10mm brass...

[flatapple]

Is the brand of brass a critical part in maximum load pressure?  I am planning on using Starline nickel brass.  I am finding many different load data, but none with Starline brass.

[tommac919]

Starline is a good brass made for re-loaders  ( a bit more malleable or softer ).  So it can take a bunch of resizing before getting brittle.

( tho I have found nickle doesn't last as long reloading as plain brass as it's not as soft )

The brass only really becomes a pressure issue if you overload the case above max loads.... then the case may let go sooner than better brass.  Usu not an issue at all for a good reloader. 

[sqlbullet]

Yes.  "Reduce 10% and work up" protects against changes in components.  Even with known components you should never jump to a max load, because your gun is different than the gun used to work up the published data.

[The_Shadow]

Flatapple, you'll have no worries with Starlne brass.  It is a brass made for handloaders and reuse.  However other brands are questionable such as A-USA & PPU.  As with anything inspection is the key as is your loading technique and processes.
If you are not working at the extremes most things fine by the printed loading data.  When working at the upper end of performance several things require more attention to the details of your work.

Hand weighing and verification is a must.  Double check yourself and equipment, such as the scale or scales...I use two different scales to insure things are what is expected.
Working up the load, as mentioned can help show how the firearm is handling the ammunition and the components being assembled, with measuring and careful inspection.
Even with all the things being done right, there can be anomalies, flat primers or leaking primer pockets, case cracks or splits, bulges that fill the chamber, bulges and smiles that exceed the chamber size. 

Enjoy and be safe! 

[The Earl o Sammich]

The 10mm is a little different animal especially if you're shooting a pistol with the less supported chamber.  As mentioned above look for bulges, smiles.  I found that I wouldn't see the other normal high pressure signs.  Read up on the finding smiles thread here and check your cases at the base.  You'll see a little expansion at low loading and it will be fairly consistent as you work up.  Once it starts to grow slow down or stop.  Get yourself the Redding G-Rx push through die or equivalent.

What pistol do you have?

[flatapple]

I just purchased a Ruger SR1911.  I will be using 180 gr. bullets.

[tommac919]

this is what you don't want ... it is scrap at this point due to micro shearing where the line is;



This is normal bulge from like a glock and can be resized;

[Trapper6L]

flatapple, while we'd like to think our weapons are an extremely precise piece of equipment, they have tolerances just like anything mechanical. In the case of the 10mm, per SAAMI, there is an overall tolerance of .012 and that's + or -. You probably won't see that much variation concerning the brass and even at that, there is a difference between lot numbers of made brass. That's why the benchresters always weight the empty cases before doing any work on them and then weigh them again after the work. For a pistol, I don't see many one group pistols so I doubt it matters much on a straight wall case.

FWIW, RCBS warns against using nickel brass with normal steel sizing dies. They recommend carbide only with nickel brass and that's no guarantee that you won't have issues. I had a set of RCBS carbide dies for 357 and the sizing die started leaving scratches on the nickel cases. It got pretty bad before I called RCBS about it. They agreed to swap out the carbide die if I agreed to throw away all of the nickel brass. Since the brass was old and been thru the gun a number of times, I chunked it and bought all new non-nickel brass. Any nickel brass I come across now goes in the garbage can regardless of cartridge. I've had too many issues with nickel brass over the years including the plating coming off in chunks which will really screw up the round. It gets brittle to the point that the rims crumble and now you have a stuck case, etc. My recommendation is plain ol' Starline brass. I've found it to be a much better brass than anything else I've used, which includes Remington, Winchester, Federal, Nosler Custom, Lapua, Frontier, Norma, to name a few.