What Is Some Good Factory Ammunition that's good for reloading

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MagnumDweeb

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I've been saving all my spent brass and picking up a few hundred pieces each time I go to the range. I only my semi-auto brass separated by caliber but I'm very much the revolver fiend and I separate my revolver rounds by caliber and brand. So far I've got Winchester White Box, Federal, PMC, and Remington. I've been told that Federal and PMC brass is the best for reloading but it was by someone who stopped reloading a few years back and has all but stopped shooting so I don't know too well what that opinion is worth.

I'm also looking to pickup a few bulk buys (500 or 1000rd purchases) because after S&H I get the ammo anywhere between 20 and 30% cheaper and when reloading as I understand it you stand to reload the ammo for anywhere between 15% and 30% cheaper depending on the caliber. Like reloading factory ammo you bought for 9 bucks, using the brass, you can reload it for the cost of 6 bucks.

So I was thinking Fiocchi, I understand it's pretty good quality but I may be wrong. And, the new Seller and Belliot brass case. I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with it, good or bad.

Also if it's not too much trouble can someone lay down some up-to-date savings figures on .357 and .44 magnum.
 
I like Winchester and Remington, love PMP when I can find it. Almost anything useable is OK, except that horrible AMERC garbage. That is only suitable for the recycling bucket.
 
I reload every thing, even some Berdan for some of my hard to find rounds. When it splits or the primers are not seating properly, they go into the recycle box.
 
I like Winchester and Remington, love PMP when I can find it.
Click to expand...

I agree, PMP is good ammo. I wish it was still being imported, in fact I actually emailed them asking about that. They said the exchange rate with the dollar is currently too unfavorable to re-enter the US market but they hope to do so when possible.

If you want some PMP in 45, Widener's has it. I may just order a case myself.
 
Almost anything except A-Merc brass is fine to reload.

My favorite revolver brass is Federal, PMC and Winchester in that order. Funny thing is I am using all Remington brass right now for my .38 Special rounds because I have 1,500 pieces from when I was buying Remington UMC ammo. I don't mix brass when I reload so for the next few years I'll be using Remington brass for my .38 Specials. (yes, .38 Special brass will last a very long time)

Like I said, just stay away from A-Merc brass and you'll be fine. If you have any don't even try to reload it once, just throw it in the junk bag and sell it to the scrap yard.
 
A-Merc is VERY soft brass and not always in spec. I gave away 90+ to someone here on THR who was glad to load it. It feels funny going through the sizer. It feels like it is just crushing down with no spring to it. I can tell it and pull it out without looking at the headstamp. It is always A-Merc. I don't load it. There is too much good quality brass out there to worry with it. :)
 
I have a lot of Winchester (45ACP) and Remington (38 spl) from saving mine before I started reloading. I kick myself for giving away thousands of 9mm Winchester to a friend, since I'm reloading that, too, now. Luckily it's a common caliber at my range.

I seem to "find" more 45ACP and 9mm CCI than anything else. Everyone around here loves the Blazer Brass. I'm happy to scrounge it, but for some reason it seems to have tight primer pockets which, although clean, is sometimes difficult to seat the primer. If I have a hard time priming with my hand primer, I always know it will say CCI before I take a look.
 
I use Winchester cases only in my 223 I use Remington cases only in my 308 and for my 45acp What ever I have in the can goes threw the press. It is just plinking ammo so I am not that worried.

I wouldn't load A-Merc or Winchester nontoxic as they have small primer pockets so they just all go in the trash bucket.
 
I like winchester best, but I have a ton of Rem/Peters/Rem-Peters so that's what I use the most. They seem to split quickly, and in .38 they don't hold the bullets tightly...I think the walls are thin or something.

For rifle I have Win and Rem. Both get cracks, but the Win feels better somehow. It trims easier with my Lee trimmers.

For off-brands, I have some PMC and some CCI in .45 that work surprisingly well. Since it's easy to find I just use that most of the time and save my Win brass for when I care about accuracy.

I also keep a bag of mixed off-brand brass that I load up if I'm going plinking somewhere where I don't care if I can't find it all afterwards.

-J.
 
I saw a place selling some once-fired brass but when I brought up a larger picture, I saw a bunch of the dreaded A-MERC headstamps. The description claimed the cases were made for them by IMI, which is generally known to be good. Is this something new? Are A-MERC cases now made by IMI? Somehow I doubt it.
 
IIRC, also, Blazer Brass is sort of iffy. I seem to recall being told that you might be able to reuse it once, but that would be about it. And of course never reload the aluminum Blazer stuff.

Springmom
 
I don't care for Speer brass either, I get a lot of crushed cases when I expand or seat. Sometimes the primer pockets are really tight.
 
I have found some older 45acp Aguila that doesn't hold a bullet very well.
 
Amerc acts a little funny when you are reloading it, but I have never had a major problem.

I don't like Winchester in .40 AT ALL. The primer pockets are undersized and slow the whole process down to a crawl.

Be careful about .45 brass with older military headstamps. It works fine, but the older stuff has crimped primer cups. Most military stuff has crimped primer cups that need to be swaged out or trimmed with a carbide case mouth trimmer before seating a new primer.

Finally, if a case just doesn't "look right"- crush it and chuck it. There is no point in tempting fate.
 
I only bought Rem and Win for .223, and the brass was well made. Too expensive now, so I look for LC once-fired in bulk. Processing is a beating, but in the end you get some nice brass.
 
Just to add to what Walkalong and rcmodel said, the primer pockets on A-merc brass are usually expanded too much after the first firing to be reloaded. Also, even when they are tight enough a lot of the times the flash hole is off center or are different sizes.

Like said above, there is so much other good brass around why bother using A-merc brass? IMO it's just a waste of good components.
 
I generally like to us Lake city in 30-06 and 223/5.56 but I keep and will load most major headstamps. In handgun I use just about everything except A-merc. I did prep 60 pcs of PMC 223 this week, which had crimpped primer pockets BTW, and 2 had off-center lash holes. I ditched those 2 and kept the rest.
 
I'll use about anything that's brass and .45, except the AMERC. AFA the Win NT and others with the small primers, I'm setting those aside and saving them. When I get enough to make it worthwhile, I'll load them up and carry those in my Jeep for the times when I run across a place I can stop and shoot a little with my carry gun, and not have to worry about picking up my brass.
 
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