Any Body Else Hate S&B Brass?

[gandog56]

I have a No.1 Mk.4 Lee Enfield in .303 Brit. On five occasions a reload caused a case separation with half the case lodged in the chamber. Upon inspection every single case was an S&B. No other brand of case has ever failed in that rifle. Makes me think S&B brass is garbage. Am I wrong?

 

[Valkman]

No. I've always avoided it.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I've never been able to utilize S&B rifle brass due to it having a shallow primer pocket that won't allow a LR primer to seat flush or below

 

[jmorris]

Some of the 9mm cases are actually brass plated steel, trash.

All of the primer pockets seem tight. Before I loaded with 1050's I would cull them and load them separately.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I load a lot of handgun caliber S&B brass and found that I like it. The primer pockets are a little snug, but I consider that a plus, and my RCBS APS priming system works like a charm on them.

I've never reloaded any of the S&B rifle brass, so I can't speak to that, but case head separations are normally caused by case stretching when the shoulder is set back more than about .002" during sizing.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I never had enough S&B rifle brass to try and see if it's any good. I have used S&B handgun brass without noticing anything different from any other brass. (maybe slightly tighter primer pockets)

 

[joustin]

Love it in all calibers, 303's have odd headspace issues and S&B is somewhat hard. That may lead to the issue you are seeing.

 

[ess45]

I hand prime the S&B 45ACP before running them in a progressive.

 

[rcmodel]

I actually like S&B handgun brass, and have bought loaded S&B .380 ammo just to get it.

No experience with their rifle brass.

rc

 

[Mad Chemist]

And if you are going to buy .380 ammo, you can do a lot worse than S&B.

I get a lot of mileage out of their pistol brass although the primer pockets are a little tighter. I can't comment on their rifle brass, never used it.

 

[J_McLeod]

I have enough 9mm brass that when I find S&B it goes straight to the recycle bag.

 

[JohnM]

Got quite a bit of handgun S&B.
Never noticed a problem with it.

 

[Lj1941]

I never had a problem with their handgun brass except as has been said tight primer pockets. I never tried their rifle brass.It sounds to me like an oversize or headspace problem in the 303. They are famous for their headspace problems.

 

[buck460XVR]

I too have no experience with their rifle brass, but have no problem whatsoever with their handgun caliber brass. Since they also make the "Herters" brand brass that is sold @ Cabela's, I find a lot of it left at the local range.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Never used S&B rifle brass.

I've used a LOT of it in .40 and .38 Spcl though. Love it for that.

 

[kerreckt]

I love it. I mostly have reloaded handgun calibers. I have reloaded S&B in .243 and 30.06 with no problems. I find the tight primer pockets to be a positive feature. I have heard complaints about it in .303 previous to this one.

 

[FROGO207]

I have a fair amount in 303, 7.62X54, and 45-70. The 303 will separate after one reload in a rifle with excessive head space on me. Try just bumping the shoulder back and reloading them. Bet it improves your results. Full length resizing is not the answer with most 303 rifles I have observed. YMMV

 

[R.W.Dale]

There's a trick to make 303 brass last as long as anything else

It involves placing a small o-ring around the case head before the first case firing. What this does is ensure the case does not get pushed forward by the firing pin immediately prior to ignition.

What this does for you is instead of the case stretching from the body rearward at the web it blows the shoulder forward to fill the chamber.

This greatly minimizes thinning at the critical web. Then you just neck size only with a collet die from then on out

 

[RainDodger]

I've reloaded thousands of S&B cases, both pistol and rifle, although only 5.56 for the rifle. None of it has been noticeably worse than any other brass in my opinion. Seems to work fine.

I do use a single stage press for rifle though, and prime my cases in a separate process, with a bench mounted RCBS (Model 1 I think!) priming tool. It's ancient, but it works well. The S&B pistol cases seem to run through my Square Deal progressive just fine also.

 

[Potatohead]

Put me in the love it camp.

 

[RealGun]

Totally prejudiced against S&B found in range rat handgun brass. I have a scrap brass canister.

 

[Nanook]

I've had good luck with their handgun brass, in fact I like it a lot. I don't remember loading any of their rifle brass, so I can't comment on it.

 

[Hondo 60]

All of the primer pockets seem tight.

Yup.
Never tried S&B rifle brass - only have an AR-15.

But I have lotsa handguns.
Their pistol brass lasts longer cuz of the tight pockets.

 

[jeeptim]

In the 303 DO NOT waste your time with s&b just toss it don't know why but I have loaded it light and apart it came first reload..

 

[Dudedog]

I like it the pistol brass just fine, never reloaded any of thier rifle brass. So the pockets are a little tight, not a bad thing in my mind. All the 9mm Mak brass I have is S+B, and a bunch of the normal 9mm is also.