The big problem back in the day...
by Paul 
, Wednesday, September 16, 2026, 11:10 (21 hours, 12 minutes ago) @ Slow Hand
was the mercuric primers. If you've got some original never loaded balloon head cases, loading them with BP and modern primers and cleaning them meticulously should result in long lived cases. I had some OLD 38 spl brass from way back when. They'd been fired with the mercuric primers and were brittle as could be. Your main concern would come from work hardening the case mouths from repeated crimping leading eventually to splits.
Complete thread:
- When posting it says "New topic" but this is an old one .... -
JimT,
2026-09-14, 09:19
![[*]](themes/default/images/complete_thread.png "Open whole thread")
- When posting it says "New topic" but this is an old one .... -
Paul,
2026-09-14, 09:58
- Roughly 38 grains. -
JimT,
2026-09-14, 10:18
- Roughly 38 grains. -
Slow Hand,
2026-09-15, 18:01
- I have maybe 100 45 Colt balloon head cases. - JimT, 2026-09-15, 18:43
- The big problem back in the day... - Paul, 2026-09-16, 11:10
- Roughly 38 grains. -
Rgates,
2026-09-15, 21:15
- Yes(?)… - Slow Hand, 2026-09-16, 03:14
- I weighed them. - JimT, 2026-09-16, 07:55
- Roughly 38 grains. -
Slow Hand,
2026-09-15, 18:01
- Roughly 38 grains. -
JimT,
2026-09-14, 10:18
- When posting it says "New topic" but this is an old one .... -
Paul,
2026-09-14, 09:58