Brass and Bullets?

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I would have thought Starline would be back up to full production capacity by now. But looking at their website, so many different calibers are "out of stock…no back orders."

I don't cast yet and so I was going to order some coated lead bullets. Most are in stock…But not all, like 41Magnum. Missouri Bullet Company still seems pretty rude on their website. They won't tell you if it's on backorder or not. And no word on how long it takes to ship. I'll order someplace else.

I guess the brass just threw me off. I didn't expect them to be out of so much. Are they busy sending their inventory to large department stores like Bass Pro? What's up?
 
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I would have thought Starline would be back up to full production capacity by now. But looking at their website, so many different calibers are "out of stock…no back orders."

I don't cast yet and so I was going to order some coated lead bullets. Most are in stock…But not all, like 41Magnum. Missouri Bullet Company still seems pretty rude on their website. They won't tell you if it's on backorder or not. And no word on how long it takes to ship. I'll order someplace else.

I guess the brass just threw me off. I didn't expect them to be out of so much. Are they busy sending their inventory to large department stores like Bass Pro? What's up?

Starline also does (or used to do) custom headstamps, so they may be busy producing brass with some other company's name on it. As far as cast bullets go, I've had good luck with SNS Casting:


Looks like they are currently out of 500 or 1000 rd lots of their coated .41 Mag 216 grain SWC, but they do have that bullet available without the coating, and you might still be able to order a "Sample Pack" of 100 coated bullets ($15), if you want to try out the product.

As always, FWIW, YMMV, IMHO, etc., etc.
:)
 
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NikA

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I suspect what we're seeing is significant shortages in the raw materials required to make tool steels, which are then used to make drawing dies, etc. I see the same effect in the reduced number of stainless firearms offerings. Russia is a global leader in the production of nickel and tungsten and a significant player for vanadium and molybdenum, and from what I hear their manufacturing capacity is tied up elsewhere.
 

GasGuzzler

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Sigh. Use OEM brass. It's way better in most cases anyway.

As far as the bullets go, order the plain ones and coat them (powder) yourself. It's not that tough.
 
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I saw some 300AAC ammo advertised a few days ago. Loaded by a '3rd party' commercial loader in Starline brass and sold by the 200 or 1000 lot. That eats up a lot of production to supply that much brass to a single commercial loader.
 

gunzo

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There's 41 brass in the reloading section on Gunbroker. Not as much as I'd thought, but enough.
 
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Thanks for all the comments! I did end up ordering from SNS Casting. I've ordered from them in the past and their consistency between bullets is very very good.

But as far as the brass goes. OEM brass? I think you just mean buy factory ammo and then save the brass? Yes, I've done that in the past. Especially for .327.

Except one thing I like when reloading is again consistency. I ran into this a couple years ago with .38's and different brands. I saved all my factory brass, but all the different brands were different lengths.

It was very frustrating, so after a bit, I scraped them all and ordered some starling brass. Their quality is good, and now all the .38 brass I have is the same.

I was wanting some .327 to do the same. And some .41 just cause I need some more of that.
 

Durango Dave

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Missouri Bullet Company still seems pretty rude on their website. They won't tell you if it's on backorder or not. And no word on how long it takes to ship. I'll order someplace else.
When Missouri Bullet Company is out of stock they don't advertise that bullet on their web site. During the height of the shortage they had very few bullets on their web site. I buy from them all the time. If the bullets are on the internet they ship fast and show up in 4 to 6 business days.
 

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...one thing I like when reloading is again consistency. I ran into this a couple years ago with .38's and different brands. I saved all my factory brass, but all the different brands were different lengths...

I also weigh individual cartridge cases - some manufacturers are all over the place, others are a lot more consistent!
:)
 
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When Missouri Bullet Company is out of stock they don't advertise that bullet on their web site. During the height of the shortage they had very few bullets on their web site. I buy from them all the time. If the bullets are on the internet they ship fast and show up in 4 to 6 business days.
I have ordered from Missouri Bullet Company before. So I don't have any grudge or anything. But right on their home page of the website it says:
How do I know if you have the bullets I want in stock?
We are not a retail store or a distributor so we do not display on our website which bullets are available or out of stock. We are the manufacturer so if we don't have it in stock, we will simply make it.
However, they don't say how long it could take.

They are nice bullets though. Perhaps I'll put an order in for 41 mag and see how long it takes.

I'll let you know.
 

Johnnu2

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Kevin, I emailed Missouri Bullets and asked if I could get some 240gr. 44's in an odd diameter i.e. .431. They responded right away and said that they could do that but it might take 'a few weeks at least'. Then I emailed them: "well, how do I actually order a sample pack or two with my special measurement?". Again, quick email response: "just look for the box below your order info that asks "how did you hear about us" and specify the bullet you want and the special measurement". I did that and, to my utter amazement, I received two sample packs of 100 each in the exact diameter I asked for. I usually buy from them, and others, but they sure won my loyalty this time....

J.
 
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"I also weigh individual cartridge cases - some manufacturers are all over the place, others are a lot more consistent!"
What are your loads meant for? I've heard of benchrest shooters doing this for their competition ammo so it's not unheard of.
 
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"I also weigh individual cartridge cases - some manufacturers are all over the place, others are a lot more consistent!"
What are your loads meant for? I've heard of benchrest shooters doing this for their competition ammo so it's not unheard of.

I started doing it when I was trying different propellants to come up with the 'best' load for a firearm. I weighed the bullets and cases so I could separate them into consistent batches, and then used single batches of each so the propellants were the main variable. I also weigh each individual propellant charge for those comparisons (& obviously use the same primers for all the loads).

Using that approach was kind of revealing; there can be quite a lot of variation in bullet weight (especially with cast bullets), and also with cases from some manufacturers. So I generally just sort my cases & bullets by weight whenever I buy a bunch - doesn't take long with a digital scale! Kind of 'old school', but it fits with my approach to reloading, and doesn't hurt anything.
:)
 
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the_leper_colony,
Can you tell a difference in accuracy between the different weight of cases? Is it the volume inside the case? Such as a heavier case will have a smaller volume inside? I can't see otherwise how it will affect the accuracy. (Assuming that is your goal)
 
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the_leper_colony,
Can you tell a difference in accuracy between the different weight of cases? Is it the volume inside the case? Such as a heavier case will have a smaller volume inside? I can't see otherwise how it will affect the accuracy. (Assuming that is your goal)

I've never really compared the same load in a 'heavy' case vs a 'light' case, in terms of accuracy. You're right, that a heavier case theoretically has a smaller internal volume and can therefore experience higher pressures - I've seen that mentioned multiple places, most commonly in reference to military vs civilian rifle brass.

I mostly sort by weight as a logical extension of sorting by headstamp; it won't always make any real difference, and not everyone bothers. I've got a good friend who doesn't even sort his pistol brass by headstamp; that seems to work for him, but I know for a fact it wouldn't always work for me.

Example - I load 160 gr cast bullets in .38 Super brass. Remington and some Winchester cases are thin (light) enough that the long bullets I use won't bulge the cases; if I load them in thick-wall (heavy) brass, the cases may bulge. So, it's more a matter of practicality than accuracy for that load. In similar fashion, if you set up your dies to get a good crimp using thick brass, your crimp may not perform adequately if you swap to thin brass (unless you adjust your crimp die). Again, not an issue for everyone, but I've seen where it can affect my reloads, so I go ahead & sort by weight.

As always, IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc., etc...
 
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I mostly sort by weight as a logical extension of sorting by headstamp; it won't always make any real difference, and not everyone bothers. I've got a good friend who doesn't even sort his pistol brass by headstamp; that seems to work for him, but I know for a fact it wouldn't always work for me.
Sorting by headstamp and/or brand of brass is another thing. That is the problem I ran into with my .38 and .357 loads. The different brands of brass were different lengths which caused problems when seating bullets. My solution was to chuck them all and go with Starline brass. I'm so happy I went that route.
 
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