Custom Brass Manufacturers....?

[Spec.-K]

Hi everyone.
I was curious if there are any brass manufacturers here in Oregon...

I've heard both some good and bad about Starline, and want to know if there is anyone else.
Especially if there's a good local company.

Anyone here ever order custom brass?
Any recommendations?
Would machined casings be stronger...?!?

Any info would help.
Thanks.
-K

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[levi333]

I don't know if Nosler makes their own, but they're in Bend.

What calibers are you looking for? Rifle/handgun?

 

[deadshot2]

Quality Cartridge claims they make brass for EVERYTHING. Two Dealers in Oregon

<broken link removed>

 

[Spec.-K]

I'm looking for brass shotshells, and some wildcat variations I've been toying with.

 

[deadshot2]

I'm looking for brass shotshells, and some wildcat variations I've been toying with.

Did you give them a call? A brass shotshell is just a large rimmed rifle case with a big primer hole Again, they claim to specialize in wildcat brass as well.

 

[warnerwh]

I don't know where you heard bad about Starline brass. I've never seen on a forum anything but good about their brass. I will also add it is excellent brass. Let me know where you read of people that have had problems with Starline brass as I'm ready to order some brass from them. Thanks

 

[orygun]

I don't know where you heard bad about Starline brass. I've never seen on a forum anything but good about their brass. I will also add it is excellent brass. Let me know where you read of people that have had problems with Starline brass as I'm ready to order some brass from them. Thanks

I've used Starline cases with positive results in both 500 S&W Mag and .41 Mag. In the .41 mag the brass is heavier, and therefore uses less powder to achieve max pressure than the Remington cases I've used.

 

[AMProducts]

There are relatively few custom brass makers out there, because making brass is hard. To my knowledge there are a few people out there that will do custom runs of brass for you, if you buy enough of it (usually 200K pcs). Starline will do it, and while yes, they do usually make good brass, they are a pain to deal with. Orders get purged, suddenly I no longer have brass on order with them and have lost my place in the queue, etc etc. Their brass is always dimensionally correct, usually with a slightly harder temper on it than is necessary. There is jamison brass, he will make custom small runs of brass for you, I don't know what his deal is, whether he's trying and constantly fails, or if he doesn't try and constantly fails, when the brass is done right, it's excellent, but it almost never is done right.

Bertram brass will make custom brass, but you will need a type 08 FFL to import it for you, their primer pockets tend to be on the tight side, and their brass usually has a much harder temper than is necessary, but other than that it's the cadillac of custom brass.

Those are just the companies I've dealt with, there is also qual-cart as someone mentioned, I think I talked to them at SHOT a few years ago, seemed nice enough, never got around to buying anything or doing any business with them. There's also another guy who I've heard is starting a brass drawing operation up in tillamook, not sure how far along he is.

There's someone else out there... either buffalo arms, or buffalo bore, that sells conversion brass for some of the big .45 rifle calibers, DO NOT BUY THIS BRASS, as it is simply cut down basic brass. what that is, is brass that was drawn, and never had a body taper put on it, and in order to load it, you must size it first, since you're doing a necking operation the brass gets longer, usually by about .25" or so, requiring it to be trimmed, again. You would be better off just going to starline and buying the .45 basic brass and trimming it yourself.

As far as brass shotshells go: magtech makes and sells those in just about every gauge for use in reforming to other calibers, it's pretty common to see .577 snider, and .577-450martini-henry brass made out of 24ga shells, the only problem is, these shells have pretty much no case web, so they only last 1-2 firings and then split, which sucks as it requires a lot of effort to make the MH brass out of those shells.

 

[Spec.-K]

Thanks guys for the wealth of information!

I think I'm going to use Quality Cartridge.

As for Starline, it was a warning on Magnum Research's site that said they cut them so they can use rifle primers on 500 S&W Mag, so I take back that there was anything bad said about them.

Does anybody know where I can find the best loading data...?

-K

 

[deadshot2]

Does anybody know where I can find the best loading data...?

-K

By using "Al Gore's Invention" aka "The Internet".

Powder Manufacturer's websites, Forums, etc.

For Printed Data, I find Lee's "Second Edition" to be a great reference. Probably the largest single database of Load Data printed.

For special loading info such as wildcat's there is an overlooked resource. It's "Load From A Disk" software.

Unlike Quick Load it is straight forward, easy to use, and doesn't require expensive updates. $65 complete. Enter the case capacity in grains of water, the case length, bullet length/weight/diameter, Cartridge length, Rifle barrel length, and then pick a powder. I find the data produced to be super accurate with chronograph readings as close as 5 fps to those predicted. Works great for predicting performance of fire-formed brass.