Dusty Morningwood 45 Posted September 13 A guy wants to sell me a box of NOS .50-70 brass sold by Dixie Gun Works and with DGW headstamps. These were made by Bertram. Seems that .50-70 brass is sold out everywhere. The asking price is less than Dixie's $4.50 a case, but higher than the out of stock Starline. Is Bertram worth the extra money? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kid Rich 625 Posted September 13 Check the case length. I bought some new Bertram brass for a 38-56 and it was a little more than 1/16" shorter than original and was very hard to get a decent crimp on it with original dies. kR Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boggus Deal #64218 273 Posted September 13 My experience is Betram is great brass. It’s available. Starline isn’t. If you can give me a couple days, I think I have 100 rounds of Starline but need to find it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dusty Morningwood 45 Posted September 13 1 hour ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said: My experience is Betram is great brass. It’s available. Starline isn’t. If you can give me a couple days, I think I have 100 rounds of Starline but need to find it. Sent ya a PM. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Original Lumpy Gritz 6,895 Posted September 13 B is very good brass. So is Starline. Both need the case mouth annealed. OLG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trailrider #896 1,509 Posted September 13 How bad do you want .50-70 brass? Frankly, I've had excellent luck with Bertram brass in some odd-ball calibers. There appears to be one basic problem with Starline .50-70 brass...it ain't available! Starline is good brass, although in .44-40, I prefer Winchester when I can get it. Stay well, Pards! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dusty Morningwood 45 Posted September 13 1 hour ago, Trailrider #896 said: How bad do you want .50-70 brass? Frankly, I've had excellent luck with Bertram brass in some odd-ball calibers. There appears to be one basic problem with Starline .50-70 brass...it ain't available! Starline is good brass, although in .44-40, I prefer Winchester when I can get it. Stay well, Pards! Well, .50-90 Starline brass is available. What isn't available are .50-70 trim dies. I like using those better than mechanical or powered case trimmers. Just have better luck that way. I would be paying $2.80 per case shipped for the Bertram. Retails at Dixie for $4.50 per case plus shipping. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Boy 742 Posted September 13 I have had bad experiences with Bertram brass , latest was with 25-21. Fifty cases and on first shooting, 38 of them split down the side. Bertram’s are drawn cases but Rocky Mountain Cartridge cases are lathe cut, exceptionally better. So for $4.50 a case, buy them at Rocky Mountain ... https://www.rockymountaincartridge.com/products.htm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trailboss (Santa) Dave 28 Posted September 14 Like John Boy I have not good results using Bertram brass. Case life was a big issure, I could count on losing about 10% of my cases before the second loading Was able to get about 500 45-90 and 150 45-120 cases from Norma a while back and am very happy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky R. K. 55 Posted September 14 I tried some Bertram brass several years ago for my 25-21 Stevens. The case mouths were so thin they would be damaged if you even touched them with the die when loading. Many split when shooting. At the time that was the only brass available for the 25-21 Stevens. Several years ago I found about 100 pieces of original UMC brass on Gunbroker. Most of it was of original length and in good condition. That should last as long as me. The 25-21 is a really neat cartridge to shoot and has been been gone for a long time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Boy 742 Posted September 14 Lucky, the 25-21 was an up grade caliber to the Stevens 25-20 - mild recoil and accurate to 200 yards with my CPA 44 1/2 Stevens that’s mounted with a 12x Unertl scope Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
watab kid 610 Posted September 15 in stock is always better than out of stock in my book , but just my 2 cnts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stef75 9 Posted September 15 Depends on calibre and vintage of the brass usually. I used betram for big game nitro calibres in the day, it was all that was around once BELL was drying up. His brass varied in quality, generally it did okay if you didnt push it too hard, some cases were so soft you could close the case mouth with your fingers. I know he picked up contracts to supply high pressure cartridges like the 408 chey tac a few years back. They had an equipment overhaul and the quality improved. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dusty Morningwood 45 Posted September 16 I ended up buying all eight boxes from the guy - 160 cases in all. Would like to rehome some of them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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