Reloading with Steel Cases?

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ScottRiqui

New member
Looking through Lee's Modern Reloading, I found this:

"Steel cases were used in World War II when brass was scarce. Steel cases are reloadable."

But Speer's Reloading Manual #13 has this to say on the topic:

"Foreign military rifle and pistol ammunition is often loaded in steel cases, which are not suitable for reloading."

Lee's advice notwithstanding, does anyone actually reload steel cases?
 
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Unclenick

Staff
Have done it accidentally in a progressive loading .45 ACP. As long as they are Boxer primed, this can be done, but the extra effort needed on the sizing die was really obvious and didn't seem likely to be good either for the press or the dies in terms of wear.
 
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Darren007

New member
There was an article in "Shooting Times" magazine not too long ago about reloading steel cases. The reloading editor gathered up some steel cases from a range and reloaded them. If I remember they were .45acp. Anyway, he was successful in reloading them however, several of them had split after firing. He advised that you could probably get a max of 1-2 reloads out of them before they were junk.

So yes, it can be done. Is it worth it? I guess thats up to the indivdual. :)
 
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scsov509

New member
does anyone actually reload steel cases
Click to expand...

Uncle Nick's got it right, can be done but is hard. I've loaded a fair share of steel 223 and 45 cases just because I wanted to see for myself how it worked. Steel is a lot less malleable than brass, so it simply doesn't resize the same way. It is more work, harder on your dies and press, and it is more prone to splitting because of it's hardness. Do some searching and you'll find a lot of threads in this forum on the subject if you're still interested. :D
 
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Unclenick

Staff
Should mention, if it isn't obvious, if you pick up a lot of range foundlings in auto pistol, you probably won't always notice the color difference between a steel case and an aging one with a serious patina. Here, the magnet is your friend and sorts the steel out quickly.
 
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