Pistol cases you just won't be bothered with...?

I will pick up ANY pistol brass except aluminum cases or anything smaller than 9mm (seems to be some 380 shooters out here). I am about to the point where I won't be grabbing 9mm, since I don't own a 9mm gun and have plenty of the brass. Lately, I don't find much of anything lying around. I guess people are saving the ammo.

It's interesting how many opinions there are on brass. My favorite brass is GFL. Sizes easy, fires well, and I stopped counting how many times I've loaded it. The headstamp stands up and out well, unlike several other "popular" brands that get the mark stamped out of them in my pistols. I'm just starting to get some loose primer pockets, but I'll load them if they hold the primer.
S&B is the hardest to size in my press...when sizing mixed brass I can always tell the S&B cases. Of course the stepped brass is THE hardest to size. I size everything, but I've yet to load any stepped brass. It may get scrapped, but I'm curious enough to give a few cases a try....some day.

HowieG said:

I will pick up ANY pistol brass except aluminum cases or anything smaller than 9mm (seems to be some 380 shooters out here). I am about to the point where I won't be grabbing 9mm, since I don't own a 9mm gun and have plenty of the brass. Lately, I don't find much of anything lying around. I guess people are saving the ammo.

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No 9mm ??

GeoDudeFlorida said:

a couple of RWS were sealed with what looked like red LocTite.

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That is likely a lacquer base sealant, similar to fingernail polish. Used to find it on wolf ammo on the primers and bullets. You can actually buy it in a 4 color pack still. Good for sealing ammo and for labeling different loads for quick identification.

I dont throw away any brass. I dont reload a ton, but have the means to do so. I dont go to any ranges so the brass I get is in trade or bought. If a case gets damaged beyond fixing, it gets tossed. If a flash hole is too small, it gets a drill bit. But im also a pack rat so...

I guess I must be lucky, because all I'm finding is Federal, Speer, and PMC in the pistol calibers (well, there is the rare Winchester). In the rifle I'm only finding FC and LC from 17 up till 21, with an occasional NATO marked case.
At one point I found some of the black Buck cases - they seemed ok so I processed them like the rest.

I have to admit, I am a serious brass scrounger, I hate tossing any brass away that can be reused.
I even save & separate berden primed brass for guys that tinker with it.

Anything with a stepped case or off center flash hole in 9mm goes in the trash. Maxxtech and IMI are the biggest offenders IIRC.
Anything with a small primer in 45, I trade those off to a friend that uses them with with CCI 400s for his 45

markr6754 said:

It's interesting how many opinions there are on brass. My favorite brass is GFL. .

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It is really amazing to me how many guys here rave over a headstamp and the other half here will toss them. There is no consensus but top five seem to work.

I have liked GFL but recently took a hard look at them and saw that some had visibly off-center flash holes.

gifbohane said:

It is really amazing to me how many guys here rave over a headstamp and the other half here will toss them. There is no consensus but top five seem to work.

I have liked GFL but recently took a hard look at them and saw that some had visibly off-center flash holes.

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That's not even considering those would would not even bother and just shoot what they buy. If your a brass chicken like me, it doesn't cost more to be picky.

LiveLife said:

Average Case Wall Thickness .200" Below Case Mouth (Around Bullet Seating Depth for 115 gr RN at 1.130" OAL):

.0144" - CBC
.0138" - PPU
.0137" - GECO
.0135" - HRTRS
.0135" - Tulammo
.0133" - S+B
.0132" - WIN
.0131" - GFL
.0130" - AGUILA
.0130" - PERFECTA
.01225" Starline
.0122" - PMC
.0121" - R-P
.0115" - .FC.
.0111" - SPEER
.0110" - BLAZER

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This is a great chart!
Kind of explains my findings. I've been good loading up through S&B (I guess .0133 thickness) for my CZ. The ones you have at .0135 and higher would generally be too thick to chamber so I started scrapping those. I've also found SIG, IMI, ABT and a few other miscellaneous headstamps to be on the thicker side.

You guys are finding brass on the range? Dang! I gotta pic mine up better.. I lost a couple pieces last week.

Zendude said:

No 9mm ??

View attachment 1041287

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I am an old guy, and like Miculek, I prefer wheel guns. I don't see any reason to screw with 9mm when a 357 magnum will do.

If I couldn't use range pick ups or "once fired" 9mm brass I'd have very few cases to reload (I have never purchased new 9mm brass and only lately have I purchased any factory 9mm. I got a new 9mm revolver and I bought one box each of 115, 125 and 147 gr loads jes to see how they work in a 2" revolver so I can reload a preferred weight bullet). For me, my first step in reloading is a glance at the case head, a light inspection. Then I clean the brass and look a little closer. By this time I have sorted out any Amerc, Alum., Steel, stepped ID, berdan or any Shell Shock cases. Not much to do reloading wise as it's been raining for a few weeks and I've got a bunch of 9mm handloads so last week got my gallon jug of 9mm cases, unsized, and sized/deprimed several hundred ("busy time" in my shop.). I use my Lee sizing die and I experienced no "depriming problems" and only two "wrong" cases, both 380 ACP. I found a few NATO cases but no difficulty sizing/depriming. I have a habit of glancing at the case every time I pick it up so I find "different" mfgs without a conscious sort. Yesterday I fired about 200+ mixed brass handloads, most purchased once fired and zero problems...

I guess I'm considered a "Brass Whore" as I'll pick up most brass I see, and ony toss damaged brass (except for Amerc which I've found to be inferior). If I don't reload it or have too many already (like ,223/5.56 'cause I no longer have a rifle in that caliber.) I'll give it away. Decrimping military primer crimps is nuttin' but bench time and only needs to be done once. I have waaaay more time for reloading than shooting so busy work in the shop is just fun time. I like reloading...

Same here. 9mm is so plentiful and lasts so very long, I don't bother with crimps, and I keep only a few headstamps.

Charlie98 said:

believe...) I don't fool with crimped in primers in anything 9mm, even though I have the equipment to take care of it.

It would probably be easier to tell you what I keep vs what I scrap

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WIN, FED, Speer/Blazer is all I keep. All the rest goes to the scrap yard. R-P is the absolute worst for me because the rim is smaller than all others and sometimes pulls out of the shellholder.

Hugger-4641 said:

Blazer, Federal, CCI, Win

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Highland Lofts said:

I even save & separate berden primed brass for guys that tinker with it.

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I actually used to keep my Berdan 7.62mm cases... until the Tula and Wolf Berdan primers dried up, so I wound up scrapping them in the end. What a shame... some of it was very nice brass.

Zendude said:

I don’t look at head stamps, but when I get a primer that won’t pop out with normal effort I just trash it.

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This, out or in..

I would say out.

Highland Lofts said:

I would say out.

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Ha, I meant overt resistance in pushing the old one out or pushing the new one in. Sometimes they come out easily, but the new one doesn't want to go in if they're crimped. Rather than mangle the new primer, I pitch the brass and move on. Range pistol brass is so plentiful, I don't bother with swaging primer pockets.

If the primers are hard to push out I toss them in the recycling bucket.
I swagger crimped brass, if they are tight to go in or to lose going in I toss them as well.
I love reloading but I'm not anal about it.

If it’s made of brass I’m reloading it.

I am a land share owner in a shooting association with membership in the hundreds of members. With that said, I do not pick up cartridge cases other than what I have fired. It is surprising the amount of fired cartridge cases not picked up by others What is irksome is that there are barrels located on the ranges provided for the pickup of discarded fired cases.

Hangingrock said:

I am a land share owner in a shooting association with membership in the hundreds of members. With that said, I do not pick up cartridge cases other than what I have fired. It is surprising the amount of fired cartridge cases not picked up by others What is irksome is that there are barrels located on the ranges provided for the pickup of discarded fired cases.

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I'm always thankful for the brass that others let lay... except for that damnable .380 Auto and 9mm Makarov stuff. I always miss some of those when sorting brass at home. Seriously, I pick up everything and almost always leave with more brass than I brought. My kids will attest that I've been known to do a happy dance when I hit a brass gold mine laying on the ground.

Gone Hiking said:

except for that damnable .380 Auto and 9mm Makarov stuff. I always miss some of those when sorting brass at home.

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Line up your brass on bench and shorter 380Auto and 9x18 brass will be easy to identify from longer 9mm brass.