Did A-MERC change their name?

[Dr. Dickie]

I am working up a couple hundred .45 ACP over the weekend. Everything is going along fine, then I hit a tough to seat primer (crunch). Primer is crunched up, so I toss it out (that happens every now and then--sometimes it is tumble media that dropped into the seating mechanism--Dillion 550). I plod along, then about 50-60 rounds later, it happens again. I am a bit surprised, but toss it out an keep going (I did notice that the head stamp was FC). About 50 rounds later, another one. Yep, FC headstamp. Now I am curious, I start to check, but about 70-80 rounds later, I forget and another crunched primer, another FC:banghead: .
Now I am diligent, and pulled out about 7 or 8 more with that stamp.
All brass is range scrounged, so heads up guys, I found another brass that is as bad as A-MERC .

 

[EddieCoyle]

FC is Federal - usually under the American Eagle brand name.

 

[The Bushmaster]

FC = Federal Cartridge Company of Anoka, MN...I believe that to be a military head stamp...May have a crimp or just a tight pocket. Atleast that is what I have noticed when loading FC cases. Just a tight pocket...

 

[Master Blaster]

I have a had a problem with some federal brass in .45 acp over the last two years. Its not all federal brass, just some. The offending brass seems to have a rainbow hue, a very slight one with a slight reddish brown tinge on the case head rather than the uniform brass color other brass has. The problem is that when I drop a finnished round into the case guage, its out of spec slightly. Other brass remmington, winchester speer, star etc loaded at the same time does not exhibit the problem.

I can't figure out what the deal is after doing measuring, testing, The are fine out of the sizer die but when I seat the bullet the case seems to get a very very faint bulge that prevents it dropping all the way into the case guage. When I bell this brass it seems to stick to the belling die. So I just take those few federal brass cases and throw them out.

 

[Dr. Dickie]

I thought that FC was Federal, but I have, and was, re-loading Federal cases (marked as Federal) with no problem, only the ones marked FC. I have re-loaded just about every brand of military .45 brass and never had any crimped primer pockets.
I guess I could try reaming these out.

 

[benedict1]

Same problem with Federal cases, but they were marked as Federal, not FC. Caused me some real grief with my Load Master because the primer didn't seat all the way and as the shell plate tried to advance everything jammed--fortunately I wasn't pushing the handle very hard and the primer didn't go off.

Once I figured out what happened I tried to prime the case, and a few others in the batch I was reloading, on my Lee Classic Turret press. I couldn't get the primers in with it either.

If anybody has any better evidence on what to look for I would sure like to know--otherwise I'm going to either have to pitch a whole bunch of Federal cases or try to load them on the Classic Turret.

These cases a primer detonation-waiting-to-happen IMHO.

 

[ReloaderFred]

FC is Federal brass. In .45 acp, you'll find it's some of the thickest, right behind Winchester. It's good, solid brass. Federal brass is my second choice for forming into .400 Cor-Bon, because it's thick enough to withstand the reforming and loads.

Some presses are harder to prime on than others. Progressive presses don't always align properly for the primer to fit in a snug primer pocket like a single stage press does. For all .45 brass, I choose to prime it on my old Hollywood press, which primes everything that can be primed, including S&B, etc.

FC has nothing to do with the miserable "product" A-Merc puts out. Federal's rifle brass is soft, but their pistol brass is first class. Don't judge it by your experience with one loading press, please. I've been loading it since 1963, and have never had a problem with it.

I've got some FA 42 military brass, some RA and some WCC military .45 brass with heavy crimps on the primers and they have to be swaged before repriming, so there is military brass that is crimped to the point that it has to be processed before reloading. The newer NT brass generally has heavy crimps on the primers, also, so you need to be aware of that.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[pinhead56]

These don't also have a NT headstamp do they? An older thread here discussed some "Non-Toxic" FC brass with small primers rather than the usual large primers for 45acp.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Did this FC brass also have a date on it? If so, it's military and probably has crimped primers. I've loaded several thousand rounds of 9mm FC 96 brass from the Coast Guard, before they changed over to .40 S&W. It all had the regular military crimped primer, but is very good brass.

Since Federal has regularly bid on military contracts, there is quite a bit of their brass out there. The parent company of Federal, Alliant Technologies (ATK), is running the Lake City Ordinance Plant under contract, but the LC brass is different than the Federal brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Master Blaster]

Reloader Fred its not a problem with the primer pockets, and no there is no date on the case head, its not military brass. My thought was that it was LEO bulk ammo since some LEOs shoot federal at the range where I get my brass. I first thought that it was a probelm with the length of the case and perhaps it needed trimming but measurement and comparison eliminated that issue from consideration. It could be that the brass is thicker but my Micrometer says thats not it either. I suspect that its a different alloy with more tin or even some zinc in it, thus the different color on the case head.

Did federal contract some brass manufacturing out for cheap LEO practice ammo or change the brass alloy to save money on some ammo?????