S&B brass

troy fairweather said:

i don't mind the small primer pockets on the s&b brass. the thing i have had from them on 7 and 8mm mauser was the cut for the rims were not to spec, they won't fit in a shell holder.

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now that you say that, Mine were the same. Not much use for them after that and in the small can they went.

Enfielder said:

now that you say that, Mine were the same. Not much use for them after that and in the small can they went.

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i modified a #2 rcbs shellholder to use the brass, but i wonder its to hard on mauser extractors.

You have to use the Sellier & Bellot primers to fit properly for their brass cases.

Not true either if they fit their cases any better, they would be too loose in all the others and that’s not the case (no pun intended)

Lilsnoop said:

You have to use the Sellier & Bellot primers to fit properly for their brass cases.

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Not true at all. They may be snug, but domestic primers fit, and as jmorris stated, S&B primers would be loose in other primer pockets, which they are not.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Had a friend load with Winchester primers, which was difficult due to snug fit in S&B brass. Although he was successful in seating it to the correct depth, the primer blew back towards bolt when at the range. Luckily no damage or injury, but using their S&B primers resolved the difficulty in seating the primers or having any primer issues. I personally only use their primers for 6.5 creedmoor brass. So just sharing my experience and not to discredit anyone else's experience.

Enfielder said:

I have a can full of 8mm Mauser that I can't get a primer into. too tight!!!

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Weird. Almost all my 8x57 brass is S&B. Bought a fecal ton of S&B loaded ammo a few years ago and still using the brass. Never had an issue with WLR primers...

LRDGCO said:

Weird. Almost all my 8x57 brass is S&B. Bought a fecal ton of S&B loaded ammo a few years ago and still using the brass. Never had an issue with WLR primers...

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It may have been the date of manufacture. This was bought when the ammo scare was happening. It shot and extracted fine but the rims won't fit into a shell holder. As stated above, you can modify a #2 to make it work but I can't be bothered since I have a ton of PRVI Partisan brass that fits in spec.

Howdy catpop,The S+B brass I have used in 9mm and .45 has had tight pockets.
No issues with my Lee hand primer with CCI SPs in the 9mm, and S+P SPs seem to be the tiniest bit smaller, so no issues there.
I think I was using WIN LP with the .45s I did.

Run some stout loads thru them and loosen them up a bit.

I was gifted some old ('70ish) CCI LRPs a whole ago. They were hard in seating, even in some well used 8x57 brass. It seemed the outter rim of the cups were a bit rough, causing drag on the primer pocket walls.
I read in Lee's Modern Reloading manual that their case lube would not effect the powder's burn. So with a cotton swab, I lubed each primer pocket with a light application. It made seating way easier and didn't have any ill effect on primer's detonation.

Never had any problems with S&B brass. They are one of my favorites in all calibers that I reload. Pockets can be a bit tight, but that is a good thing, as far as I am concerned. Holds up better for multiple reloadings. PPU is also good stuff. Good luck

I've not had issue with priming any S&B brass with an RCBS hand primer, LCT or 650XL.

If anyone wants to discard any they have, PM me and I'll send my snailer to you.

Lilsnoop said:

You have to use the Sellier & Bellot primers to fit properly for their brass cases.

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Please don't spread false information. I've used many thousands of S&B primers in all kinds of brass. I've also used all kinds of primers in S&B brass. The S&B primers are industry standard sizes. The S&B brass can have tight pockets.

+1. I am measuring S&B SP primer cup diameter same as CCI/Winchester. And S&B cases, especially newer/once-fired can have towards SAAMI minimum ID primer pockets.

S&B cases can come in brass or brass plated steel. I check them with a magnet.

For 9mm, while "older/loaded multiple times" S&B brass can work OK, I have found once-fired/fairly new S&B and RWS cases to have tighter primer pockets and seating slightly larger diameter metric primers like Fiocchi can be a real challenge even to seat flush (As I prefer to seat primers to .004" below flush). Often, primer cup will stick mid-way and I can't even "flatten seat" Fiocchi primers in some S&B/RWS cases.

So I have been setting aside S&B and RWS 9mm brass to have primer pockets swaged with C-H swager along with military crimped cases. Thankfully, I am nearing the last few boxes of Fiocchi SP primers and will be switching over to S&B SP primers I bought when Cabela's was selling them for $19.99.

As to primer cup size, I need to use a micrometer for measurement (I am debating between new Starrett or Mitutoyo to replace used Starrett micrometers I sold) but I am measuring Fiocchi SP primer slightly larger than .175" but S&B/CCI/Magtech/PMC/Winchester SP slightly less than .175" in diameter with my FA dial calipers verified with pin gages.

Most of the .45 ACP S&B brass I have also have tight primer pockets. I hit them with a reamer to u inform them before inserting a new primer.

S&B cases can come in brass or brass plated steel. I check them with a magnet.

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Only steel ones I have found were 9mm, have you found any other calibers?

They are tighter; I use the old Lee hand primer and they go in OK.

Have used S&B primers for quite a while, One of the major chains had a big sale on S@B primers and found them to be a little tight but no problem with the lee hand priming tools. Have used over 6000 SP and LP with no issues.
Last year I picked up a lot of 9mm, 38spl and 45 acp S&B brass and it has all loaded just fine, Yes, maybe a little tighter than domestic but nothing to complain about. In fact being a little tighter is better for a higher reload counts. I have some 38s that have had 16 reloads and still no loose primer pockets..

S&B is also one to sneak in brass-coated steel cases. Check 'em closely.

I'll have to check them next time before I send them from coast to coast!

I have a bunch of .45acp S+B brass. They load great with Winchester primers, and have lasted many reloadings.
Winchester might be the answer to your problems.

I forgot to mention that I load exclusively on an SDB.