Heads up, brass washed steel pistol cases

[John from MD]

A friend gave me a bunch of 9mm cases and, while they looked like they were brass, they were actually brass washed steel. The headstamps were CC and Xtreme. In my research, I have also found references to some SIG cases being brass washed steel but haven't actually seen any.

CC

CC ​

Capital Cartridge​

From website: "Capital Cartridge has been supplying once-fired brass shell casings for commercial and recreational reloading since 2012." Their website features quantities of washed and polished fired cartridge cases of various headstamps both with and without the fired primers. The only cartridge cases with the headstamp of "CC" are sold new and unprimed on their website. Assembled Capital Cartridge handgun ammunition with CC headstamps are sold on their sister company's website (2A Warehouse). They feature both rifle and handgun calibers.

Other products listed on their website include primers and bullets.

X-treme

X-treme cases are products of X-tremebullets.com

 

[guzma393]

Boxer primed? If so, you can probably reload them as normal but would last half as long which isn't a big deal since 9mm cases are a dime a dozen.

I remember CCI putting a "decap" block on their aluminum cases to explicitly tell they cannot be reloaded, but I've seen people reload boxer primed aluminum cases without the block.

 

[John from MD]

Boxer primed? If so, you can probably reload them as normal but would last half as long which isn't a big deal since 9mm cases are a dime a dozen.

I remember CCI putting a "decap" block on their aluminum cases to explicitly tell they cannot be reloaded, but I've seen people reload boxer primed aluminum cases without the block.

They are both boxer primed.

 

[Jake4now]

I never knew there was such a thing until a magnet at the range picked up a brass SIG case. Now it all makes sense. I can confirm there are some SIG out there.

 

[ohen cepel]

I rarely pick up any 9mm range brass these days for many reasons. However, for those who are I would run a magnet through all of it before cleaning it.

 

[Sticky]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[SKIP]

Thanks for the heads up!

I believe the Turkish 9mm is copper washed steel.
It is highly polished and looks like brass.
It is attracted to my magnet.

 

[Trekker]

So much for just going with visual identification and sorting. I'll be moving a good magnet down to my reloading room.

 

[lazarus]

So much for just going with visual identification and sorting. I'll be moving a good magnet down to my reloading room.

Ditto.

 

[Jimgoespewpew]

To me this is really messed up and dishonest on the part of those ammo manufacturers since some pistols can be damaged by steel case ammo

 

[John from MD]

To me this is really messed up and dishonest on the part of those ammo manufacturers since some pistols can be damaged by steel case ammo

In all fairness to the manufacturers, their web sites indicate that they use brass washed, steel cases. I have no problem shooting steel cases in most guns but I don't want to reload them.

Back in the seventies I learned to reload 7.62x39 steel cases with jury rigged dies for my bring back SKS. It was a pain in the butt as anyone who has reloaded Berdan primed cases can tell you. The other drawback was the steel was a bitch to resize and sometimes cracked on the second firing. While the lubes we use now make sizing steel easier, I still see no reason to use it as brass is plentiful.

 

[Trekker]

So, what is the point of brass-washing the steel cases?

Does the thin layer of brass offer some improvement for case extraction (or other benefit),
or is the brass layer just to provide the appearance (deception) that the round has a higher quality brass case instead of steel?

 

[John from MD]

So, what is the point of brass-washing the steel cases?

Does the thin layer of brass offer some improvement for case extraction (or other benefit),
or is the brass layer just to provide the appearance (deception) that the round has a higher quality brass case instead of steel?

It gives them more corrosion protection. If you look around your range, you will see steel cases laying on the ground starting to corrode. I have opened a box of steel cased ammo and found corrosion on them.

 

[rickyp]

You can safely reload box primer steel cases a time or two with no issue. They are a little tough on the dies but a coat of sizing wax helps a lot. It isnt something to do a lot.
the brass wash acts like a lube to help with extraction and prevent rusting.

the company that use them because it is cheep to produce. If they don’t tell you it is brass washed and still charge full price then they ripping off their customers. I do believe sig is less then other brands.
what i would love to see is manufacturing companies use brass washed for their self defense rounds and charge less for them. Make it affordable to shoot what you carry.

 

[John from MD]

You can safely reload box primer steel cases a time or two with no issue. They are a little tough on the dies but a coat of sizing wax helps a lot. It isnt something to do a lot.
the brass wash acts like a lube to help with extraction and prevent rusting.

the company that use them because it is cheep to produce. If they don’t tell you it is brass washed and still charge full price then they ripping off their customers. I do believe sig is less then other brands.
what i would love to see is manufacturing companies use brass washed for their self defense rounds and charge less for them. Make it affordable to shoot what you carry.

I agree. The specialty ammo prices are getting out of hand.

 

[SKIP]

My magnet picked these up yesterday.

Head stamp
45 ACP
21
DZK

 

[John from MD]

Dang, that is the first plated .45 ACP I have seen. I guess I better run the magnet through the .45 bucket now.

 

[SKIP]

Dang, that is the first plated .45 ACP I have seen. I guess I better run the magnet through the .45 bucket now.

I forgot to mention it is boxer primed.