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I have a No.1 Mk.4 Lee Enfield in .303 Brit. On five occasions a reload caused a case separation with half the case lodged in the chamber. Upon inspection every single case was an S&B. No other brand of case has ever failed in that rifle. Makes me think S&B brass is garbage. Am I wrong?
I haven't had very good luck with S&B brass in 5.56 either. I separate them out and they go in the scrap brass can.
I can't say as that I've ever noticed using their brass, but I'll be on the lookout now.
I have no experience with them myself, but I have noticed that others around the web do not care for S&B brass.
I'm just thinking their alloy of brass is not stout enough for a high pressure round to be able to reliably reload them.
I am seeing 9mm S&B brass that is attracted to a magnet. Which tells me it's brass plated steel... No thanks!
ive had a bad batch about 4-5 years ago of s&b 762x54 with 180g sp bullets, I bought 5 boxes from a ammo vender at a bigger show, took some to the range and shot about a box worth, while picking up the emptys, I saw one that had a split neck, so I checked the other ones and 18 of the 20 had split necks. I know it wasn't the rifle as I have many wolf and win brass thru it. I opened up the other box I had with me, and sure enough, there was a bunch with split necks. I checked the other ones when I got home and 50 something of the 4 boxes had neck splits. I emailed s&b and got no reply, I called them , gave them the lot number and they said they would look into it and get back to me , never heard back so i pulled them and tossed them into the scrap brass bucket. I have a couple still floating around to remind me never to buy their crap again
Thanks to this thread I've now gone back and checked all my cases and have discarded all the S&B. Add S&B to my list of junk brass along with some others that I already knew about.
I just found it strange had like 6 case separations, and every one was S&B. And they were definitely not from the same lot or something where they just made a bad batch. I mean I have S&B, Knobloch, Remington, Lapua, Prvi Partizan. None of them did it.
I've had issue with other companies and I just get rid of them. Example: I was decapping and resizing 9mm and came across some brass (NNY is the brand) that the primer wouldn't push out. The decapping pin would actually push a hole thru the primer, then I would have to take the shell holder out and bend the primer back just to get the case out. Happened a couple of times. So now if I see that brand case it goes staight into the trash. Some brands get the primer knocked out and go into scrap some straight into trash can.
Just an FYI on Enfields. I have loaded for several and experienced several separations with Remington & Winchester brass. Seems the military Lee Enfields have large chambers to allow use of battlefield ammo that is dirty, dented, etc. They also lock near the rear of the bolt instead of the front. Upon firing the case stretches and fits the chamber. When the case is reloaded and full-length sized, the shoulder is pushed back to it's original position. Another firing, it moves forward to fit the sloppy chamber. The third time it is full-length sized and fired, it separates just forward of the case belt. After first firing of factory ammo, turn the sizing die about 3/4 turn up so it will not contact the shellholder. Size the case and load as normal procedure. The sizing die should not touch the shoulder. The case will not stretch on the second firing. The US pattern 14 Enfields don't have a sloppy chamber and lock at the front and this problem hasn't surfaced in the 2 Pattern 14 rifles that I have fired, and my reloads don't separate since I don't full-length size them. I think the worst chambers were in the SMLE No. 4 and the Jungle Carbine.
I realize that, but like I said, many separations, only one brand of brass doing it.