Loadable Brands

[Gunowner99]

I actually have two stupid questions, two of my typical stupid questions but I have heard in reloading there are no stupid questions because of safety so here goes.

The first question is I have my own personal once fired brass. Winchester white box, Perfecta, American Eagle, blazer and federal. All of them are brass case. all of them have boxer primers. I assume all of them are good to go to reload? For some reason I feel like I read in Lyman 49 that blazer brass is not reloadable but I have no idea why they would say that because it is brass cased. Are all of these good to go to clean and inspect and reload?

Actually I have three questions, my second question is I have all of the old boxes that these were in. Not antique boxes or anything like that. Is there any value to keeping them or should I just trash them? I do have the little plastic boxes for my reloads and all of that kind of jazz but not sure if there*s any value in me keeping these?

Last question, I have a Lee classic cast turret press. It*s been mounted for a while, just getting into reloading because I found some spare time as you all may know from all of my questions here. I want to head and sprayed some brake cleaner on the ram and wiped it down and then applied some light oil. For some reason, and it*s always been this way, I get a sound when I operate the press you can feel a small vibration and hear a noise because you know that the inside of the press is rubbing on the ram slightly. Like I said I have it all lubricated. It*s not a God awful noise, it*s just small hum I don*t even know how to describe it. Maybe like a whistle? I am assuming it*s because I*ve never used the press and nothing is really broken in but just making sure nothing is wrong here so I thought I would ask. I appreciate all of the help.

[57springer]

I load all my handgun calibers and have no problems with Blazer, or American eagle , these are the 2 brands you mentioned I have experience with . As far as your boxes go , if they are in good shape I would hang on to them . Old boxes are getting valuable ! Cant speak to your press question . As you say may not be broken in ?

[frankski]

All brass cases are reloadable. Some are better than others. The differences are more important in rifle cases, where variations in case volume between brands can significantly affect pressure, accuracy, etc. Check Accurate Shooter website for some great articles on reloading by caliber, including recommended brass.

Pistol brass is not so finicky. Some stuff is total crap. Watch out for cases with a step or serration where the bullet was seated. They will separate quickly when reloaded. I’ve forgotten the website, maybe The High Road, but there was an analysis of the number of times different brands of 9mm brass could be reloaded before splitting. Most were good for at least ten, some in the twenties. I’ve reloaded Blazer brass numerous times. It’s just fine.

I toss old boxes and use plastic boxes for batches of precision loads, and Talenti Gelato containers for bulk.

I’m not familiar with your press, though, or how it should sound.

[ROCK-IT3]

I have reloaded all the brands you mention except the Perfecta. There are a few brands I avoid, notably A-MERC. I have heard that many people have trouble with that brand, but I don't know the details. I also passed on Red Army brass, but don't really know anything about it. Starline id really good brass if you get into calibers not readily available, or too expensive to buy new ammo just to save the brass. I have Starline in 10mm, .44-40, 7.62x25, and 9x18.

Probably what you are referring to with the Blazer is aluminum cases, which aren't reloadable. The cheaper Blazer ammo is loaded in aluminum cases, which are a dull silver color, not shiny like nickel-plated brass. I have reloaded Blazer brass with no issues.

I'm not sure why you applied brake cleaner. I would be more liberal with oil, and work the ram many times to get the oil worked all the way around it. Is there a grease fitting on the press? I use grease on my Hornady progressive and RCBS single stage, and it takes a while for it to spread all around the ram. I even smear some on the shaft, it just has to be wiped away with a paper towel at the top and bottom where it accumulates. I know the sound and vibration you speak of, I hear and feel it sometimes. The machining tolerances are very tight, and sometimes oil and grease can create a vibration before it spreads out thinly and completely, because it is being forced into places to narrow for it to fit, if that makes sense. It should work itself out when the lube works itself in.

[Brick]

There's no problem with most brass cases. Like Rock-IT3, I avoid A-MERC because I've had issues with them with primer pocket hole size. Blazer aluminum cased ammo is not reloadable.

Boxes, save 'em if you have storage space, or use them to box up your reloaded ammo.

As to the press keep the ram and all the joints lubed. I like to use CRC Heavy Duty Silicone Spray on my RL550 (now a 30 year old machine). YMMV

[Yoder]

The only type of handgun brass with boxer primers that I know you can't reload is Maxxtech or similar design. The inside of the case is stepped so that the round will not set back. It makes the bottom of the case so thick that you can't resize it. I've had a few of them jam up my press. Other than that I've never had an issue. I've even loaded a couple aluminum cases to see what would happen and they worked ok (Not recommending this). For handguns I don't even look at the manufacturer. If it's brass, I use it. Nickel plated works good too but it does crack quicker than brass. Whatever I can find. .223 I've loaded about 1600 and haven't had an issue yet using random range brass. Hunting ammo is a different story.

I keep some of my boxes in case I need to ship ammo or take it on a plane. I also keep it for hunting ammo. Otherwise I use ammo cans.

[Walleye Hunter]

Can't you just toss the reloads into an ammo can like the factory stuff?

[ROCK-IT3]

Can't you just toss the reloads into an ammo can like the factory stuff?

Typically, when one is just starting, it is advisable to work up loads in small batches of +/-10, in powder charge increments of .1/.2 grains, until you find a load that is most accurate and/or reliable in you pistol. Having a small container helps for this. You can put several different loads in one container, leaving a row of spaces between them, as long as you identify them properly. Once you find a suitable load, if you intend to load in bulk, you can toss them into a larger container. I put 180 rounds of 9mm into Berry's bullets 250-count boxes.

[Domer Dad]

A while ago I settled into a "happy medium" for storing my reloads. While I don't change my loads very often I do tend to reload in batches of 1-200 at a sitting. Sometimes I take breaks between sittings so I was not comfortable just dumping all the reloads into an ammo can but it seemed overkill to keep them in smaller packages. So I bag and label in units of 50 or so and then dump those baggies into the ammo can.

My thinking here is that if something were to go wrong with my powder, primers, bullets, press, mind that I could narrow the potentially bad loads to certain baggies in the can versus having a few thousand rounds that I had to wonder about.

Now I'm happy to say (knock on wood) that this OCD behavior has not been rewarded. I've yet to have to go back and figure out why a certain baggie went wrong.

These are not precision reloads but mostly target shooting loads. If I do new work-ups I do store and shoot them separately until they deserve bulk loading sessions of their own.

[JoshIronshaft]

For pistol I reload all the brass. I dont even look at headstamps. If the primer doesnt fall out and bullet goes in then great.

I store ammo in ammo cans. No ammo boxes.

Work that press in! Couple thousand rounds should quiet it down.