hundreds of rounds of RP brass in .45 and never had a problem. I do notice that they size a lot easier than other brass, but never had a problem with that.
 
While others experience may differ, let me state this, as I have MANY, MANY times here:

In my experience: Without failure, remington pistol brass is JUNK!:fire:

Use any of the following:

1 Starline
2 Federal
3 Winchester
 
I have had similar problems with R-P brass in .45 ACP. I never reload it anymore. I use Federal, Winchester, or Starline with no problems at all.
 
I’ve reloaded for over 30 years now. Over the years I have bought lots of Remington brass and have never had any problem with it in any of the calibers I load (9mm, .38 spl, .357mag, .45 acp, .41mag, 30-30, 8mm, .308, .223) . As you said, the Remington brass is a bit thinner than some of the others. Because of this I like to use Remington brass when loading cast lead bullets as they seat easier and you don’t get the obvious bulging at the top of the case. Jacketed loads get crimped with the Remington as it does with all other types of brass, roll crimp on revolver cartridges and taper on semi auto. I’ve never had a bullet retention problem even in thousands of heavy .357 and .41 mag loads. Bullet set back with semi auto's is taken care of with a good taper crimp. I’ve noticed no difference in the reloading life of the Remington brass vrs Federal or Winchester, if there is any I'd quite counting after 10 reloadings.
 
Bushmaster:

Yep. Same question, same answer, just like last month, eh?:D

One other thing:

A heavy crimp can(sometimes) compensate for insufficient neck tension, but you're on thin ice there. Pushed too far and you'll actually make your trouble worse. You end up decreasing neck tension and deforming bullets. This leads to horrible accuracy, short brass life and wild velocity spreads. Better to get brass that will maintain sufficent neck tension with a normal crimp. Sometimes a smaller expander stem is all that's required.
 
Sizing dies vary in diameter, the same as brass varies in thickness. I'd check to see what size your die is sizing to. Thicker brass would produce enough neck tension if it's at the outside of the specifications, but not with slightly thinner brass. In most of my pistol calibers, I have more than one sizing die and no two are identical in diameter. Also check the diameter of your expander plug.

I load all brass, with the exception of Berdan primed and A-Merc, without problems. You just have to understand the physical aspects of the different components involved in each case.

Just a thought.

Fred
 
I have loaded at least 60,000 rounds of .45 ACP in remington brass over the last 8 years or so. Its the most trouble free brass of any of manufacturers brass that I use. Last night I was reloading .45 acp using 200 lswc bullets from Penn bullet co. The 1500 piece bag of brass I am using is all RP and its now on its 10th reloading, with no problems at all.

The problem you are having sounds like you have a bad resizing die (you are resizing and not just decapping right???), if you can seat a bullet with no belling, try a different resizing die from RCBS or Redding.
Otherwise it sounds like you are overbelling the brass, or perhaps your seating/crimp die needs to be screwed in a little deeper while you back out the seating plug.

BTW I have dillon dies and equipment for my pistol rounds.
 
I have gotten rid of all my brass EXCEPT Remington, it is my favorite to work with. Federal brass is fine also, but I've had very bad experiences with Winchester and PMC brass.
 
If I had to only pick one brass manufacturer, I'd pick Remington.

I've been reloading for many years with about 7-8 different handgun calibers and about the same number of different rifle calibers. Never, ever had any problems or issues with Remington brass.
 
Input Appreciated

Thanks to all of you for the input. Perhaps my expander is oversized. I will work on this and let you know what happens with my experimenting. This could be the culprit( expander button) or an oversize die. I make pick up a Redding sizing die. I have also tried the Hornady with the same results so again thankyou.
 
Remington Brass Problem Solved

Upon closer examination of the 38 special brass i was having problems with i have noticed something very unique to this brass. The brass in question was purchased at a gunshow in a large zip lock bag. There are two kinds of Remington 38 special brass in the bag. One has a cannelure around it where the bullet will engage it . The other is smooth all the way down the length of the case. I guess i learned something from this experience and that is to be carefull when purchasing brass at a gun show. After reloading for almost 25 years i was totally dumfounded by the loose bullet fit. On the slick cased brass when i sized it and that is all the bullet can be pushed into the case very easily and sometimes just fall down to below seating depth. Not sure what this Remington brass is in origin but i assume it is not to be reloaded. Now that i have the problem solved i thank all of you for the much excellent input on this problem. The cannelure brass has not problems. Sized several flared (with no powder) and seated the bullets just fine. It is nice to be able to reach out to so many people to get some ideas when problems arise.
 
Ben I'm in total agreement with you, Rem. brass is JUNK. I quit loading their pistol brass over 25 years ago because of this neck tension issue.Rem. rifle brass will do in a pinch.
 
I'll take everyone's Remington cases off your hands. .30-30, .30-06, 9mm X 19, .38 Special, 357 magnum, .45 ACP, .44 magnum & Special and .45 Long Colt...:D
 
Last edited:
Your un-cannelured brass likely was made for wadcutters. As wadcutters seat much more deeply in the case than regular bullets, the cases can't have any wall taper until you're right at the bottom. Learnt my lesson when I tried seating fairly hard home cast wadcutters in +P Federal nickel brass. This brass had a long taper and the budge at the base of the wadcutter was larger than the chambers of my wheel gun.

Anyone got any Remington brass they don't want?

Bye
Jack
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

R
  • Locked
Learned something today...reloading .45
Replies
19
Views
1K
Walkalong
Walkalong
S
  • Locked
45 ACP Reloading Issues
2 3
Replies
65
Views
6K
Blue68f100
Blue68f100
E
  • Locked
Anybody have trouble with Remington brass?
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
Steve in PA
Steve in PA
G
  • Locked
Remington .357 Mag Brass?
Replies
5
Views
427
Kp321
K
C
  • Locked
32acp R-P help
Replies
18
Views
1K
clone
C
Back
Top