Here's proof that steel cases can be reloaded

[tommygun2000]

These rounds except for the four in the rear of the picture are steel cased Wolf that were mixed in with 1200 pieces of brass reloads I did the other day.

They are done with 5.1gr of HPC-18 pulled powder and a 230gr FMJ MontanaGold Bullet and a Winchester LP primer. The three on the right of the front row are lacquer cased and the others are the newer polymer coated cases.

So when you see a post on any board stating that they are not reloadable.....heres your proof that they are.

[tommygun2000]

Heres a better pic

[carosem]

Interesting...Do the cases split after being fired twice?

[Brian Ski]

Are all the wolf cases boxer primed?? I know I ran a couple berdan primed cases thru the reloaded and pushed a hole right thru the brass and popped out a berdan primer before....

Steal may be tougher... But sure easier to pick up....

How did they run thru the reloader??? Any more resistance???

[rustyolddog]

I've seen CCI aluminum cases reloaded. I don't think anyone disputes that you "can" reload them It's a matter of whether they should be resized, reloaded etc. due to the case stresses.

[tommygun2000]

I'll answer all three questions and comment in one post.

careosem, No the cases do not split after reloading twice. I have tested several and reloaded them 6 or 7 times with no problems.
In my powder drop station, I use only the slightest bell, barely visible to start the bullets which seat just fine with plenty of case tension and I taper crimp.
I do however clean them in clean cob media for a very shor period of time just to remove grit and not degrade the coatings.

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BrianSki, I have never yet seen a berdan primed Wolf .45acp casing in all the years I've been using them.

The 9mm is berdan, the .223 is boxer, the 7.62x39 is berdan.

They ran through the dies and press just like brass, no felt difference.
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Rustyold dog, There are many who dispute whether it can be reloaded, the various boards have many postings indicating this false notion.
That was one of my primary reasons to reload the ones I did when I did my first batch about 6 years ago. That and my own curiousity to see if the steel cases could be salvaged if necessary and as you can see, I was successful and my curiousity has been satisfied.

I belive that CCI Blazer aluminum ammo is berdan primed, at least all I've seen, for the purpose of discouraging reloading.
I've not seen one caliber of Aluminum Blazer with a boxer primer ever. This doesn't mean that the have not changed recently....I just never saw one.
Were the cases you saw reloaded done on special equipment or was the berdan casing just punctured by the decapping pin or drilled to facilitate a boxer primer? I believe berdan primer pockets are also more shallow than boxer pockets and would leave the primer high........very bad!
I'd reload steel anytime before reloading an aluminum casing.

Matter of fact, if I knew someone was firing reloaded aluminum casings in an open bolt subgun on the same firing line as me, I'd leave the range....immediately.

RE: case stresses: So far, the ones I have reloaded several times show no ill effects. Maybe it will split the next time.....its of minimal concern to me. My .45 guns are not match chambers and will feed (so far) anything they are loaded with, without incident.
I don't reload steel as a regular practice.....BUT.... its good information to know that they can be done reliably at least several times without failures.

P.S. Firing Blazer aluminum cased ammo in an open bolt subgun is proven BAD JUJU and I have yet to see it done. All I've seen are brass or steel cased. Maybe I "don't get out much" but I tend to think that its more that most subgunners know better.

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by ELVIS
First off I respect those that reload ammo. But for the life of me cant fig out why..Hobby? Ammo right now is so damn cheap it is almost not worth the time to me. 9mm white box is super cheap. Wolf 7.62 even more so. Kinda cool though to know you can reload steel cases...I will be able to jack with people that say it cant be done
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Hobby? Yes, cost savings indeed, in .45acp in particular.

I also reload because I have the time and for what I can scrap my brass for, I can buy the components to make useable ammo. I can't buy the same amount of ammo or near as much.

Example: to obtain two hundred dollars I'd have to scrap about 400 lbs of brass, (I haven't checked the market price on brass scrap lately so don't hold me too close to it but using $.50 a lb as an estimate)........thats a shitload of casings Agreed? At about 40 lbs per 4gal bucket (5000 9mm casings per bucket more or less) thats about ten buckets full or 50,000 pieces+/-

For that same 200 dollars I can buy enough powder and bullets and primers to reload 4000 useable rounds( a lot more if I used a cheaper bullet and not FMJ) and still have the other 46,000+ cases avaiable to me. Can you buy 4000 rnds of 9mm for 200 dollars?

I also have the choice to load what I want. Lighter loads for some guns or for my wife to shoot in pistols or to shoot in my M11/9.

In .45ACP the cost savings is almost 50% for me.
I get most of my .45 brass free and that which I have paid for was 1 cent each in 10,000 rnd lots once fired brass.

I never bought any 9mm or other brass as the range where I shoot is carpeted with the stuff, there for the taking. I've given buckets of it away to local friends just to make room for stuff I use more often.

Again, I have the time....I do it primarily on my down time at the firestation in the evenings after my daily work is done. A 24hr shift can be mighty boring if you don't watch a lot of TV so I reload instead.
My situation may be out of the norm, but thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Brian Ski]

Originally posted by tommygun2000
[BAgain, I have the time....I do it primarily on my down time at the firestation in the evenings after my daily work is done. A 24hr shift can be mighty boring if you don't watch a lot of TV so I reload instead.
My situation may be out of the norm, but thats my story and I'm sticking to it. [/B]

That is awesome to hear... You found a position that has the spare time to do something you enjoy......

I reload also. I don't quite do it in the bulk that you do so my prices are a little higher... 9mm I just buy off the shelf...Unless I am really bored... Like you said with 45... Try 44 mag those are almost .50 a round off the shelf.... you can easily cut that in half.... or step into rifle calibers... Not 223 or 308...They have a lot of surplus....but the bigger stuff like 300 win mag.

BTW tweak you powder a little and you are making your own subsonic without paying those prices....

[carcass]

TG2K's right about reloading Wolf ammo---it CAN be done, and done well! I've been reloading the Wolf steel .45ACP for about a year now, and haven't had any split cases or other failures. Some have been reloaded upwards of 4 times. I have fired them in my match pistol, a semi-auto Thompson M1, and my FA Vector Uzi (open bolt).

If you do so, make sure your cases are clean and free of rust.

If you shoot a lot of matches where policing your brass is discouraged, loading the .45 Wolf cases is a good way to stop losing brass at every match. You can load it up and not care whether you pick it up or not.

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by Brian Ski
That is awesome to hear... You found a position that has the spare time to do something you enjoy......

I reload also. I don't quite do it in the bulk that you do so my prices are a little higher... 9mm I just buy off the shelf...Unless I am really bored... Like you said with 45... Try 44 mag those are almost .50 a round off the shelf.... you can easily cut that in half.... or step into rifle calibers... Not 223 or 308...They have a lot of surplus....but the bigger stuff like 300 win mag.

BTW tweak you powder a little and you are making your own subsonic without paying those prices....
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I hear ya on the .44mag stuff. I've been collecting the brass for the .44 mag and will eventually reload it. I think I have about 250 rnds of once fired stuff now. Its not as plentiful on the range as most other calibers, most likely because of the cost. Like you said its about 50 cents a round and they don't shoot piles of them so the pickens are slim.
Jimmy2times gave me a set of 44 dies .....nice guy that he is! :D

No need for subsonic in my state, I can't have supressors. :( Must be a manufacturer to possess them, which I'm not.

That will change in a few short years when I escape from here.

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by carcass
TG2K's right about reloading Wolf ammo---it CAN be done, and done well! I've been reloading the Wolf steel .45ACP for about a year now, and haven't had any split cases or other failures. Some have been reloaded upwards of 4 times. I have fired them in my match pistol, a semi-auto Thompson M1, and my FA Vector Uzi (open bolt).

If you do so, make sure your cases are clean and free of rust.

If you shoot a lot of matches where policing your brass is discouraged, loading the .45 Wolf cases is a good way to stop losing brass at every match. You can load it up and not care whether you pick it up or not.
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carcass, thats why I clean it in plain cob media with no additives.

Just enough to get the crap off and not ruin the finish.

I am going to bring a magnet to the range with me from now on and add some more steel .45 to my collection, just for grins.

[UZI SBR AWC]

I think I'm the one who started this craze a while back.

I save the brass, and gather the Wolf 45 when some at the range shoots it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/capttoyota/bulletseat.jpg

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by UZI SBR AWC
I think I'm the one who started this craze a while back.

I save the brass, and gather the Wolf 45 when some at the range shoots it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/capttoyota/bulletseat.jpg
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Just curious How far back?

I did it in 1997-98 when ammo was disappearing off the shelves like free land, in preparation for Y2K that never resulted. I wanted all the resources I had to be useful and put some together satisfactorily then only spradically since. Too much brass availableto me to use steel as a primary reload.

Nice pics by the way, sorry for the fuzzy ones in my post, its a cheap camera with a long focal plane, not real good for closeups.