Shall I keep this brass?

[RJW NZ]

I've got a big pile of empty brass ready for reloading I want to reduce, so I'm wondering which is the best to keep?

The different makers marks I can see are;
1942/44 D1 V11 Z
WW Super 303 British
FL 303 British
RP 303 British
Super Speed 303 British

As general rule is it better to keep military brass over civilian? (reloadible of course)
Thanks gents

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[jmoore]

Sort it and use it until its no longer servicable. Even Winchester brass is OK for a few loadings. The older stuff may benefit from case neck annealing.

Aside from Canadian and Greek mfg. there's not much boxer primed military brass floating about. (WWII Winchester, I guess, plus a wee bit from the '80s that mostly went to Afganistan.)

[Beerhunter]

The 1942/44 British Military will be Berdan primed and so will need a special deprimer (I used a hydraulic one years ago.) In addition I reckon that you will find that Berdan primers are difficult to obtain. I use that sort of brass to produce dummy rounds for exhibitions etc.

[Edward Horton]

RJW NZ

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and commercial American SAAMI .303 cases are a "weak link" in the British Enfield Rifle.

Chamber pressures in American .303 ammunition are kept at or below 43,000 CUP to safely work in all .303 British rifles. The first smokeless .303 cartridges started at 16.5 tsi and went through 17.5, 18.5 and 19 tsi of rated chamber pressure.

Military cases are made more robustly and designed for higher pressures than American commercial .303 cases and last longer. Greek HXP cases are noted for extremely long reloading life and in my opinion commercial American Winchester cases are the worst for reloading.

If you can't find Greek HXP cases like that (expletive deleted) Australian Son keeps tripping over every time he turns around, I would recommend Prvi Partizan cases as these appear to be military grade and .010 thicker in the web area of the case than any other case i have ever measured.

I purchased 500 once fired Greek HXP cases from Brian Dick and checked each case at three points for thinning in the web area and NOT one single case had ANY thinning or stretching in the web area of the case. (they must have mixed Kryptonite into the brass mixture)



I dislike using mixed manufactures of cartridge cases unless I have large amounts of each type of case that I can use for specific loads.

If you don't have 5 gallon buckets full of one type and caliber of case you need to rethink your reloading priorities.
(the above statement and photo below is to make that (expletive deleted) Australian Son feel bad for having so much HXP ammunition to reload.)



Guess which once fired case below has a larger base diameter and is over .010 thicker



As you can see below not all cartridge brass is made the same, look at the yield stress and elongation figures.

[jmoore]

Somehow I knew this thread would get Mr. Horton stirring.

[browningautorifle]

Beerhunter, the DI 42-44 is Canadian made. Defence Industries. They only produced during the war years. It's all boxer primed too. I agree for the most part, use it until it gives up on you.

[Edward Horton]

Somehow I knew this thread would get Mr. Horton stirring.

jmoore

Please notice I said absolutely nothing about "head space" and my posting was less than 10,000 words.

I now buy a foreign brand of military grade .303 brass cases and shoot my Enfield's every time it rains.



In memory of lost Enfield postal shoots to the Ozmaniacs

[Bindi2]

That much 303 brass is disgusting ED send me some. But then my 308 and 38sp lots are in similar numbers or more. Have to buy Highland ammo to get Prvi brass here.Sounds like the Aussies have to go over and talk to you ED about who you support (KIWIs hell what is the world coming too) Reminds me i promised one a photo or two of some projectiles didnt i Tertle, be home soon.

[Son]

Mr Horton, I have seen your comparisons between the Prvi and HXP cases and carefully waded through all the relevant information and have come to the conclusion that....

If I live long enough I will try the Prvi cases. I will get some as soon as I have reloaded to destruction the HXP cases I have emptied for the purpose (pic 1 below) and the full ones I have yet to even empty! (pic 2)

[jmoore]

Just asking for trouble, now, aren't we?