New Kind of Brass

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  • oldpink

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    I'm definitely intrigued, although having to lube and requiring their propietary dies make it a bit less attractive as an option to conventional brass.
    According to their site, they plan on introducing bottleneck cases, although they seem to be sticking exclusively to 9mm for their dies, cases, and loaded ammo for now.
    If they bring out a line of 10mm, .45 Colt, or .30-06, I'll probably bite, especially with enough time having elapsed by that time from people having loaded 9mm to serve as beta testers.
     

    BE Mike

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    I use a shot of spray lube on my brass now, even with carbide dies. It makes pulling the handle easier (getting old ain't for sissies). I think this new brass would be most attractive for someone who is just getting started in reloading. Saving money on components is always a good thing. It isn't clear if the proprietary dies would be compatible with progressive presses, i.e. Dillon.
     

    oldpink

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    I use a shot of spray lube on my brass now, even with carbide dies. It makes pulling the handle easier (getting old ain't for sissies). I think this new brass would be most attractive for someone who is just getting started in reloading. Saving money on components is always a good thing. It isn't clear if the proprietary dies would be compatible with progressive presses, i.e. Dillon.

    FWIW, the manufacturer's own site states that their dies are indeed compatible with progressive presses.
    As for Dillon:
    For Dillon press models that feature an integrated flaring and powder-drop tool, the standard Dillon flaring tool (with its integrated powder drop) can be used instead of the S3 Reload flaring tool provided that 1) the S3 Reload sizing tool is used in the initial sizing station 2) the flaring die is well lubricated.

    https://www.shellshocktechnologies....and-flaring-dies-for-shell-shocks-nas3-cases/
     

    throttletony

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    I'm always VERY glad to see any developments in the firearms industry, and I hope the market will respond positively.
    Imagine these in a hot 10mm load, 327 or 357 mag, 41 mag, 357 sig, etc.

    As a guy looking for some new 9mm dies... this has me wondering.
    (love the idea of policing brass with a magnet! and the color options... but I got into reloading to shoot more for less money, this kind of defeats that purpose)
     

    BE Mike

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    FWIW, the manufacturer's own site states that their dies are indeed compatible with progressive presses.
    As for Dillon:
    For Dillon press models that feature an integrated flaring and powder-drop tool, the standard Dillon flaring tool (with its integrated powder drop) can be used instead of the S3 Reload flaring tool provided that 1) the S3 Reload sizing tool is used in the initial sizing station 2) the flaring die is well lubricated.

    https://www.shellshocktechnologies....and-flaring-dies-for-shell-shocks-nas3-cases/
    Thanks for pointing that out. I haven't been very detail oriented lately.
     

    BE Mike

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    I'm always VERY glad to see any developments in the firearms industry, and I hope the market will respond positively.
    Imagine these in a hot 10mm load, 327 or 357 mag, 41 mag, 357 sig, etc.

    As a guy looking for some new 9mm dies... this has me wondering.
    (love the idea of policing brass with a magnet! and the color options... but I got into reloading to shoot more for less money, this kind of defeats that purpose)
    I thought that was one of the benefits of this new brass. Didn't they give a breakdown of the cost of this brass with conventional brass?
     

    oldpink

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    I thought that was one of the benefits of this new brass. Didn't they give a breakdown of the cost of this brass with conventional brass?

    Yes
    As it turns out, the new cases cost significantly less than the cheapest new unprimed conventional brass.
    Other benefits cited (assuming that the new new cases turn out to be all that they're cracked up to be): They weigh almost exactly half as much, you can have the case heads anodized to just about any color you can imagine for easy load identification, five to ten times the number of reloads, case trimming is no longer needed, you can generate higher velocities with lower pressure, they have slightly greater internal capacity, the magnet thing, and larger and beveled flash hole to get better and more consistent ignition.
    The liabilities cited are that they require the specialized dies that cost about twice as much as conventional dies, they require case lube, pulling the bullets compromises the cases and necessitates they be discarded.
    We already know that these new cases cost quite a bit less than regular brass, so if you really can get at least 40 reloads apiece with them, you'll be reloading for less than with regular brass, considerably less.
    It's also worth commenting that the specialized dies for these cases also work with regular brass, so anyone who doesn't already have the dies for regular brass who wants to try these new cases first will have no problem going back to the regular brass if he wants to expend it or if the new cases prove unsatisfactory.
     

    Woobie

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    I should have been more clear...
    If I'm already sitting on a pile of recovered range brass, then it's more expensive :)

    That's where I'm at, but this is really cool. If I ever burn through my 9mm stash of brass, I will really consider going this route. Picking up brass with a magnet sounds amazing.
     

    1911ly

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    Who you calling old and fat :xmad: wait, that would be me. :): Sounds interesting. Hopefully one of you guys will try these and let us know what you think from real world experience. Rifle calibers would get my attention. I shoot rifle probably 25:1 over pistol. I would find this really handy rifle loads. And if you got more reloads that would be even more awesome!
     

    Bfish

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    I wonder how many times you can load this... It is certainly pretty cool, it would be more worth it to me for calibers that aren't easily found, I can go pick up 9mm for example any time at the range, and I don't have to worry about loosing it if I'm out shooting at home and don't feel like throwing a tarp down. If anyone jumps in on this, please report to us!
     

    1911ly

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    I wonder how many times you can load this... It is certainly pretty cool, it would be more worth it to me for calibers that aren't easily found, I can go pick up 9mm for example any time at the range, and I don't have to worry about loosing it if I'm out shooting at home and don't feel like throwing a tarp down. If anyone jumps in on this, please report to us!

    The article says up to 40 times. Amazing.
     

    two70

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    The article says up to 40 times. Amazing.

    Is it really all that amazing for 9mm though? I tend to load relatively large quantities of 9mm so I haven't been through the reloading cycle enough times to wear out any of the brass but from what I understand pistol brass should last a long, long time itself. I know bottle necked rifle cases can easily last 6-8 reloadings and twice that with annealing and a low intensity, straight walled brass pistol case should last far longer. However being magnetic should make finding spent cases far easier and reduce the likelihood of losing cases before they are worn out.
     

    rvb

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    Lots of marketing hype, I don't buy much of it.

    aluminum head? I've never tried reloading aluminum, how does it stand up to lots of cycles compared to brass? eg extractor/ejector damage.

    Two pieces that won't pull apart, like absolutely never over thousands and thousands of samples? There's a lot of pulling pressure on a case mouth (powder funnels, bullet leaving, extraction, inertia under recoil in the mag, etc. feeding can put a lot of "bending" pressure on a cartridge, as the case head slides up under the extractor and the chamber tries to align the round. Not to mention as they get stepped on... on rocks...

    higher velocities, with lower pressure? sounds like they might have a bridge for sale somewhere, too...

    no trimming? who trims 9mm? who cares.

    40 reloads? I've never even counted how many times I've loaded 9mm. 40 is not 5-10x the number of loads from 9mm bass, that's laughable.

    You all get through a few million rounds and let me know how it's going. I'll go buy some 1x fired 9mm brass for ~$40/1000, assuming I can't find enough on the ground for free...

    I'm all for innovation, but I'll need to see how it shakes out before I go risking my match performance or even my safety with such questionable tech.

    -rvb
     

    Sling10mm

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    It is interesting from a design standpoint, but I wonder about the longevity of the aluminum case head as rvb mentions.

    Seems like this was posted some time ago.... maybe just a false sense of deja vu since the article is dated more recently. For some reason I was thinking Kirk had posted it, but I'm getting old, and I think one of the first things to go is memory, but I can't remember.
     
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