Looking at some 37xc brass from RCC and just wondering what your guys experience has been with RCC brass in general.
RCC brass experiences
- Thread starter Bravo6niner
- Start date
A buddy of mine has some 8 bore brass from them
It’s beautiful and seems to be doing well for him.
It’s beautiful and seems to be doing well for him.
My experience was to laugh out loud and say, "fuck that noise!" when I saw the prices quoted.
That reaction makes sense for a lot of common cartridges, but for wildcats those prices are actually really good. I've already eroded the throat on a .338LM Improved a little too much to my liking as part of the necessary fireforming process, and my formed brass is only surviving 1-3 loadings tops. RCC's brass made on CNC means no fireforming necessary and likely to last a lot more than 1-3 loadings.
And the grain in the brass is not formed like it is in "struck" cases either, so you're not really sure how case heads and primer pockets will react to high pressure compared to the conventionally manufactured product.
8-bore and oddball, 150 year old low-pressure elephant gun stuff, sure, that may be a good price, especially when the rifle might be an original $250,000 Holland & Holland. But for anything readily available through fireforming .223/.308/30-06/300RUM/338LM cases, $4-$6+ a case is a joke and a new barrel and a "modern" chambering are in order.
Lastly, I've done my share of wildcats, and if I only got a single firing off my wildcat before the brass was toast, I'd be doing something else. My last wildcat was getting about 30 firings before the necks split without any evidence of case head separations despite full length sizing every reload.
I'm glad that RCC can make a go of their business; woo! fill that niche!, but they won't have any of my business.
8-bore and oddball, 150 year old low-pressure elephant gun stuff, sure, that may be a good price, especially when the rifle might be an original $250,000 Holland & Holland. But for anything readily available through fireforming .223/.308/30-06/300RUM/338LM cases, $4-$6+ a case is a joke and a new barrel and a "modern" chambering are in order.
Lastly, I've done my share of wildcats, and if I only got a single firing off my wildcat before the brass was toast, I'd be doing something else. My last wildcat was getting about 30 firings before the necks split without any evidence of case head separations despite full length sizing every reload.
I'm glad that RCC can make a go of their business; woo! fill that niche!, but they won't have any of my business.
Do you believe that RCC doesn’t know how their brass acts under high pressure? Or that they’d sell brass to make crazy wildcats if they thought there’d be a kaboom due to a case failure? Serious questions. Try and get the cost out of your head for a moment and consider what can be accomplish when a case is lathe turned from a billet.
My brother just got some 416 Barrett brass from them. In communication between RCC and him and me, second hand, my understanding is they machine the stuff out of struck billet. In addition the alloy they use is stronger than your common cartridge brass. These two factors result in a durable case that handles pressure just fine.
As far as cost, consider that every case is identical to the other and they make them to your dimensions, your dies, your chamber. While too expensive for fucking around, they are reasonably priced for special purpose applications.
As far as cost, consider that every case is identical to the other and they make them to your dimensions, your dies, your chamber. While too expensive for fucking around, they are reasonably priced for special purpose applications.
Yup, out of the blue it showed up about a week ago. Impressively consistent stuff! They built mine based on my reamer specs, which unfortunately resulted in the case length needing to be trimmed a bit before loading (lesson learned). Also, the primer pockets were very tight, so there was some trimming and uniforming that still needed to be done.
I read up on it:
https://www.rccbrass.com/our-brass/
They use C272 instead of industry-standard C260; C272 is harder. They could use steel, or whatever, to make it harder still if that was their only objective. Materials selection is always a trade-off isn't it? If the industry, which produces billions (trillions?) of rounds a year, uses C260, then there's probably a reason.
If RCC works for everyone and you volunteer to pay the premium, great. Maybe I'll reconsider my position on RCC's product after the voodoo worshipping LR benchrest shooters start winning all their matches with lathe-turned C272 brass. Until then, I'm content with my accuracy and 20-30 reloads on conventional brass.
Of course there’s a reason, when you have to swage and draw your material over and over to reach the desired shape, the softer material is better for doing that. I’m pretty certain if they could add a whole bunch of strength to the case head of their brass, quickly and cheaply, they probably would. You calling BS on the product and insinuating there’s a safety issue, without evidence, is a little ridiculous.I read up on it:
https://www.rccbrass.com/our-brass/
They use C272 instead of industry-standard C260; C272 is harder. They could use steel, or whatever, to make it harder still if that was their only objective. Materials selection is always a trade-off isn't it? If the industry, which produces billions (trillions?) of rounds a year, uses C260, then there's probably a reason.
If RCC works for everyone and you volunteer to pay the premium, great. Maybe I'll reconsider my position on RCC's product after the voodoo worshipping LR benchrest shooters start winning all their matches with lathe-turned C272 brass. Until then, I'm content with my accuracy and 20-30 reloads on conventional brass.
Lighten up Francis. I never stated any safety issue. I *just* linked to the page where they say they "All our brass meets SAAMI and CIP pressure standards." Go pay $488 for a perfectly fine set of 100 .223 Remington Brass and go win matches. Honestly, please report back how it does. 
_sigh_ you're bustin' my balls over a comment from 6 months ago.
In my sentence you quoted above, where did I say anything about "safety?" I cannot be held accountable for how you interpret things I didn't type.
RCC's website has more information about their process and materials than it did from 6 months ago. Today, they claim that they've better concentricity, weight and volume, that C272 is harder, they have the proper headstamp, and they can make cases to customer specification. They do not talk about case life, neck tension or annealing procedure, accuracy improvement, lower ES, or anything that would justify or amortise the cost of their cases, process, or choice of materials. Processes and materials different than what's in common use today; upon which records have been set.
Above, Dogtown commented on case life "likely to last a lot more than 1-3 loadings" I didn't quote him then, but my comment, immediatly following Dogtown's, on primer pockets, material hardness was in regards to case life, not safety, so relax, and don't take single statements of mine out of context. I get a lot of case life on conventional, drawn, brass. It is my opinion, that anyone who only gets 1-3 firings on new cases has issues that require attention.
Again, I invite someone to purchase 10 cases and put them through the wringer, with procedure and data to support RCC's choice in material, and process with comparison to conventional drawn C260 products. If there's no difference, then people can make their own decision on whether it's worth it. My opinions on the matter are a matter of record above, and that other people are welcome to spend their money however they like. If you want to call me out, send me a PM. Now get off my back.
In my sentence you quoted above, where did I say anything about "safety?" I cannot be held accountable for how you interpret things I didn't type.
RCC's website has more information about their process and materials than it did from 6 months ago. Today, they claim that they've better concentricity, weight and volume, that C272 is harder, they have the proper headstamp, and they can make cases to customer specification. They do not talk about case life, neck tension or annealing procedure, accuracy improvement, lower ES, or anything that would justify or amortise the cost of their cases, process, or choice of materials. Processes and materials different than what's in common use today; upon which records have been set.
Above, Dogtown commented on case life "likely to last a lot more than 1-3 loadings" I didn't quote him then, but my comment, immediatly following Dogtown's, on primer pockets, material hardness was in regards to case life, not safety, so relax, and don't take single statements of mine out of context. I get a lot of case life on conventional, drawn, brass. It is my opinion, that anyone who only gets 1-3 firings on new cases has issues that require attention.
Again, I invite someone to purchase 10 cases and put them through the wringer, with procedure and data to support RCC's choice in material, and process with comparison to conventional drawn C260 products. If there's no difference, then people can make their own decision on whether it's worth it. My opinions on the matter are a matter of record above, and that other people are welcome to spend their money however they like. If you want to call me out, send me a PM. Now get off my back.
Just to clarify, the 1-3 loadings I'm referring to is for my .338LM Improved, not any other standard cartridge. My standard loads like 6.5x47L or .338LM last 10-20 loads on Lapua brass with regular annealing. The challenge has been fireforming this .338 wildcat, loading it pretty hot (the whole reason I have it), and then trying to get more than 3 loads out of it before I see that bright ring on the case web that tells me a case head separation is just around the corner.
That was my motivation for getting RCC brass: no need to fireform into the wildcat spec, and hope for longer brass life because of less initial deformation and extrusion.
Couple guys in the 300 prc thread got some and did a cross section, pretty nice brass.
