Is Federal brass good for reloading lead bullets?

[Glocker45ACP]

I was just wondering if anyone has loaded federal brass with 45 Acp 230gr lead bullets. I heard from some people that Federal and Remington cases are to soft and that i should stick with Starline and Winchester brass. Let me know with what type of brass you have loaded with.

 

[rfwobbly]

Federal and Remington are fine to reload. You may not get the number of reloads you get out of Winchester or others, but it's good brass. Some Remington runs a thinner wall which may require tweaking your TC die setting. Check some of the Remington reloads with your naked barrel to make sure they'll chamber and come back out using only their own weight. You'll probably be fine.

 

[Biggs19]

So glad you asked the question. I've been loading lead in WIN brass for some time now, but have a stock pile of Federal in the garage just waiting to be used. Thanks rfwobbly for the response.

 

[zxcvbob]

Remington (R-P) are good for reloading oversized cast bullets. That's what I prefer for wadcutters (.38 Special)

Starline is really good stuff. It is my favorite brand for everything except .38 wadcutters.

I haven't had any trouble with Federal brass, but I haven't used that much of it, and I don't reload .45 ACP yet. I do use Federal brass (FC) for my home defense .38 +P loads.

I've bought a bunch of Winchester and Starline new brass, and I use whatever range-pickup brass I can find. I sort it by headstamp, and it all seems to work except for "A-Merc" which I throw away. In some caliber you have to swage the primer pockets of Sellier Bellot (S&B) brass because they are too tight, but you only have to do that once.

 

[Glocker45ACP]

thanks rfwobbly for the response. I am planning on gettting fed brass in bulk and also save some of the casings that i shoot from fed factory ammo. Nowadays you can barely find win brass in stock. I checked online and the are always out of stock.

 

[Canuck-IL]

I've had just as good results and longevity with Fed as Win in 45ACP. Remington will split sooner as it is reliably thinner but you're still talking a LOT of reloads.
/Bryan

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have found no problems with using Federal brass and lead bullets. I have used Federal brass and lead bullets in the 45 Auto, .38 Special, .357 Magnum and the 9mm without issues...

 

[Blue68f100]

I ran into some Fed NT brass that was almost impossible to seat the primer. I ended up pull them a side so I could run a reamer in the primer pocket. These were as bad as S&B or even worst.

You can shoot lead in any brass that you would use for std jacketed bullet.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Federal .45 acp brass is some of the thicker brass in that caliber. Winchester is the thickest, Federal next, with PMC just below, and Remington the thinnest. Any of them will work with cast bullets, or jacketed for that matter.

I use Winchester and Federal .45 acp brass for forming into .400 CorBon cases, since they're thicker in the walls and hold up better in .400 CorBon.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[oldreloader]

I've never had an issue with Federal brass for anything. I don't hesitate to use it.

 

[FROGO207]

I have had issues with FC bottleneck brass having thin necks but not with any pistol brass. I load them as I do all the others. The problem now IMHO is the primer pocket size.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I've never seen much difference in any handgun brass. I just mix it up and load. As far as .45 brass goes, you just about can't wear it out. I have some that has headstamps from the 60's.