I prepped a bunch of .357 brass last weekend. Resized, expanded and primed.

I finished reloading it this weekend. The last batch of 50 cases started splitting as I seated bullets. Once two split, I decided those cases had to go. I pulled the two bullets, but there goes 50 primers down the drain.

I had lost track of how many firings they had, but maybe 5 or 6. Plus, they were old cases. I don't mind the cases - I got my use out them.

What .357 brass do you like best?

Starline is your best bang for the buck!!!

Starline is good unless you are like myself.
I shoot what ever other people leave in my range.
The one exception is Mars ,his gun ,well lets just say he can keep it from the deagle.

You could always start annealing them. Kind of a PITA with pistol brass but it'd give more use.

The only new .357 cases I have bought were Winchester, they seem GTG...everything else I have loaded have been range pickup from over the years. All the brass cases have been about the same no matter the manufacturer...I just shoot them till they split...

The cases that seem to split with the most regularity are the nickel cases with Federal being the worst offender...I just toss any nickel case into a large coffee can for closer inspection before loading...quite a few will show a small crack starting (maybe 1/16" or so) but at least they show up well being nickel.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I pulled the two bullets, but there goes 50 primers down the drain.

Just deprime them and use the primers over again.

I have done it several times, I use a Lee Universal Decapping die and steady pressure. I'm depriming on a Lee Classic Cast, so the primers go into the catch tube for easy collection

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posted March 04, 2017 08:46 PM Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by jhe888:
I pulled the two bullets, but there goes 50 primers down the drain.

Just deprime them and use the primers over again.

I do the same. I use the sizing die to pop the primers out just go slow and take your time.

Recover the primers, no need wasting them. Use them for practice, not critical use.

I use a universal deprimer to remove all primers. Just go slow and you will be fine. I have yet to set one off removing one.

It might be too late now, and might be a bit like hammering a nail with a 20# sledge depending how much you load, but....


This is one of the benefits, in my mind, of a Dillon (and possibly other progressive presses as well, though I've admittedly not used others) -

Priming of the case is done right before powder drop, which is done right before bullet seating.

So if you had cracked 2 or 3 cases in a row when seating, you'd have only primed 3 or 4 cases, not 50.

Again, a small benefit, but one worth noting IMO.

I segregate all of my brass into lots of 50 or 100 of the same age/# of firings.
For those of you who do pick up range brass,
I pick up all of mine until I find one of mine has split.
I leave all of that box of 50 on the ground.

As mentioned above, I would salvage the primers by simply depriming the split cases.

Yes, salvage the primers. I did just that on nearly 3400 .223 loads that were culls from a commercial shop. 1800 primers were salvaged, the others were mashed in sideways or other issues. Out of the 1800, just one failed to ignite. All were used in the field on varmints. Lots of good bullets were pulled as well.

It would be safe enough to trim those cases back and make them .38spcl, load them up, and thereby save the primers and cases for awhile.

quote:

It would be safe enough to trim those cases back and make them .38spcl, load them up, and thereby save the primers and cases for awhile.

Once the case starts to spilt, it is really toast & should just be tossed. yeah you could do all that trimming & maybe get one more firing out of it but for me, not worth the effort.
Starline brass is my go to for magnums & 10mm. I also agree, deprime slowly & save those primers.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
It would be safe enough to trim those cases back and make them .38spcl, load them up, and thereby save the primers and cases for awhile.

Almost never worth it.

If you need .38Spl cases that badly, I'll send you some

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:

quote:

It would be safe enough to trim those cases back and make them .38spcl, load them up, and thereby save the primers and cases for awhile.

Once the case starts to spilt, it is really toast & should just be tossed. yeah you could do all that trimming & maybe get one more firing out of it but for me, not worth the effort.
Starline brass is my go to for magnums & 10mm. I also agree, deprime slowly & save those primers.

+1 for Starline brass. I don't shoot 38 special brass in my magnums if I want those ballistics. I reload to that or 38 special +P.

The nickel plated cases do seem to split more readily, less ductile than brass?

Reminds me I need some starline 357 they are having an easier time keeping up with the demand.

Just think where we would be now in reloading land if that criminal Hitlery had won.

Annealing would be a good answer. Not hard to do here. Case is big enough to not get hot at the head and the mouth reacts well. The primers are wasted though.

quote:

I pick up all of mine until I find one of mine has split.
I leave all of that box of 50 on the ground.

And that's why I don't pick up range brass...no tellin' what its life cycle has been....and on another note...I bet the split case was nickle plated...I find that they're far more susceptible to splitting than the brass variety. Lastly, I find Starline brass outstanding in all calibers. Rod

I sure don't see any 357 Sig Brass on the floor and I grab everything I can. I catch and have shot Sig Sauer 125 FMJ $20.84 last Nov during a sale.

Kill for 40 and 380 brass.
Now 22TCM -

I have two .30cal ammo cans full of range pickup(plinking ammo), if they split when reloading I toss them other wise I keep reloading them....

I have no idea how many loadings

NOW, the ones I use for hunting and what not...I use Starline and I keep them segregated in little green boxes and never will the two meet...

Plinking ammo is no worries
Hunting ammo is in it's own box with records kept....(I've reloaded some Starline used at full powered 357 mag pressures five times and haven't had a problem yet)