Federal handgun brass = crap? Mine is all chewed up...

CanuckShooter

CanuckShooter

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Well against my better judgement, I ignored all of the advice I had read about Federal brass being soft and bought 4 boxes of American Eagle in 9mm.

Wow.... this stuff IS soft. The rim is all chewed up from the extractor, there are scrapes along the sides of the cases from either the feeding ramp, or the friction between the cartridges in those real tight 10rd Glock mags. The mouth is pretty scratched up on most of them.

Do I ever regret spending the money on this garbage. All of my Winchester White box and Winclean brass have not a blemish on them after being fired through the same gun.

Just thought I would pass this on. This crap brass is head stamped 'FC' for anyone interested. The 'FC' marked brass is known for being junk, but I bought it anyways to see for myself. Funny, the guy at the store I bought it from said it's great brass for reloading..... :rolleyes:

I am now a believer in Winchester brass, and will NOT be buying anymore of this garbage.

Anyone have a similar experience?
 
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B said:
I'm using AE 10mm brass at the moment...
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Don't load'em too hot.

With regards to the original post, yes I've noticed Federal is pretty soft as well, wouldn't say it's crap though... Still very reloadable, but I do try to keep it for target practise loads.
 
I may have jumped the gun on calling them crap lol

I am thinking maybe it's the 10 round magazines I am using. They are not the 17 rounders that are pinned, but the factory 10 rounders, the ones that are so stiff that you require the strength of ten ordinary men to load more than 6 rounds in without using the mag loader. The brass must be getting beat up from all the force. There are these triangular wear marks right at the mouth of the brass that look like they are from the rounds rubbing together. maybe I am wrong, and only about 1/3 of them have this which kind of makes sense since I am load about 2/3 of the magazines without breaking my thumb.

I think I will post some pics of the wear on the brass tonight if you guys don't mind taking a look.
 
uhm..i've fired copious amounts of AE 9mm through my norc np29 (9mm) and the 9mm HK USP with no visible damage to the fired brass whatsoever. also i've fired tons of AE .40sw through my Glock G22, same thing, no visible damage or denting. all federal AE brass is fully reloadable just like CCI brass, remington UMC and winchester white box. those, of crouse are just my observations, that being said, i'll never have any qualms about loading federal AE brass.
 
I also get the triangular marks on my brass, as well I am also using 10 round glock mags. I think you are exaggerating quite a bit about the difficulty of loading the mags, unless there is something very wrong with yours.
 
I reload FC brass for my .44, .45 ACP and .45-70 and don't find it wears any more than the RP, Starline, WW or anything else I scrounge up.
 
I don't have any problem with AR brass out of my G19, 9mm 1911 and 9mm AR and I load them pretty hot 4.8 grains of Win 231 under 124 grain plated Berry.

AE is a good brass.
 
I currenly have some WWB, UMC and AE in 9mm to practice with and there is one thing I noticed right away - AE seem to be hotter loads and dirtier as well which may be the reason you see more damage on your brass.
 
Federal brass works fine for me in 9MM, .40cal and .45ascp. Don't see much of it in .39spl/.357mag and .45Colt but what I do see works just fine.

Take Care

Bob
 
I think most agree that it is ok brass in the straight walled pistol variety (calling it good or excellent is a bit of a stretch).
Bottlenecked rifle brass is a completely different story, as it sh!ts the bed pretty fast.
 
I noticed the very same thing... it crudded up my gun big time, and the brass was pretty fouled.

CeeZer said:
I currenly have some WWB, UMC and AE in 9mm to practice with and there is one thing I noticed right away - AE seem to be hotter loads and dirtier as well which may be the reason you see more damage on your brass.
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I'm not exaggerating, and I'm not a weakling either. The last 2 rounds are VERY difficult to get in by hand. I always use the mag loader when using the ten rounds mags. Many factory ten rounders I have tried are like this. It's not something new. Some people have problems with the 10 rounders and jamming as well. Not sure if it is due to the crappy 10rd follower (a lot of guys in the US avoid the 10rd mags like the plague), or how hard the 10rd mags push up on the slide when it's fully loaded slowing it's momentum.

B said:
I also get the triangular marks on my brass, as well I am also using 10 round glock mags. I think you are exaggerating quite a bit about the difficulty of loading the mags, unless there is something very wrong with yours.
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Here is a pic of the triangular wear marks... (click on it for a larger image)... is this fine to reload? I mean it doesn't appear to have thinned the wall.

 
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I may be blind but I don't see a pic:p though I am certain of the marks your talking about. Only difference being I get it mainly on "premium" Winchester ammunition. I don't see the harm in reloading this stuff if you don't repeatedly load it hot. You say your using a Glock so if you have your original barrel keep an eye the the "smiley", it's where failure is most likely. I shoot 10mm and only the hottest loads produce it.
I suppose the mags are a bit of a pain near the end of a long session for me. It's one of the reasons why I am trying to get some 10\15 G20 mags, which is turning out to be an annoying endeavor. If anyone has any leads let me know...
 
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All of my Winchester 9mm Luger brass goes into the scrap bin for recycling. American Rifleman magazine had an article years ago regarding reloading the 9mm Luger cartridge. They found Winchester brass allowed the bullet to 'telescope' backwards into the case, thus raising pressures dramatically. A cannelure applied at the base of the bullet was recommended when reloading W-W brass. I have found the above to be true no matter what amount of taper crimp is applied.
 
CanuckShooter said:
I may have jumped the gun on calling them crap lol

I am thinking maybe it's the 10 round magazines I am using. They are not the 17 rounders that are pinned, but the factory 10 rounders, the ones that are so stiff that you require the strength of ten ordinary men to load more than 6 rounds in without using the mag loader. The brass must be getting beat up from all the force. There are these triangular wear marks right at the mouth of the brass that look like they are from the rounds rubbing together. maybe I am wrong, and only about 1/3 of them have this which kind of makes sense since I am load about 2/3 of the magazines without breaking my thumb.

I think I will post some pics of the wear on the brass tonight if you guys don't mind taking a look.
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I've picked out the AE brass from my once fired bulk brass, and havn't had any problems.

I also use factory 10 rounders in my Sig. I find the best way to get the last near impossible round in is to turn the mag upsidedown and push down on a bench or something and slide the last round in. Works great and doesn't leave your thumbs with bruises after loading a mag or two.

Or just use a speed loader. Those work good.
 
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