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Old 09-14-2008, 09:30 PM
Bulletbob37 Bulletbob37 is offline
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Default Cartridge Brass Quality

I've noticed a marked decline in quality of the new Cartridge brass that I and my friends have bought lately. For example a bag of 100 Winchester .222 cartidge brass had 5 pieces so badly creased on the necks and shoulders that they were unusable/unsalvagable. The same with other calibers in both Winchester and Remington brass. Last week at the range I saw a new box of 300 RUM Cartridges that had 1/3 of them bent so badly they wouldn't chamber. I'm appaled at the lack of Quality control. I haven't ever had a piece of totally unsalvagable brass in over 40 years of reloading. Has anyone else run into this or are the Gods sending all the reject brass to me and my friends? By the way both Winchester and Remington will send you a coupon to buy more brass if you send them the defective cartridges.

My latest adventure with bad brass in Norma 5mm/35 SMc. The heads are so soft that anything approacing a full load has a imprint of the ejector plunger hole on the brass and the primers pockets will barely hold primers if reprimed. Lapua brass with the same or much higher loads show no pressure.
Does anyone know who the importer or distributor of Norma brass is? A hunt on the web sends me to Sweden,

Bob

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Old 09-14-2008, 09:40 PM
GLWenzl GLWenzl is offline
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I just got 500 lapua and noticed quit a few mouths dented about half way in... Also was short 2 pieces... Not too worried about it but now that you mention this it makes me wonder too??? I just figured the UPS guy was having a bad day LOL I better load some up to ensure it will handle a full load eh….
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Old 09-14-2008, 10:20 PM
kenkong kenkong is offline
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Default BulletBob

I assume you don't own a 17 Rem FB or thier brass would also be on your list. I purchased 200 months ago when midway got thier first stock in. I've worked with only the first 100 and after prepping and sizing I had 7 cases that the necks were sooo thick that they would'nt fit in my 17 cal. funnel. Never had that happen before. This is not Remington's finest hour.......
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Old 09-14-2008, 11:01 PM
Easy_E Easy_E is offline
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I made 212 .17 fireball brass this weekend starting with 250. I can see ( but don't agree ) how this waste would hurt profits.
Either someone doesn't care or they don't inspect the final product.
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Old 09-14-2008, 11:17 PM
TinMan TinMan is offline
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I have bought new 220 Swift, 243 and Hornet brass in the last couple of years. All had some issues, but the 243 had several rounds that had forming seams/folds in the neck wall, which in reality are cracks in the neck wall. Just have to toss them. The problem with high volume production items like brass is that the product is typically inspected on a statistical basis - maybe 10 out of every 1000 get inspected closely, so it would be easy to see how some defects would get through. There are generally accepted manufacturing rules for doing this, including Military Standards, but maybe they aren't being followed. Never thought to return the brass to the maker to get credit. I will have to start doing that.
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Old 09-15-2008, 12:29 AM
Bulletbob37 Bulletbob37 is offline
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Default Norma brass

I did some further digging on the internet and found that Black Hills Shooting Supply seems to be the Importer/distributor in the United States for Norma Precision. Explained my problem in an email, and we will see what transpires. The cost of formed Norma 5mm/35 SMc brass is $85.00 per hundred so I've bought $170.00 worth of brass that can be shot one time. Lapua brass in 6mm Norma BR is $56.00 per hundred and after forming can be fired at least 7 times without problems. The answer of course is to go with Lapua, but I hate to take a $170.00 lose on a high quality product that I had picked because it had always been so good in the past. I'll let everone know the results of my quiery.

Bob
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Old 09-15-2008, 05:14 AM
Eagle_view Eagle_view is offline
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I would strongly suggest that the lower quality of brass we are seeing is due to the the huge amount of ammo everyone is making for the military now. Sporting ammo just is not that important when your total capacity is consumed with military contracts. Then the lack of materials for the same reason makes it harder to get good ammo.

and that is my 2 cents worth todight. sorry you guys are having trouble but I am having truble gatting steel, aluminum and brass for the machine shop for the same reasons.

Lowell
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Old 09-15-2008, 11:37 AM
tuck2 tuck2 is offline
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I purchased 200 ea Remington 17 Fireball cases this past spring. All of them were bell out at the mouth. I had to be very carefull getting them started into the reloading die. I started reloading back in 1952 and have used various brands of brass. I have gotten baged brass with some dents in them and the mouths out of round . I full size new brass and trimm the cases before loading them. The dents will fire form out. But I have never gotten any cases as bad as the 17 Fireball cases.
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Old 09-15-2008, 08:47 PM
duckman duckman is offline
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Did I read that Bullet Bob was offering a case of Perrier when he bought back our soft Norma brass? That sounds like a deal! I have a bunch to scrap. That stuff is junk!
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Old 09-15-2008, 11:05 PM
MarinePMI MarinePMI is offline
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I think Lowell hit the nail on the head. Companies just don't have the proper amount of time for commercial brass, when they're up to their gills in military orders. Believe it or not, military ammo is held to a very high QC standard, so it can (and will) impact commercial production time. At the same time, they have customers who are clamoring for brass, and know that when the war tones down or (heaven forbid) ends, their mainstay will again be the commercial consumer.

I'm not saying it's right, but many manufacturer's are walking a tight line right now trying to meet everyone's demands. One screw up on the production floor will ripple through the entire production cycle right now, because there is no margin for error (time wise). I'd imagine some corners are being cut, trying to get back on schedule or plan for inevitable delays...
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