.45ACP brass is immortal.

[Japle]

At least it seems that way.

I started loading for the .45 in 1971 and have loaded something over 40,000 rounds in that caliber. I never paid all that much attention to mixing headstamps in the first 8-10 years and loaded the same bunch of surplus military brass over and over. I often use mixed case loads for shooting plates and for IDPA practice.

Yesterday, I was loading a batch of mixed brass and noticed that I still have quite a few cases marked "RA68", "WCC65", "FC61" and so on. They still have tight primer pockets and no splits. The things just won't die.

 

[Fishslayer]

I come across .45ACP .mil & 9mm NATO brass that's pretty old. I'm guessing they're mostly once fired milsurp since the 9mm still has crimped primers and if the shooter was reloading the brass wouldn't be there.

But I consider my .45ACP .mil and WCC Match brass "the good stuff." It's known to be top quality.

Watch the NATO 9mm though. A warm load in commercial brass got me flattened primers in the NATO stuff.

I haven't been at this anywhere near 40 years tho!

 

[jcwit]

You're right, 45 cal. brass lasts just about forever. I've got some cases where the headstamp is flattened to where its hard to read the stamping, well almost.

 

[Deavis]

Have you trimmed a single piece of it?

 

[ambidextrous1]

I have a couple of .45 ACP cases "in the mix" with a 1942 headstamp. Only the last two digits are on the headstamp, but I'm sure it isn't 1842...

 

[evan price]

I've got some 45 acp dated before WWII that still shoots fine.
Low pressures are easy on it, I've scrapped cases because the rim gets too chewed up (from extractor) to trust and it's cheap.

 

[Nick93]

Totally true ... a buddy here loves the .45 acp and some of his cases were loaded +50 times some were 230 grainers at 550fps and other were REALLY warm... the headstamps were almost perfect but the primer pockets were fairly loose... some of the primers flew when the cartidges were shot but he still reload them LOL... i think the cases were FLB or FM brass (fairly good stuff for the .45) ...

I can only get 25 loadings from my 9mm brass what a shame ...

 

[brl0301]

I just bought around 1k pieces of 45 brass the other day and most of it is wcc and wcc match brass fom the 60s. Im glad to see that its good stuff and will last me a while

 

[FROGO207]

Well you have to be able to hang onto the darn stuff to get a zillion reloads out of it I I am afraid. I mostly loose the brass LONG before it's worn out. But some has been reloaded 200+ times with no serious defects other than a bashed in head-stamp or two. Now I have to sort the new range brass for large/small primers also, almost enough to drive this ole' reloader to go back to revolvers.

 

[Jim Watson]

Back when I was young enough to lean over that much and cheap enough to want to, I kept .45 ACP brass going until the rim peened out so much that it wouldn't go in the shellholder. Now I don't search as hard and lose it before it wears out.

 

[Fishslayer]

Back when I was young enough to lean over that much and cheap enough to want to, I kept .45 ACP brass going until the rim peened out so much that it wouldn't go in the shellholder. Now I don't search as hard and lose it before it wears out.

Not just for dog poop!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...scoopers&hl=en&safe=off&gbv=2&tbm=isch&itbs=1

 

[SAGERAT]

I'd agree except how the He** do you FIND them after shooting?

 

[kingmt]

There is less gravel then .45 ACP brass at the range I go to. Maybe not that much but I normally get at least 50 cases but several times I've picked up 200 or more.

I rarely shoot it so I doubt I ware any out.

 

[dickttx]

About 1972 a guy on the army reserve pistol team gave me a half dozen boxes of WCC 71 cartridges. Still have a box and a half. The brass just keeps on going, and going, and going.

 

[TexasRifleman]

This is good stuff. I just started reloading .45 after years of loading 10mm. I've been a little cautious picking up range brass that I didn't know for sure was mine because I didn't know how well it held up.

Sounds like I don't need to worry about it for range type loads. That's good, the stuff is piled high at my range, especially after the local LEO's do their monthly practice.

 

[J2FLAN]

I don`t loose my 45 brass where I shoot, so starting with what I knew was once fired, I was currious just how many times I could load it. One batch of 200 mixed head stamps, ( I didn`t want to know bad enough to seperate them) but kept seperate from other brass I picked up.

So far, 44 trips through the press with 6 split cases(different head stamps) most of them the last 3 trips. The load is 200gr lswc over 4grs BE. I am still at it, so I don`t know how many trips they are good for, but think I am getting close.

 

[Starter52]

The only thing that lasts longer is .45 Auto Rim brass. Auto Rim brass never bounces off the gravel. I've lost count of the number of times I've handloaded my original 200 rounds of .45 AR brass. I know I've never thrown one away.

 

[Japle]

Have you trimmed a single piece of it?

Nope. I've never trimmed .45 ACP brass.

 

[ferggie]

indoor range, 45 APC $30 / 1000

I have 15,000 rounds from a indoor range. majority of it is Winchester & PMC brass. paid $30/ 1000 and figure it should last me a while.

 

[Fishslayer]

I have 15,000 rounds from a indoor range. majority of it is Winchester & PMC brass. paid $30/ 1000 and figure it should last me a while.

PMC is my favorite commercial stuff. It has thicker walls & really grips a .451 JHP.