Question on S&B 9mm brass

[mugsie]

I came across some 9mm head stamped S&B. It is 9mm Luger, but .040 shorter than regular 9mm. See the attached photo.

Has anyone seen this before and do you reload it or just chuck it in the recycle bucket?

Why do you think they do this? To save money? .040 less brass on a case over millions of rounds has to amount to some savings for them. I can see no other reason. Thoughts?

 

[Dudedog]

Real S+B 9mm MAK brass is Head stamped 9mm M
If it is not real MAK brass it has probably been trimmed for MAK= (9*18) 1mm = .039" So 9*19 - 1mm = -.0395ish
Just to strange that it is exactly .040 short.
Lyman shows 9mm Luger case length .754, 9mm MAK .713 --- .754-.713= .041
I might be mistaken but I am fairly sure that is what is going on, not a plan to save money by short brass.
9mm headspaces on the case mouth so while it probably be held by the extractor and fire it would not be a good idea for any company to make out of spec ammo on purpose.
Just for fun measure the inside diameter of the mouths. 9mm MAK is larger .363-.365 than 9mm luger .355-.356. OD at .390 or more is another indicator. (regular 9mm brass will fireform)
If you have a bunch any Mak owner would probably like to have them. PIF maybe.
If they are real MAK brass I will trade you normal 9mm 2 for 1 MAK. (and maybe throw in a sample 9mm bullets as well)
I have trimmed 9mm brass down to Mak length and used it but decided even though I have a bunch of "free" 9mm brass it is not worth the trouble to trim it.
You also have the incorrect head stamp issue if you trim it.

 

[mugsie]

It's definitely not Mak brass. The ID measures the same as all other 9mm brass. Head stamp also says 9mm luger. I picked up over 20 of them today, and everyone was exactly the same length.

I know what you are saying about head spacing on the case mouth, and wondered why they would be .040 shorter. For now they are just culled out and will probably be heading to the recycle bucket. I was curious why they would be this way though.

 

[Dudedog]

Rats, I was figuring how much I would have to sweeten the pot to trade for it.


Crazy if the dia are 9mm luger. Stretching here but maybe someone picked up brass trimmed for 9 MAK resized it and didn't notice it was short.
I would have thought they would have noticed but who knows.
Just funny it is short the right amount.
I have shot a lot of S+B 9mm Luger before I reloaded and saved the brass, never noticed any that was short.
I suppose it is possible somehow it got trimmed to MAK length at the factory by mistake.
(sorry about the PM missed your reply )

 

[tsgray]

These are 380 shells. I believe Sellier & Bellot is headquartered in Europe where the 380 is referred to as a 9mm browning court. The headstone likely says 9mm bc.

 

[1KPerDay]

Post a pic of the headstamp. Sometimes people confuse the S&B .380 (9mm Br.C) for 9mm Luger. But if yours say Luger then something's amiss, obviously. I wonder if someone trimmed them to use in Mak... would that work?

 

[Steve C]

It is also possible that a reloader trimmed the brass short to use it as Makarov 9x18 brass often done because 9x18 brass is generally in short supply.

I have some older S&B .380 ACP marked as 9mm Br C for (Browning Court) one of the European designations.

 

[Dudedog]

Not likely to be .380 if they are only .040 short.
.380 len .680 9*17
9 Mak len .713 9*18
9mm Luger len .754 9*19


Off thread
But yes trimming 9mm Luger works. Size them in the MAK die first then trim not the other way around.

 

[jmorris]

Go find a magnet and see if they are brass plated steel.