[moooose102]

ok, so i bought 1k of 45 acp brass. i sized all of it last night, and sorted and checked length (had to trim 8 cases) of them today. i have a lot of small lots of cases. no big deal, but there are many i do not know what they are. some, from veiwing psots on this board, i know are military of some type. some are marked "ppu", i am thinking those might be prvi partizan. there is also a batch marked "fc 07", federal cartridge 2007? and several really small batches of weird initials with "match" on the other side. a small lot of "TZZ". and one really strange duck, a "S&W 45ACP" (i tripple checked, it is not S&B ammo). i had no idea s&w made their own ammo. anyway, if you know what any of this stuff is. i would appreciate just knowing. it is no big deal, i will load all of it, i am just curious. also, this is the third batch of range brass (380, 40 s&w, 45acp) i have purchased, and it seems that winchester brass is way more popular than any other brand. like 3 to 1 any other brand. is that really true, or do people just leave winchester brass more?
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.

[rfwobbly]

Can't help you with the case markings, but can tell you that the Winchester cases are most likely people simply buying cheap ammo at WalMart. WalMart sells the Winchester 100 count "white box" at a huge discount. It's pretty much the target shooting standard in these parts.

[ljnowell]

I like the winchester brass personally. I have lts of different headstamps. I have some that are stamped midway. many that are dated as early as the 1960s in regular rotation.

[Bozo]

wow you sized 1k of brass last night? You have way more dedication than me.

[CU74]

Go here - http://cartridgecollectors.org/headstampcodes.htm - for an exhaustive headstamp listing. PPU is Prvi Partizan, TZZ is Israeli, S&W is S&W Ammunition Company.

"fc" isn't so easy - three listings: Mexican, Prvi, and Federal.......

[moooose102]

wow you sized 1k of brass last night? You have way more dedication than me.

not really. i can not get out and do much shooting because of the stinking freezing weather. and i am so stinking bored and depressed i can hardly stand it. so playing with these helps kill the time.

[moooose102]

CU74, thanx, that is very infomative!

[amlevin]

For me I only find two kinds of brass at the range. One is boxer primed brass, and the rest is garbage (Steel cases, aluminum cases, berdan primed, etc.)

If it is brass, boxer primed, and in a caliber I shoot, I reload it.

[ljnowell]

If it is brass, boxer primed, and in a caliber I shoot, I reload it.
you, sir, are a man after my own thoughts.

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

S&W had there own label for a litttle while back in the '80's, I don't know who really made it. Every once in a while a box will show up.

[Kentucky Jelly]

wow you sized 1k of brass last night? You have way more dedication than me.


Ha I loaded 1,000 .45 ACP last night.

I find there are a lot of brass trends at my range. One week I will get a ton of one head stamp, and the next it will change to something else. There is usually all ways winchester, and remington. Right now I am getting a lot of Speer, and Blazer. A while ago it was nothing but CCI. I keep it all even for calibers I do not currently reload for.

[tasco 74]

there are lots of different headstamps out there.. like ww too and try get them when possible... i even have some .357 magnum cases with my first name in the headstamp.... midway sold brass with 4 common names for a little while.... they had mine so i bought a few hundred.............most of my .357 magmun case are federals and most of my .38 spl cases are ww...


LIFE IS SHORT.....

[evan price]

Lots of people go to Wal*Mart and buy the WInchester target white box ammo, it is a good deal. That and CCI/Blazer Brass are the two most common cases I find in .45 acp. Both are good. Your TZZ is Israeli military. Also good brass. Anything MATCH is a match-grade case, however unless you are laoding match ammo and have a bunch of them to match it won't be any better or worse than other cases.

[jmar254]

http://www.afte.org/ExamResources/gallery2/v/Headstamp-Gallery/

I prefer this site as it shows pictures of the headstamps.

[CU74]

http://www.afte.org/ExamResources/ga...stamp-Gallery/

I prefer this site as it shows pictures of the headstamps.

jmar254 - Thanks for posting that site address. It's certainly more informative than the Cartridge Collector's table I found.

[moooose102]

jmar, THAT IS a good website! THANX!

FWIW, i tried talc necksizing a dozen 300 win mag shells this morning. it is not a good lubricant. it was fine on the sizing part (of course, i think that is carbide anyway) but when the expander went through the mouth, it pulled very hard. so dont try going that route. at least not on bottle neck cases. i dont thionk there was much of a difference on the sizing resistance from dry either.

[ArchAngelCD]

Everything you mentioned is good brass from what I know. The only pistol brass I wouldn't use is A-merc. That Federal brass marked 07 is good stuff and will last a good long time. So is the Israeli brass like already mentioned.

[moooose102]

i have reloaded some of the a-merc that i have already shot. it seems fine, so far. i will continue to reload it until it splits (or looks like it is ready to). i dont know how many times it will go, but i will only use it for my practice ammo anyway. if i am loading p.d., or hunting ammo, i prefer to use good components. but for plinking, i am not to worried about it.

[Walkalong]

Everything you mentioned is good brass from what I know. The only pistol brass I wouldn't use is A-mercI agree, but I sent 90 something Amerc cases to someone here who was glad to get it.

I shoot a horrible mix of range brass in .45 ACP. I don't bother to separate it out. Shoots better than I can, and that's not too shabby. ;)

[moooose102]

i thought about doing just that. but one of the reasons i did do it was to find and keep seperate any premium brass for s.d. loads. which i did find a small lot of. also, this is the point where i check for case length, and i did find some that had to be trimmed. as for the ammo shooting better than you, i am in the same league, although you probably shoot better than i do. i should take a shooting course, but right now it is one of those things that i will do "someday".

[Kentucky Jelly]

I have never seen a Amerc case. Only cases I get that get pitched are steel.

[evan price]

Walkalong, I used them for left brass at ranges I could not pickup the brass. I got 2-3 reloads out of the ones I did save before the primers got sloppy and they got scrapped. Thanks again.

[NuJudge]

some are marked "ppu"
Prvi Partizan, 31000 Titovo, Uzice, Yugoslavia

there is also a batch marked "fc 07", federal cartridge 2007?
Yes

a small lot of "TZZ"
Israeli, some is also marked "Match", and look for crimped primers

and one really strange duck, a "S&W 45ACP"
If I remember correctly, a late 1970s joint venture with Fiocchi for awhile, then by themselves, in Alton, Illinois