 Brass can be obtained from a variety of sources, and like most reloading components varies in quality.Lighter loads for practice can be created that are more enjoyable and cheaper to shoot.Author and adventurer James S. Gardner provides a realistic, detailed account of the capabilities of a Nitro Express during an ill-fated Safari, and again in a graphical account of a desperate firefight against men and a helicopter in his book, "The Lion Killer".