Be careful when buying 45 acp brass online

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TheTodd

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I received my 1000 pieces of 45 acp brass that I ordered on line (not this site). I seperated the brass by makers. I ended up with about 700 WCC, WRA and TZZ brass. Instead of reloading, I will have to remove the crimp ring before I start. I also received about two handfulls each of Win,Rem, CCi, PMC, Blazer and Federal. When you buy brass on line make sure you know what you are buying and not someone's culls.
 
It wasn't culls.

It was mixed range brass.
If that's what you buy that's what you get.

Mixed range pick-ups.

You have to expect it.

If you insist on all one headstamp of usable brass?
You have to pay more and buy sorted brass.

rc
 
I almost didn't chime in here... Primer crimps are the only fairly sure guarantee that you are indeed getting once fired brass. While they are inconvenient to remove sometimes, at least you aren't getting some dude's old worn out brass with indecipherable headstamps and rims where they should be rimless. ;)
 
For me, the biggest issue with .45 ACP brass is the different sized primers. My brass supplier does a good job of separating large and small primers, but invariably I will find some smalls mixed in. Other than that, I don't worry too much about mixed brass. Any culls will appear in my inspection process.
 
Not culls at all. If I were to sort brass by headstamp when selling it, I would charge about $50.00 an hour, and I work slow. It's bad enough to have to take days sometimes just to sort out calibers by hand when I buy the brass from the club.

Time is money, and like mentioned above, crimps in place ensure once fired brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
TZZ (IMI) is great brass. A friend gave me a bag of like 500. I made the mistake of dumping it in with all my other brass. I then found the crimp!, so I sorted it out and reamed them all. Been using it over and over. Think it is stamped 87 and 86!
 
A good seller should indicate if there are large amounts of military crimped brass in there. That's a deal maker or a deal breaker for lots of folks. I already have a stash of crimped WCC 9x19. I would be pretty upset if i thought I was ordering commercial brass and wound up with a bunch of crimped military brass. Yeah, I know it's good stuff, so what? To me it's not worth the extra time it takes to process, at least not for 9x19 brass.

I'm pretty sure that both Diamond K and Top Brass will give you fair warning if you are ordering crimped brass. I've ordered from both and have never had military brass slip in.
 
I like all the reloaders selling brass and talking about "time is money". Ask them about the cost of reloading a cartridge and they will NEVER include their time:)
 
Most companies specifically say what the source of brass is and if it is mixed military or commercial. If they don't buy somewhere else.

The OP did not say (which is fine) but one must do their research:)


Now here at Jimmy Joe Bob and Bubbas Brass it is like a box of Chocolates!:D
 
Heck, I didn't check the primer size. Just the maker. Man, I might have a bigger gripe than I thought. You still have to watch some of these range pick-up guys. They are out for money not satisfied customers.
 
You just joined the forum. Had you asked, someone would have pointed you in the proper direction.

You do not need to remove the crimps from those .45acp primer pockets if you prime by hand using a Lee Autoprime which is a good idea for all priming anyway. They slip right in and work perfectly. (note: this only works with handgun brass, not rifle)
 
For me at least, just a glance at the case head identifies the head stamp and size of the primer. After decapping the size difference is more discernible, easy to identify. I use a lot of military surplus brass, once fired for my 45 ACP and 9mm, and unfired surplus in my Garand. Removing the primer crimp is no big deal and only needs to be done once. But then again, I don't have a quota and have all the time I need to prep my brass...:D
 
moxie said:
You just joined the forum. Had you asked, someone would have pointed you in the proper direction.

You do not need to remove the crimps from those .45acp primer pockets if you prime by hand using a Lee Autoprime which is a good idea for all priming anyway. They slip right in and work perfectly. (note: this only works with handgun brass, not rifle)
Click to expand...

Perhaps on some brands like WCC but no way on the TZZ. Depends on primer also. A Federal or Win are easier but try it with Wolff;)
 
As I stated recently in a Thread titled, "How do folks get their brass?", to me it is worth an extra cent or two to buy brass that has been decapped, cleaned, checked, pocket-swaged and resized ...

... o'course having it "resized" doesn't mean that you shouldn't run it thru your sizing die before loading it, so, just in case you buy some of this "processed" brass, don't let that part getcha riled. ;)
 
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Rule3 said:
Perhaps on some brands like WCC but no way on the TZZ. Depends on primer also. A Federal or Win are easier but try it with Wolff;)
Click to expand...
I've done it with scads of TZZ over the years using Fed., Win., Rem., and CCI primers. No problem.

Never have used any Wolf. I don't believe in supporting Mr. Putin, even a little bit.
 
Purchased 500 45 acp brass small primer---great price-shoots great & I am pretty sure it is once fired. I see nothing wrong with small primer brass.
 
For the OP I recommend this place. Yes you pay a bit more but you know exactly what you are getting and customer service is excellent. I bought some processed 5.56 brass (as I hate to removed crimps) and it was all LC brass.

http://tjconevera.com/onfi45auprbr.html

Moxie,

I prime on a LEE press and no way the primers would go in the TZZ brass, Winchester nor CCI. As I mention mine are old 86-87 so maybe the crimp was different, don't know.?? I can still tell when I hit a WCC but it does squeeze in there. I do not care where the product comes from. Some American has a job due to it. Better not shop for any thing else, as it's probably not made here. Sad but true.
 
Rule3
I didn't say Lee press. I said hand prime with a Lee Autoprime. Much different and better feel than a press.

And yeah, I've got a lot of those crappy old TZZs. I have tossed quite a few that didn't have "square" case mouths. But the rest I have always been able to prime.

Re place of origin. there's "not made here" and there's Russia. Much different. Sorry but I spent a good part of my life fighting the Cold War. Russia is different, still. Ask the Crimeans, the Ukrainians or the Georgians.
 
primer crimps are the only fairly sure guarantee that you are indeed getting once fired brass. While they are inconvenient to remove sometimes
Click to expand...

true, except I would change sometimes to all the time. :)

I expect them in .223 but they are a pain in pistol brass IMO.
Big pain if they mixed in with brass being used on a progressive and you haven't removed the crimp. ( missed some sorting :banghead: )
I spend enough time removing them in 223 and would just prefer not to mess with them in my pistol brass.

Nothing wrong with SP .45 brass IMO, I load it and shoot it just like the LP stuff.
 
The TZZ brass is made by IMI (Israel Military Industries). Most of it was made for the U.S. military under contract. It's good heavy brass and will last a long, long time. You'll probably lose it before it wears out.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
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