Reloading Sellier & Bellot Cases

[george58]

I have a question for reloaders. Can Sellier & Bellot cases be reloaded? They look like brass, but somewhere I read they are brass coated steel cases. It is my understanding that steel and aluminum cannot be reloaded. If it matters, these are 9 mm cases.

[max384]

S & B used to use full brass cases, but I believe the new ones are brass coated steel (maybe vice versa). If you want to be sure, get a magnet. If the cases 'stick' to the magnet, than it is steel. If they don't, it's brass. I have reloaded S & B, and the one thing I noticed is that the primer pocket was really tight. I ruined quite a few primers going too fast.

[Brick]

For what it's worth, you can reload steel cases. And no they are not hard on the dies because they are not hard steel. Don't forget part of the job of the case is to expand and form a gas seal in the chamber (that's why cases have to be resized). The only downer is to make sure they are boxer primed. Just look inside the case, if you see one hole in the middle they're OK, two holes offset from the middle you can't decap them with standard reloading tools.

[Leeload45]

I have reloaded thousands of S&B cases in both .45 and 9 mm. I have had no problems with them, and they seem to last as long as any other cases. All the ones I have reloaded habe been brass.