Brass Base VS washed/plated steel.
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Some people such as myself and few others on here don't like cheap sh*t. Some guns with tight chambers won't eject them reliably. A guy I shoot with used to have a 90T that he couldn't shoot Gun Clubs through without keeping a rod near him to pop the empty out 5 or 6 times out of a box. Steel based hulls also require more effort to resize and as a result one might be able to make the argument that it puts more wear and tear on the reloading press, particularly the sizing dies. All of my reloads are brass based hulls (Winchester AA, Remington RTL/STS/Nitro, or Fed. Paper). If on the occasion I happen to be shooting steel based shells, the empties go in the garbage.
Derek
Derek
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A LITTLE better than steel.....but not by much.....solid brass is FAR better !!!
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I've read the purpose of brass washing steel based hulls was only to afford them some measure of corrosion resistance. Remington no longer bothers with that process.
The detriment of steel based hulls is more metallurgical than cosmetic. Upon firing the steel based hull expands & remains expanded. Hence some experiencing ejection issues as DW11-87 mentioned. Absolutely steel based hulls are cheaper to manufacture & also will require some additional effort to re size them.
Brass by nature has some memory & will mostly return to its original dimensions after being fired. Reloading brass based hulls while in progression should I need to inspect one it will mostly free fall out of the Spolar sizing die where the steel based Gun Clubs need to be knocked out.
The detriment of steel based hulls is more metallurgical than cosmetic. Upon firing the steel based hull expands & remains expanded. Hence some experiencing ejection issues as DW11-87 mentioned. Absolutely steel based hulls are cheaper to manufacture & also will require some additional effort to re size them.
Brass by nature has some memory & will mostly return to its original dimensions after being fired. Reloading brass based hulls while in progression should I need to inspect one it will mostly free fall out of the Spolar sizing die where the steel based Gun Clubs need to be knocked out.
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Steel based shells, whether brass washed or not, all suck.
It's for that reason, that I never use them.
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I'm old enough & have a large enough stash of AA Comp. form hulls that I will never have to worry about it.
The only steel based hull I ever seen worth reloading was the Remington Gun Club.
The only steel based hull I ever seen worth reloading was the Remington Gun Club.
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Have not used the brass washed steel versions. No issues shooting steel through shotgun autos. On semi rare occasions, sticky extraction through all other guns (pump/OU) and not a big issue . One particular pump gun though is a hassle with GC’s. They do take more effort to resize and for that reason I don’t reload them. With a powered progressive that seems to be a non issue.
Agree with the above comments regarding expansion/contraction as the fundamental cause for extraction problems in conjunction with chamber dimensions unique to individual guns.
Steel hulls are at times a distraction that brass hulls are not.
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I used to shy away from steel-based hulls, along with the brass plated ones. But - considering the shortage of basically everything - I have changed my outlook and am reloading them at least once. The only thing I do differently is to deprime them first in a MEC case conditioner & then resize them in a MEC (collet) Super Sizer. Successfully reloading them does require these additional steps, but after that the reloads chamber & extract just fine. Folks need to wise up, suck it up & adapt, since that’s the way all of these these “once & done” shells are heading. Plus, it feels good to figure out how to reuse these hulls, rather than to just shitcan them after one use.
I am not physically able to shoot any more. I shot Federal Papers, Federal League Loads and Federal Gold Medal hulls from the mid 1960's to about 2 years ago. I still have about 20 - 30 flats and several hundred once fired Federal and STS hulls which I will reload if I am ever able to shoot again.
That said, I tried some of the steel based Top Guns in my 870's and broke two sets of action bars in the process. I shot some Top Guns in my 11/87 Premier Trap, 11/87 Sporting Clays and the wife's 1100 TB trap without breaking anything but some of the hulls failed to eject.
Long story short, brass heads are by far better than steel based heads and just slide right through my 870's.
If I am someday done shooting, I will probably donate my shells to a youth shooting program.
That said, I tried some of the steel based Top Guns in my 870's and broke two sets of action bars in the process. I shot some Top Guns in my 11/87 Premier Trap, 11/87 Sporting Clays and the wife's 1100 TB trap without breaking anything but some of the hulls failed to eject.
Long story short, brass heads are by far better than steel based heads and just slide right through my 870's.
If I am someday done shooting, I will probably donate my shells to a youth shooting program.
I have been loading the steel based Gun Clubs and the Federal Top Gun hulls for years with no problems resizing through my RCBS Grand, although i do feel a slight bit more resistance with the steel. I have zero problems with chambering or ejection in my Perazzi's Beretta autos or my TS 2000. I did have a Ljutic that was finnicky on ejection with the steel (about 2/25 and a Rem 90T that would not eject any reloads. I sold both of those.. Should I experience any wear to the Sizing Ring on my Grand, I will Just replace it as parts are free from RCBS. I have thousands of premium brass base hulls, but see no reason waste them when I see nothing wrong with the one and done free hulls. I also see no wear on my breech faces. FWIW Bill
A long dead shooting buddy told me, that back in the 1950's and 1960's, trap and skeet shooters would pay the trap help to smooth out the chambers of their Model 12's, 31's, 870's with emory cloth wrapped around corn cobs so that their pump guns would cycle more smoothly when shooting doubles.
Brass washed hulls such as the new Remington field and clays look nice and reload looking good but stick in either my Kolar and Briley tubesets Not worth reloading. I can reload gun clubs without the sticking problems. But they split faster than STS premier hulls using the same recipe.
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Like DW11 stated, depends on the firearm! Shot old Browning's, Beretta's and Remington's. ALL fed and fired steel hulls without a problem, have a Browning now that will fire them, but its a struggle to open and eject them even after I under size them from factory specs!
Had tubs of them, gave them all away for brass hulls. Happy Days again!
Had tubs of them, gave them all away for brass hulls. Happy Days again!
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We use a supersizer on all hulls before throwing them in the Dillon, the Dillon does the de-priming. Sizing first just makes the whole reloading cycle smoother, and easier. We also have been reloading top guns, and winchesters once for practice with no issues at all. We actually reloaded some twice and three times with no issues, but since they are abundant we load once.
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