Reloading Wolf steel cases (Info)

[Santa Cruz Armory]

Well, while prepping some Wolf steel cases I made a discovery... There are different size primers and that the larger primers are Berdan, therefore not reloadable. The primer holes are about 20-25 thousandths different.



During this discovery I also found out that my Lee decapping/ sizing die will actually "install" a boxer flash hole. Don't try this too many times...



It looks like you can tell the difference in cases by the size of the primer and by the "DOT" after the REM.



Like I said, your dies won't be happy if you try to make boxer flash holes!



I haven't tried to prime any yet. I'll repost with the info on which primers the re loadable cases take.

[jandmtv]

Dude, just be carefull!

[ar15barrels]

Like I said, your dies won't be happy if you try to make boxer flash holes!

I have done this a few times with 9mm and I have never broken the decapping pin.
Of course I run Dillon dies which have a pretty tough pin.
I do notice the case is considerably harder to size when you are also punching the anvil out of the primer pocket with the decapping pin.

[Santa Cruz Armory]

I have done this a few times with 9mm and I have never broken the decapping pin.
Of course I run Dillon dies which have a pretty tough pin.
I do notice the case is considerably harder to size when you are also punching the anvil out of the primer pocket with the decapping pin.

I didn't break it with the case, I broke it trying to bend it back to straight.

[ar15barrels]

I didn't break it with the case, I broke it trying to bend it back to straight.

Oh, gotcha.
The dillon decapping pin has never bent, even after making a few boxer cases.

[hybridatsun350]

Oh, gotcha.
The dillon decapping pin has never bent, even after making a few boxer cases.

With the price of Lee dies you can afford to buy a few extra decapping pins.

[Santa Cruz Armory]

With the price of Lee dies you can afford to buy a few extra decapping pins.

I bought a few more

[ar15barrels]

With the price of Lee dies you can afford to buy a few extra decapping pins.

With the price of a Hundai, you can afford a few more gallons of gas too.
This does not stop people from buying nice cars though.

People who appreciate quality will generally spend more on whatever it is they are buying.

[Chief-7700]

Why?????????

Why??? They are junk!! I don't even pick them up for for reloading, however I do pick them up and toss them into the scrap steel bucket. Will all the pressure to go GREEN I do my part.
Chief-7700

[Santa Cruz Armory]

I've never had one break. It was my fault...I didn't know that some were Berdan primed....OOPS!! my bad! The dies have been great till then. I feel that they are good quality for the $17.00

[Roccobro]

I have chatted with some users on THR that have reloaded Wolf cases before for fun. One guy had reloaded cases 5x and hadn't seen a rupture. He tossed them at that point anyways as there were plenty more free ones everywhere....

I wanted to buy some Wolf 30 carbine and put a HP bullet in the case for some cheap SHTF ammo. Then I found some LC unfired brass for $60/k and ditched the Wolf stuff all together.

Good luck with the reloading of steel cases. It can be done, but they are a different animal than brass, so proceed with caution.

Justin

[xrMike]

People who appreciate quality will generally spend more on whatever it is they are buying.

Now that's just the talking right there.

[ar15barrels]

Now that's just the talking right there.

I also buy Starrett and Mitutoyo measuring tools when chi-com imports would work too.

[Roccobro]

If I had a bunch of disposable income, I too would buy only the best of everything.

But even after working in a machine shop for a few years, I still only use the imitation Starrett calipers that have survived more abuse than the Starrett's themselves could take in my short time there. And yes, the cheap ones held their accuracy too.

Justin

[diginit]

What makes you think you can't reload Berdan. Drive a screw into the primer. Just don't go too deep and make sure the primer in dead first. They pull right out, You've already got the die you can pull the pin on.