Sellier Bellot Brass reloading pros and cons

[FLHTCUI]

Along the lines of Remington Jim's question about SS Brass, but with a twist.
I have used WW and Federal brass in the past and now I have some in S&B , thoughts on this brass for reloading.
These are going to be hunting loads for Deer here on coastal BC.
There was some very interesting info shared in his thread, hope to be enlightened here.
Tight Groups,
Rob

 

[yomomma]

S&B is good brass

 

[vp6111]

I recall a youtuber Riflechair mentioning the S&B brass is brittle.

 

[yomomma]

I recall a youtuber Riflechair mentioning the S&B brass is brittle.

Only things I have ever heard is that the brass is harder and the primer holes tight. Two issues easily overcome

 

[B]

I only have issues priming on a progressive. Hand primer works fine with a slight bit of extra positioning needed sometimes. Other than that it's as good as anything else IMO. At least as far as bulk type loading goes.

 

[FLHTCUI]

I recall a youtuber Riflechair mentioning the S&B brass is brittle.

Also an excellemt member on CGN, I guess I'll have to go and search his you tube account to get the skinny on his experience.
Thank You.
Rob

 

[m777]

I've had tight pockets in 357 mag and the flash holes were too small in 45 colt for my Dillon. Haven't used any other calibers

Clint

 

[Eagleye]

I have a fair amount of S&B 303 British brass. It seems quite acceptable for reloading.
Primer pockets tend to be on the tight side, so I use RP 9½, which are about .0005 inch
smaller than CCI or Federal plated primers.
Necks seem to be soft enough, 4 firings resulted in no cracked necks.
I have some very accurate loads developed in it for my 1910 Ross. Dave.

 

[Evanguy]

I found the primer pockets too tight on the 200 303br brass i have from them. But a big chamfer fixed it, they prime without issue now. Other then that the brass seems good. I annealed it after first firing as it was hard to Fl size. Neck sizing was fine.

 

[Meroh]

I have no issues with 6.5 x 55 S & B brass. I full length resize once, then use only Lee collet dies; neck size only. improved concentricity and longevity regardless of brand. Good stuff.

 

[yomomma]

 

[sharp shooter]

I’ve loaded it in 30-06 and 243. I prefer it over most others except for Lapua, Nosler, Norma.

 

[VICIOUS]

S and B square shoulders that catch edge of primer cup going in. pistol brass.

 

[XshootmestraightX]

I have a bunch of S&B 44 Mag brass that is great once I widened the primer pocket. Starline is still my favourite brass though.

 

[woodchopper]

303 Brass was great to reload

I found that the 357Mag and 44Mag both had tight primer pockets

45 ACP had small flash holes that were slightly off center

and I had some 308 that had tight primer pockets

but tight primer pockets is easily fixed

 

[tbhupe]

Same here, tight pockets. Oddly enough I find the most problems using S+B primers in S+B brass. I separate out the brass before I run them through the progressive (9mm and 45ACP) and then there are no issues.

 

[G_Alan]

I've used it in 9mm, 45acp ,45 Gap, .223 and 7.62 x 39 . As others stated give the primer pocket some loving attention and you'll be fine.

 

[Longwalker]

Yes, the only "problem" I've encountered is tight primer pockets. I've reloaded S&B brass with no other issues in .44 mag, .357 mag, .222, 7x57, 7x57R, 7x64, 8x57, 8x57R, .308, 30-06, 9.3x74R and perhaps a few others. Was surprised by some Berdan primed cases in .22 Hornet, but they were very old, from the 1980's. Their brass seems uniform enough and holds up well to multiple loadings.

 

[Boomer686]

No issues here with S&B other than tight primer pockets. Run them thru my super swager and done.

 

[Snider shooter]

Excellent brass except for the extra step of taking a chamfer tool to the primer pockets. Anyone that has felt with military brass should be familiar with the tools needed.