Reloading PMC brass

Real Gun

New member
Yesterday I loaded 357 Magnum in volume for my cowboy rifle. I was loading .358 lead TCBB. I rarely use mixed head stamp but this was an exception. All cases were a uniform length, checked and trimmed as necessary. All were fired and a mixture of Winchester, Starline, and PMC head stamps.

I check every round in a case gauge. A bunch didn't pass and after segregating them I realized they were all PMC head stamp with a slight bulge at the base. My guess is that the brass was soft and collapsed during seat/crimp. I pulled 73 bullets and scrapped the primed brass. I cleaned up the burrs on the bullets and reloaded them in Starline brass, and all but a few passed gauging, the remainder cured by a Lee FCD. I attribute those to bullet irregularities from being pulled. I will probably resize bullets the next time.
 
I've had a few problem's with PMC brass in rifle's. Just doesn't last long at all and I'm a guy that think's 5 reloads is a lot!
 
My experience with PMC rifle brass is that neck splits and shoulder "burn throughs" are pretty common after just one or two firings.

I'm sure annealing would help, but it's just not worth the trouble for me since there are so many other better options, Privy being just one on the low cost front.
 
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