[Walstr]

My 200 rnd inventory is about 30% R-P brass, remainder W-W. Also have 20+ Hornady "short brass". I'm learning it's probably best to standardize on one manuf. so that when loading for max. type rounds, case capacity is important, sooo I'm thnik'in let me standardize now & eliminate that variable, eh?!

Later I'll be posting [where?] for a trade for one or the other, etc. Thanks folks.

 

[JBledsoe]

.

Buy the brass that is most available in your area. I am to old to care about "Macho" and I'm certainly not into self abuse, therefore loads that produce velocities in the 1600 fps range that are most accurate is what I load. Since those loads will kill anything on the face of the earth it is not necessary to beat up myself or my rifle. You are correct to standardize on one case. The Hornady short would be out for me, so Winchester , Remington, or Starline with Starline prefered. Starline is less expensive.

 

[Progun1911]

I standardized with Starline brass also ,If you keep buying factory ammo then the other brands might make sense.If your going to reload all your rounds then to me the Starline makes more sense since it's a good bit cheaper and just a good as any other brand.Whe I first got my 45/70 I ordered 250 Starline cases and that should make me set for quite awhile.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Buy a large quantity of which ever brand is currently available and be done with it. I personally like Starline nickel cases (in 45-70) but I've used the others without a single problem with any of them. Use what you've got and start anew with the 1,000 rds you have just purchased in bulk. :biggrin:
And NO - that doesn't make you a "hoarder". LOL

 

[Jerry475]

I have had good luck with Winchester ,federal and starline then again I do not push them hard

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Yep, Starline and forget the nickel plated with the extra cost! ----------- Starline is very good brass and can be bought at a considerable savings over Winchester or Remington. ---------- Hornady gummy nose brass ?? well I won't even start down that road! -------------- Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

 

[mister 270]

i am not picky i use what i have mostly winchester and one bag of starline

 

[Pumpkin Chucker]

Keep the following in mind when reloading:

45-70 case capacity SAFETY WARNING...PLEASE READ!!!

I like Winchester brass because it gives a little safety margin as it has the most volume.

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Providing a person is working up loads as they should, and providing they are not mixing brass especially as to brands and sometimes as to lots without weighing, extra capacity to provide a, "safety margin" is simply not needed. ------- The loads should be "worked up" with the components used as a consideration. -------------- For example, years back I was developing loads for a son's 30/06 and needed a bit more brass to fill out the test loads planned before taking the hours drive to the range. ------------ Picked out some Remington brass from the brass bucket, making sure the head stamp style was exactly the same as that on the brass in use. Trimmed to proper length, loaded and went to the range. ------------ Those "ODD" cases were clearly much thicker/heavier then the brass (lot number) which had been in use, and not only did those rounds shot from the "odd" brass throw the shot out of the group, but the pressures went wild. ------- One case that I remember clearly ended up with a primer that looked like it was riveted and the case stretched in that one firing from the proper trim to length to well beyond the "need to trim (maximum) length" ------------- Don't rely on the thought that brand X brass is going to give a "safety margin". ------------ It just might not be there when you really need it! ----- Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

 

[Pumpkin Chucker]

a, "safety margin" is simply not needed. ----- Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

OK, I could've said that better. :vollkommenauf: I use Beartooth Bullets and get my loads from the owner who uses Starline brass. Unless you ask otherwise, his 45-70 loads are typically stout (but still always under 40,000 psi) so when I base my loads on his I should typically get a little less pressure and recoil (easier on rifle and me). So It's not really a safety margin but a recoil margin.

 

[HILL COUNTRY SHOOTER]

I use both W-W & R-P, and have no problems with either
I used to try to standardize, but run into supply problems and no one company makes all calibers that I shoot
so I load what I can get

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Got ya Pumpkin Chucker. ---------- That makes sense. ------------ CDOC

 

[1640hunter]

I've standardised on WW brass. It's slightly thinner than the others allowing me to get a larger diameter bullet into the case. My bore slugs at .460 so ideally I'd like a .461 or larger bullet. But even with WW brass the biggest I can get in is .4595, RP won't let me go bigger than .458. Not sure about starline you can't get it here but it seems it's between the two

 

[Vic in Va]

Winchester is the easiest for me to get, so I pretty much have standardized on that brand. It's case capacity is also the highest, which allows me to run at my target velocity at lower pressure.

I have some Starline brass, and it is without a doubt a harder and more uniform case, and I have a batch of it for a load I have worked up with a 540 grain bullet that basically emulates the "Garrett" load.

When the Winchester cases start to wear out, and if Starline is readily available by that time, I will probably transition wholly to Starline. The slight loss in potential velocity is not a concern, and pressure at the velocity I do operate my rifle at would only slightly increase. I use a Beartooth Piledriver Jr. at 1750 fps, using AA2495 as the propellent.

In regards to the R-P brass, I obtained 240 cases that had been stretched to 2.4" by, I believe, Buffalo Arms. I paid $40.00 dollars for all 240, and laboriously cut them back with the intent that they would be a "fire once" proposition. The load using that brass is under 28 Kpsi. I have not used any unaltered R-P brass, so I cannot comment on them in that context.

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Vic, --- I question your comment, "----- run at my target velocity at lower pressure." ----------- ???????? ------ Seems to me, that you would simply need more powder in the thinner case to get to those velocities as you need to burn more powder to get the pressures which in turn give you the velocity.-- a smaller amount of powder in the thicker walled case should put you to the desired velocity sooner. --------------------- I can see 1640hunters comment about case thickness and bullet dia., however, have a rifle currently on hand in which I have been attempting to load some bullets sized .460 in Winchester brass and that slight difference in case wall thickness at the mouth is not enough to help in this situation. ----- Looking for other solutions. ------------- Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

 

[1640hunter]

Crusty - I agree with your points. Vic I'm not sure you've got your physics right here. Lower pressure means lower muzzle velocity for a given bullet weight. It doesn't matter how that lower pressure comes about - whether it's a bigger chamber, seating the bullet further out, thinner brass or in the extreme case a bigger case like a 45-90. Lower pressure means there is less driving force (which is pressure multiplied by area). Have you chronied these loads or are you going by what a book says? Books can't account for the minor differences I listed above (they'll be for one brass headstamp, one seating depth, and whatever test gun's chamber they used). Also the thinner brass means you can't run as a higher pressure before it splits, not that you'd be running those sort of pressures in an 1895!

however, have a rifle currently on hand in which I have been attempting to load some bullets sized .460 in Winchester brass and that slight difference in case wall thickness at the mouth is not enough to help in this situation. ----- Looking for other solutions. ------------- Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

exactly the problem I ran into. I even went and bought a .462 sizer die and there was no way in hell of fitting those in... (anyone after a 462 sizer?). The way I see it if you want to run the 460s there are three options: Turn the brass (not advisable), run a stepped bullet (marginal) or get the chamber reamed (hassle). I've thought about reaming, and have even thought about just a regular straight reamer (not a gunsmith one) due to the shape of the cartridge. Surely it would "just" be a case of putting a hand reamer in of the right size, a few turns with the right cutting lube and there you go. I'm maybe not quite confident I'd get is accurate enough by hand to do it though. Although I guess you could make a bush that'd act as a guide through the bolt race way. Either way I'm running 350gr .4595 bullets with no leading at 1300fps right now. When I push these faster I might find I get leading in which case I'd think about reaming more seriously. Then I could use thicker brass too...

 

[Pumpkin Chucker]

Vic must have been reading my mind because I just started a thread concerning this and received some good responses:

How does case volume affect pressure and velocity?

I thought for sure that the 45-90 could match 45-70 velocity at a lower pressure due to its increased case size. The reason I'm interested in this is I wanted to use a .44 mag load in .444 brass in a Taurus Judge. That way I could match my brother's Super Blackhawk with my POS judge. Also, putting the bullet closer to the barrel increases accuracy in this thing. The responses to my above thread have convinced me otherwise. I'll just use 45LC and to heck with the velocity and accuracy or listen to my brother and get a real 45LC pistol.

 

[wrench man]

WW here too, it's readily available around these parts, I picked up 300 new in the bag when I got my rifle, it seems to be the only caliber that didn't disapear off of the shelf in the last few months?

 

[Vic in Va]

All else being equal, the case having the highest capacity can run at a given velocity at a lower pressure compared to a lesser capacity case.

simply need more powder in the thinner case to get to those velocities

Yes, very true, you will have to run a bit more powder to do it. Ultimately though, higher velocities can be achieved. That is how a .300 WinMag runs 3200 fps with a 165 grain bullet vs the .30-06 at 2850 or 2900 fps--more volume of gas. It's kinda oversimplifying, given burn rates are not being considered, but....


Same is true of a .45-90 vs .45-70. Run a 500 grain bullet at 1500 fps. Which case has the lower pressure(disregard charge needed, this is another subject)? OK, now run both at 40 Kpsi. Which one has the highest velocity? .45-90 in both cases(no pun intended).

Yes Pumkinchunker, you can run your .44 load in your .444 brass, but if you want the velocity to be the same as in the .44 brass, you will have to increase the charge. The gas simply has more room to expand into, and if you want to do as much work, you have to provide more gas. The larger volume will also push for a longer period of time, providing the additional velocity. You will, in addition, be able to utilize slower burning powders even more to your advantage.

The downside is recoil. Weight of the charge is part of the ejecta. Ejecta makes kick...Your 45-90 will kick a little harder at the same velocity as a .45-70, whether you can detect it or not, but the calculations bear it out.

You also have the right idea in placing the bullet closer to the rifling.

 

[Vic in Va]

I should have simply stated that Flattop's excellently documented and executed work with the .444 Safari grade is a prime example of this phenomenon. Read his work, it's all there.