257 Roberts brass

[inthebeech]

I went to purchase some brass and found two types available; "regular" and "+p."   I am certainly intending to load to the maximum potential of my modern bolt action gun so why is the "non +p" even available.  This is not an effective hindrance with any other cartridge - if folks want to take risks they put more powder in the case.  And I also thought that the barrel and receiver really dictated the strength of the whole system, especially with breach designs such as the Remington 700 which leaves virtually no part of the brass case unsupported.  The bottom line is that this delineation is unsettling to me and I would like to know if I truly need to use the +P cases when assembling and shooting +P loads.
Ed

[cwlongshot]

Good afternoon Ed,

You are just fine with either. You are also correct when you say the stregnth is determined by the firearm and its action. The brass is simply a vessle to conviently hold powder and bullet in the chamber to attain better accuracy.

The "bob" is simply a much loved and reloaded caliber from a time when metalurgy wasn't as it is today.  It is widly known ballistics can be easilly improved in modern bolt guns. So in an effort to heep the higher pressure rounds outta older actions Winchester began manufacturing +P ammunition.

Aside from its +P monicer, its identicle to "regular" brass.

CW

CW

[Reed1911]

Maybe and maybe not. It depends on the vintage of the brass and make. I have some older Win brass that is considerably lighter than the new +P brass; which would indicate that it is thicker. I don't recall the exact numbers offhand though. Its only a matter of working up your loads safely in any case. But the point needs to be made that brass does make a significant difference and brass can be loaded beyond its spec even if the gun so chambered can handle the pressure. Take for instance the S&W 544 44-40 revolver, the gun can take full house .44 Mag loads but the brass would fail long before then. Just because you are in a rifle does not change that point, brass is speced for a given load range; it will fail long before the rifle does if extended beyond that range/.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive never seen where a load that was good in plus p brass looked hot in my standard brass.