When did Midway make brass?

Will

Well-Known Member
I’m thinking PPU made this brass for graf and sons.

For some reason I have like 200 new pieces of this grafs 30-06 brass. Problem is I don’t have a 30-06

I may remedy that soon.
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
In the early 80s when I was getting started in IPSC, we would drive to Columbia, MO a real hotbed of
nationally famous IPSC shooters, and shoot their matches. I still have a number of really nice medals
from their matches. We would stop at Midway on the way home, then a about 25x40 concrete block
building just off of I-75 with a gravel parking lot. I remember passing up racks and racks of .50-70
and .45-70 Trapdoor Springfields for (IIRC) $100. Gack! I wish I had bought a few. Did buy some reloading stuff
each trip, so I am sure I met Larry at that time. I was building an aircraft and shooting IPSC competition
at a fast and furious pace, not a lot of spare $$ in those days. I remember saving up for 4 months to buy
a $400 part for the airplane.

Bill
 
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Rushcreek

Well-Known Member
I had some Texas headstamp .45 ACP brass from Midway. It lasted and lasted till the last one was lost to the tall grass. I'm fairly certain it was made by Starline.
 

Elkins45

Active Member
I bought 500 rounds of 45 acp and 357 magnum from Midway the first time I saw an ad for it in some shooting publication. The year was either 1987 or 88. I had never seen bulk brass for sale before. In later years I have come to the assumption that it was illegal for a non-FFL to buy brass mail order until FOPA passed in 86. But I may be completely wrong about that.

Anyway, the brass was first-rate quality and I am still shooting most of it today. Some of my 357 cases have probably been loaded 30 times now and are still going strong. If I were betting I would put my money on Starline being the actual manufacturer.


Edit: I should have just read the linked article. Turns out I was right.
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
If you look at the pic in the Midway story, note that he is holding a Trapdoor Springfield. One of the many,
MANY he had in stock in the early 80s when we stopped thru.

And when loading .38 Super to max velocities (legit Hodgdon data, but truly max) some brass was OK,
some would bulge at the feed ramp in a horrifying manner, or occasionally blow out. ALL W-W brass, including
their +P+ .38 Super brass would NOT survive a single firing intact or at leasted bulged a full 1/16th inch at the
unsupported feed ramp area. YIKES!! Midway, Rem +P and PMC brass would survive unlimited reloading, including until
the ejector hits wiped off most or all of the headstamp. Midway (Starline, but I didn't know it at the time)
was really good, strong brass in .38 Super, at least. Since we had everyone picking up brass after a run through
a stage, you inevitably got some few pieces of somebody else's brass. I had to CAREFULLY sort my .38 Super
brass after each match to remove any W-W brass, to save me from "Super face" which I only got to "enjoy"
once when the case blew because of someone else's W-W case being accidentally used. Some friends never really got
the hang of loading hot .38 Super loads had fairly regular "Super face", tiny bloody spots and picking the odd brass
shard out of your cheek or nose. NOT good!
This load would chrono 1230 fps or higher avg with a 150 gr SWC. Major caliber at that time required bullet wt in
grains time velocity in fps to exceed 180,000. This load would do it, but with minimal margin.

Midway was strong brass, and of course, that means Starline was strong brass.

Bill
 
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popper

Well-Known Member
Larry must have bought the good ones from the Jeff City museum for a good penny. Used to be racks & racks of them there in the 50's.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
That would make sense. I had wondered where you would run across a large supply of Trapdoors at that time.
Too bad I didn't buy one of each significant model. I did look at them briefly, they definitely had .50-70s and
45-70s. I wonder if any of the sleeved barrel versions were sitting there?

Bill
 

mattw

Active Member
I have some 38 super that was mismarked and a note that Winchester marked it 38 auto and it was made to 38 super specs.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Funny this thread came up again because yesterday I ran across a 357 Mag Midway case.

I got some new years ago and discovered it was good brass. I've been into and out of the 357 Mag several times over the years and I always let all the brass go as well because it didn't last long the way I used to shoot it - primer pockets got loose.:oops:

This one case has been fired a lot but found its way into my sample case stash and has been around since the early to mid-eighties.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Loose primer pockets is kinda like that first heart attack. A warning that you might really
want to consider what you are doing a little more closely.:headscratch:

As to mattw - important tip: never believe that Win .38 Super brass is even close to as strong as Rem,
Starline/Midway or PMC brass. No matter what is marked on the head stamp. Somewhere I saved
a piece of W-W nickel .38 SUper +P+ brass that had bulged literally about 1/16th of an inch at the
unsupported feed ramp area, to the point that bare brass was showing in a tiny alligator skin pattern
between islands of nickel. VERY scary and probably about 3 psi from blowing out. All the IPSC folks
who were loading major caliber .38 Super learned the hard way to stay away from W-W brass.
Later, they came up with the integral ramped barrels which much more fully supported the brass
and any brass was OK with max loads with that "ramped chamber" or "supported chamber" type
of barrel.

Bill
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
......Loose primer pockets is kinda like that first heart attack. A warning that you might really
want to consider what you are doing a little more closely...............................Bill

When I first gave up on the 357 Mag it was because it was just TOO DANGED LOUD and the brass didn't last. Thought it was a shame the Security, Service and Speed Sixes were wasted on a puny cartridge you had to run that hard. It was like holding a stick of dynamite at arm's length in front of your face and setting it off, but what did I know? That's the way you were supposed to do it according to some who were older and "wiser" than I.

I stuck with the 44s, 45s and cast bullets and ditched the 357. Eventually, it dawned on me that there was no law stating the 357 had to be loaded like that. About 35 years ago, I came into a stash of 358429s my dad had cast years previous - it was like a dirty little secret because he despised the 357 and made no bones about it. Told me "here, use these up." Never shot another hand-loaded jacketed bullet in the 357 thereafter and haven't missed the obnoxious muzzle blast of my initial loads either.

Then: Lot younger, lot dumber......

Now: Lot older, somewhat wiser.;)
 

mattw

Active Member
Loose primer pockets is kinda like that first heart attack. A warning that you might really
want to consider what you are doing a little more closely.:headscratch:

As to mattw - important tip: never believe that Win .38 Super brass is even close to as strong as Rem,
Starline/Midway or PMC brass. No matter what is marked on the head stamp. Somewhere I saved
a piece of W-W nickel .38 SUper +P+ brass that had bulged literally about 1/16th of an inch at the
unsupported feed ramp area, to the point that bare brass was showing in a tiny alligator skin pattern
between islands of nickel. VERY scary and probably about 3 psi from blowing out. All the IPSC folks
who were loading major caliber .38 Super learned the hard way to stay away from W-W brass.
Later, they came up with the integral ramped barrels which much more fully supported the brass
and any brass was OK with max loads with that "ramped chamber" or "supported chamber" type
of barrel.

Bill
I have not fired a 38 super in many years, do not have one anymore. But have an ammo can full of brass from new to 2 or 3 times fired.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
We were definitely pushing the limits on .38 Super, but the load I used was a max load by
Hodgdon powder data. I only saw the data once, in one of those little free loading data
books they give out.....well, they do around here, that LGS where I got it shared a parking lot
with Hodgdon at the time, maybe had an inside line on those books.

Bill
 

Urny

Missouri Ozarks, heart still in the Ruby Mountains
I wonder if Starline made the brass in the Midway 7.35mm Italian 128 grain SP ammo I have. Is not Starline's entry into rifle brass production fairly recent?