Tokarev Brass for Reloading?

[hudson29]

Here in CA our benevolent rulers in Sacramento have decided that ammunition is evil and that their subjects should be prevented from getting any more except in very structured (read this as difficult & expensive) circumstances. I have decided to seriously upgrade my reloading capabilities and to "buy it cheap and stack it deep" now to last for the few more years I will reside in this state.

I have been laying in stocks of reloadable ammo where the cases are expensive such as Makarov & Tokarev. I see one of the suppliers is offering Tokarev ammo from both Prvi Partizan and for a few cents more, Sellier & Bellot. Is there any difference in the brass of these makers from a reloading standpoint?

I have heard that not all brass is equally good for reloading . . .

[bunkysdad]

What? You can find your Tokarev brass after shooting? You are a lucky man.

[Lotema]

I've been reloading the Prvi brass with good success. Haven't tried the S&B yet.

[hudson29]

What? You can find your Tokarev brass after shooting? You are a lucky man.

Yah, that's a problem. It hits the back wall of the range pretty hard and often flies back out into the firing lanes where the broom can't reach it. I'm only gettin' 50-70 % of that expensive Starline brass back at the end of a session. That makes these pistols plenty expensive to shoot!

[hudson29]

I've been reloading the Prvi brass with good success. Haven't tried the S&B yet.

That is good to hear as the Prvi is several cents cheaper per round.

What bullets are you using? I have been using some Sierra 85gr. that work well but are expensive. I have heard some folks are using 110 gr. M1 Carbine rounds such as Berry's sell. Have you tried these?

[Lotema]

Lately I've been mostly using the 90gr Hornady XTPs. I'm a bit mixed on them. They shoot very well but I also wind up having occasional feed issues with them. I just need to fiddle a bit with the seating depth and I think I can get them to work acceptably for me. LIke the Sierra's, they're not the cheapest way to reload but it's still less than commercial.

I haven't tried the Berry's yet. I had bought some other ones that were supposed to be for the M1 but they're much smaller than what they claimed and would require me to add way too much crimp to keep them from falling into the bottom of the cartridge.

[hudson29]

I have found plenty of online suggestions for loads with the Carbine bullets but so far have seen nothing with any pressure info. I do nor want to stress these old veterans too highly. Both the CZ52 & the Soviet Tokarev are supposed to be strong but there is no reason to take chances if good loading data can be found.

[hudson29]

Sometimes you just have to try it and see how it works out. Its getting to be reloading season pretty quick and this project will be fairly high on the agenda. It would sure be nice to have an economical bullet that is already on hand for other purposes.