FAQs. (17 min read total)

A) Who is this site for and what are you about?

  This website is for everyone in Canada having an interest in the rifle shooting sports whether it be for hunting or accuracy shooting up to a half minute of angle of precision. That means a one inch group at 100 yards or if you will, roughly a ground-hog sized target at 500 yards.  In our estimate this represents about 95% of shooters. It is designed to make the reloading process far less tedious since all ten or more necessary steps before reloading are accomplished for you. All you need to do is seat the primer, pour the powder, seat your bullet and crimp if required, and voilà...you're done, ready to shoot! It is aimed at encouraging shooters to practice more while saving their precious time and money as well as sharing pertinent knowledge and tips in all aspects of shooting and reloading.

B) Where are you and who do you serve?

 We are located in the West-Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada and are serving everyone in the country who has an interest in the shooting sports, through an internet, web-based type business. We do not export our products.

C) Why should I buy from Brasswurx?

   It makes a lot of sense to encourage our local Canadian economy.  We take pride in the fact that we recycle our precious resources for your benefit. We are real people, enthusiastic shooters and reloaders ourselves, we therefore have a good grasp of the wants and needs of the shooting community.  We think we are the only company offering fully prepped, ready to reload rifle cases, at the same price as un-prepped and un-annealed new brass. We spare no effort in fully protecting your purchase with thick padding instead of sending loose cases in a bag. Plus, all of it is recyclable. Finally, we stand by our work and you can rest assured that we do value and respect our customers. We are rather old-school, proud Canadian types and should anything happen, know that all of us at Brasswurx are empowered to make things right for you, simply.

D) Is shipping included, what are the rates?

  Shipping for any and all businesses is never free. It is a service that has to be paid somehow.  Some will up their prices to be able to include "free" shipping, so in effect you, the customer, still pay for the service. Some will absorb the cost through a promotion, as we do, for a volume purchase of $160.00 or more. Some others will absorb the initial cost only to bombard you with one or more upsells (where their profits are) which you may or may not like. Here at Brasswurx, we offer transparency and you get charged the exact cost of Canada Post shipping to you and we do not make any profit from it. We will always bundle multiple purchases in an effort to minimise shipping costs to you.  Also know that it is estimated that more than 9 times out of ten, it is cheaper for you, your time and the environment to have your orders shipped to you rather than going out shopping for them. 

E) Why are the bags of mixed manufacturer's headstamps, why not segregate them?

  The reasons for this are two-folded and can get very long-winded so we will resume in this way: for the purpose of achieving up to half a minute accuracy, consistently, and affordably, the cost-benefit analysis showed it was not worth separating headstamps. In other words, as our experience has shown in blind tests, you would not be gaining any significant accuracy by paying more for segregated cases by manufacturer's headstamps, and that is, for the purpose of 95% of shooters.  Of course, this may run against the usual practice of many reloaders and rightly so because we are a picky bunch and we try to be as consistent as possible with our reloads to extract maximum accuracy. So we presume that a same manufacturer equals consistency. However, empirical experience has shown that practically all manufacturers exhibit the famous "bell-shaped distribution of inconsistencies" with regards to: weight, volumetric capacity, concentricity, diameters etc. The main difference between manufacturers being the relative "flatness" of the curve, the rounder, the better. Here you pretty much get what you pay for.

The next question is how much does those spreads affect accuracy and is the difference worth all that extra money?  For an F-Class world champion, yes absolutely, for the rest of us aspiring sharpshooters, the answer in no unless money is no object. But remember the purpose; one inch, one hundred yards...five hundred yards, five inches ...consistently, affordably and enjoying it.  There are other factors, far more important than segregation that come into play. For more details, we invite you to read our page called "our story" where we essentially enumerate the journey to this level of accuracy.

F) Why not mix nickel and brass cases?

It has come to our knowledge that if we mix both, very few customers would be happy.  As a business, you want the vast majority of customers to be happy and in this case, separating cases by type is easily done and at a low cost as well, saving money for our customers. We also noticed that nickel cases tend to be bought more for the purpose of hunting reloaders, while brass cases tend to be bought more for the accuracy-oriented reloaders, hence we, as a general rule do not mix them.

G) Can you tell me more about your steps/processes?

  Of course; We buy the once-fired brass from indoor and outdoor ranges within reasonable distance from our shop.  Both origins have their pros and cons, the indoor ones being cleaner at the onset but exhibit more bangs and dings that get them rejected for re-load. Obviously the outdoor ones are dustier and sometimes slightly oxidized which need a thorough cleaning up. The first step is to broadly separate them by group of diameters. Each group is then broadly visually checked and obvious defects are rejected. We then batch-wash/rinse to be able to do a finer visual check rejecting smaller, but unacceptable defects. We then individually sort them by calibers. Each calibers are individually gently washed again to reveal defects and protect our processing equipment from fine dirt or abrasive dust. Again we visual check them before batch depriming and reject whatever fails. At this point we thoroughly tumble wash with stainless pins in smaller batches and again visual-check and reject.  The cases are then lubed and go through full-length resizing, length trimming, inside and outside chamfering, primer pocket uniforming and chamfering,  and are again washed, but gently only to remove the lube residue. They then go through the annealing machine, cool-down, look-over, packed by weight and the bag sealed. There a couple more obvious steps; as thorough drying after each wash but you get the picture. Serious protective padding is taped around the bag and the whole thing is put in a sturdy box to insure a safe passage upon delivery!

 

H) Why do you mention 50+ units minimum/box?

  As shooters and reloaders ourselves, we are rather picky people by nature and always wished manufacturers would include one or more extra cases in the bags of fifty they sell, just to sort out a blemished one or two. Some manufacturers do but most don't include extras.  Brasswurx on the other hand chooses to be a bit more generous in this matter. Feedback from customers indicate it is quite appreciated! We pack by weight but you are assured of having at least 50 units in the bag, whatever else drops in does not get picked out.  The allowance is -0% to +10% meaning you may get up to five extra cases at no extra cost. It is also a QA built in, since being human sometimes mean making a honest error, for example, missing a defect upon visual inspection, then, you have a replacement right away.  It is not an encouragement to lower our standards but rather recognizing that human error is a possibility, BUT, customer satisfaction should never suffer from it and in this way, never will.

I) I want to see what kind of defects you find and sort out, do you have pictures to show me?

Yes!  Please see the "defects pictures catalogue" page, enjoy!

J) What is the purpose of the pouch in the bag of cases?

The included pouch is a dessicant designed to absorb all the humidity left in the bag once it is sealed. The purpose of this is to stop any corrosion from occurring within the bag therefore protecting the integrity of the cases. We ship our cases dry with no preservatives, oils or waxes applied to them as we do not want these products to coat or migrate inside the cases and potentially interfere with the combustion process of powders. It is an unknown that we do not want to risk until complete tests are done and confirmed.  Consequently the cases may appear a little less shiny than hoped for but this doesn't affect accuracy in the least.  

K) Why are Nickel cases not annealed?

  "Nickel-ed" cases will be annealed upon request at no extra cost.  The reason for not annealing  by default is a question of taste, education and "social" (or should we say client) acceptability.  A brass case is electroplated with nickel to give it it's aesthetics, feel, corrosion and scratch-resistance properties and marketing palatability.  It contributes a little to its structural strength and as far as we know contributes nothing to accuracy. The bond between the brass alloy and the nickel is electro-chemical. Although quite strong, it is is not intimately perfect and homogenous. There may be areas where the thickness and "bondiness"of the nickel varies slightly throughout the case. Also the electric and heat conductivity of brass and nickel are not equal. We use a powerful, sophisticated and precise annealing machine to anneal the necks of cases. The eddy currents (what actually produces the heat) generated in both metals aren't equal. This leads to differences in temperatures which may lead to the appearance of rainbow-colored necks on nickeled cases.  Although very beautiful, those rainbows are generally met with concerns or refusal.  This is not entirely unfounded, the appearance leads one to believe the underlying brass is "burnt",which It isn't but still, the doubt remains. The last and far more serious concern is that of a chip of nickel loosening off of the neck and "wandering" solo in your rifle, highly improbable ,but not impossible.  We therefore erred on the cautious side and have discontinued annealing nickel cases by default.  We now provide this service, on demand at no extra cost to you.

L) I want to shoot more accurately, can you help me?

Absolutely!  Although we cannot meet in person, there is a lot of knowledge you can acquire which we are happy to share!  First we would recommend you get some time to read through the page called "Our story" . There are pointers there just like a road map to help you improve. Each point should be dug a little deeper through internet searches. You will rapidly find which sources are trustworthy. Second, your question implies you already shoot and perhaps you already own a firearm. We sincerely hope you have a firearm that does not "kick" too hard for your level of comfort and endurance.  We have sadly witnessed too many who have acquired a high powered, lightweight rifle. This leads to a rapidly bruised shoulder and a consequently bruised ego because one simply starts flinching unknowingly and cannot group their shots.  To become a proficient, accurate shooter, one needs to practice and practice. It is therefore our opinion that if one cannot endure comfortably 25 to 50 shots in a practice session, then the gun is simply too light and/or too powerful. To practice and concentrate on your fundamentals (meaning the human side of the equation) a .22 LR is an excellent trainer gun not to be belittled.  In fact we would recommend owning two guns of the same type so the switch over is fluid and without thinking about it. For example one could have a .22LR bolt action and the other bolt action in the 243 WIN to 308WIN range.  In this case one can practice very cheaply yet still have the power for hunting just about any game and/or longer range shooting without breaking the bank or bruising your shoulder!  A question you need to answer to yourself is: will you bench rest only, hunt only, or both? Obviously the weight-to-caliber ratio becomes important and heavier for benchrest is fine, while lighter for hunting is more appropriate. Essentially you need to define your desire/purpose/need/fit and budget before shopping for a gun, otherwise the salesman has a good chance of making you fall in love with a gun he needs cleared out of inventory that month. Pushed to reveal the ideal caliber (which doesn't exist) we might recommend, to an average framed man or women, the  7mm08 would be one of an excellent choice. The recoil is very manageable especially in a heavier  gun. The ammo is relatively common and plentiful. Many quality manufacturers  produce or have produced excellent guns at desirable prices. The array of very high ballistic coefficient bullets offered is simply fantastic for the reloader. One can reform 308 cases into 7mm08 relatively easily and which are even more plentyfull. Powder consumption is on the low end. And this caliber can really stand on its own for power and accuracy even to 1000 yards. Anyway, we are getting sidetracked here...lets focus-). One element we cannot recommend enough is finding a local, excellent shooter who has a demonstrated track record and can coach and advise you, especially on your fundamentals before you develop bad shooting habits.

Read and learn about reloading and load development for your gun. That way you will eventually feed your gun, match ammo that you simply cannot find commercially. The confidence factor you will have reached by then will pleasantly astonish you, we guarantee it!-)

Lastly, yet  perhaps most importantly, engage in the shooting sports in a manner and capacity that you really enjoy.  It is our experience that the shooting community is composed of helpful, kind, generous, and all around great people from all walks of life, freely willing to share their love of this hobby. You will quickly discover, the more you give the more you receive from this community.

M) Why is there stains in the bottom of the primer pocket sometimes?

  The cleaning solution we use is very gentle on the brass. We have tested different additives that are suppose to "eat" carbon. We have found that these additives also alter somewhat the surface of the brass and are unsure of its true effects overall. So we find this to be an unacceptable unknown, or risk for our clients. In practical terms, the stain will not affect the combustion process or the accuracy as long as there isn't an accumulation thick enough to be seen by the naked eye. So although this part is a cosmetics element that we also are sensitive to, be assured that we are working on it, so this is a work in progress.

 O) How do I best use my recently acquired cases?

  Thank you for your purchase, we hope you will be entirely satisfied with it! So the first thing to do is to not open the bag until you need it, otherwise the desiccant pouch will, in time, become saturated with atmospheric humidity defeating its protective purpose. Once opened, visually inspect each case to make sure a defect was not missed. You will notice that we included more than the 50 count therefore assuring you to choose the ones you like best. Reloaders are a picky bunch and rightly so, hence we offer extras to accommodate everyone. Next reload your cases carefully following all safety protocols and up to date information with regards to load data  etc.  Please also read and heed our disclaimer, it is not only a legal obligation to post one, it is a reminder and a heads-up about your safety and we care !  You can pretty-up your new ammo by polishing it if you are so inclined, methods abound on the internet but again always be informed and work safely. You should ideally own caliber-specific plastic boxes to store and protect your ammo. We also recommend storing your box(es) of ammo in a vapor-tight plastic bag along a desiccant pouch or two.  Store in a cool dry place for longest life and best performance when ready to use.

You should also know that ammonia and it vapors are a powder killer. It is very often found in glass cleaning solution sold for household use and in other detergents. So be careful that while reloading, the short time your powder is exposed to air, no one is cleaning glasses or using ammonia-containing spray soaps and such around or near you. 

P) Do you do giveaways?

Yes indeed we do, we are going to kick-off the new year in the form of an interactive exchange/contest/submission with our clients and newsletter subscribers as well as to our Facebook followers. We will alternate  and it may take the form of serious questions to answer, a survey, best picture(s) or a totally humoristic outcomes, suggestions etc...Your resourcefulness and imagination is the limit and as long as common sense and courtesy rules,  we can all share in the fun, participating and winning prizes as well.  Giveaways will be done monthly.

Q) We haven't answered your question here? please do email us at Brasswurx@gmail.com and we will do our best to answer you promptly!

Thankyou!!

Alain