Best/worse factory rounds for reloading 303 & 45 acp??

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Ringwraith

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So I'm getting my RPAL soon & reloading looks like a great addition to this hobby!

I'll be shooting .45acp & .303 British & plan on keeping the spent factory brass to reload eventually.

I saw a post on the Lee Enfield FB group about not using Winchester white if you want to reload.

Are there brands of factory ammo to stay away from if I plan on reloading it?

Thanks
 
For 45 ACP I sort out any small primered brass.....

As for the 303, I'm going to make like a politician: No comment.
 
yomomma said:
For .303 PRVI or S&B
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X2 on PPU, the best you can get for .303
If you've only got the one rifle, neck size only, until shoulder needs to be bumped back.

S&B isn't bad after a primer pocket uniforming, but their brass seems a bit more harder/brittle.

Winchester brass has been known for quality issues lately, and their cases are thinner than most. Even doing everything right the most I've gotten from them is 3-4 firings before the white ring of death appears
 
I use both large and small primer brass for 45acp. When I switch between 9mm and 45 on my press, It's nice to not mess with the primer system when using the small.
When you start reloading any large quantities, you won't want to mess around with primer pockets or extra prep. I toss the S&B brass for that reason. Primer pockets are a pain in the rear.
 
TheGoodLife said:
I’m new to reloading and also am wondering why you guys don’t reload the small primer .45 brass?
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If you've already collected a large amount of large, small is just a nuisance. I have lots of both, so I enjoy reloading either one. No difference in performance. You have to be diligent in separating them though. One mixed in either way will cause a hiccup.
 
Their ammo designed for indoors (I believe it is called or used to be called winclean) comes with small primer pockets. They are a pain mixed in with large primer casings. I know a few people who save them for matches when they aren't going to get their brass back so they don't lose their good brass. Other than using small pistol primers, their is no difference, other than having to sort them out from the large primers
 
Ringwraith said:
So I'm getting my RPAL soon & reloading looks like a great addition to this hobby!

I'll be shooting .45acp & .303 British & plan on keeping the spent factory brass to reload eventually.

I saw a post on the Lee Enfield FB group about not using Winchester white if you want to reload.

Are there brands of factory ammo to stay away from if I plan on reloading it?

Thanks
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Can only comment on the handgun brass. I have Winchester, Federal, RP, Speer and Starline. Have had no issues with any of it. I load 9mm, 38/357, 44 special, 44 magnum and 45. Some of the Winchester and Federal have been loaded so many times the headstamp is getting hard to read.
With 357 and 44 magnum loads if I’m loading at the highest end of magnum loads the case mouths will crack much sooner no matter whose brand.
Loading 45acp you should get many reloads before primer pockets get loose.
Be forewarned though you are starting down a reloading rabbit hole that has no end.
 
.45 ACP is "special" because it exists in both primer sizes, so unlike most other calibres there's that extra step where you have to inspect every piece of brass and sort into "large" and "small" bins. And that applies even if you think you're only dealing with your own brass off the range floor!

Beyond that, either size works and which you use depends on your reloading rig and primer availability. If you're reloading 9mm on eg a Square Deal the rest of the time, then your primer feed is set up for small ones and it's easier to just swap reloading dies and reload small-pocket .45. If your press is set up for .303 as you indicate, then handling only large primers may make your life easier (though note not to get pistol and rifle primers mixed).

Some folk will set up to do a run of small-primer one time and large-primer on another occasion depending on brass and primer supply, others might have a reloading buddy who prefers the other size so the two of you pass brass back and forth and each only have to deal with reloading one size. Taking non-preferred-primer-size reloads to lost-brass matches and being rid of it is a definite option. It all depends what's easiest for you.
 
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