Uh-oh. Cheerios.........Well actually 9mm AmmoLoad again.

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Started a new batch (1,000) of 9mm and have been scanning the cases during my first step which is a .308 reloading tray looking for .380, Makarov, split cases and now interior belted cases. Found one FM. They're actually hard to catch because the belt is only 0.5mm thick. The picture is deceiving. Have resorted to a more careful inspection of each case as I resize it.

NOTE: These are probably no problem at all with semi-autos. In SAs you have a tight headspace, but in revolvers with their loose headspace is when issues will occurs as it did with me. Don't know Ammoload, FM, et. al. do this with other calibers. I'm guessing someone thought this would be good for major power factor, especially with incompletely supported heads.

9mm belt.jpg
 
Dewey 68 said:
I wonder if a subsequent bullet would squeeze through the brass ring left in the barrel? That would be the best outcome. :eek: I'm really hoping I haven't reloaded any of these stepped cases.
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The ring isn't in the barrel, but in the chamber. Hence you can't load another round. What I did with my 8 shot revolver to finish the day of practice (only 4 moon clips left) was to remove one bullet from each moon clip. Later I removed my cylinder and rapped in on the bench sharply and the ring fell out.

With a semi-auto you would have to remove the ring to continue, but I'm betting that taking the barrel and raping it on the bench, chamber down of course, would be all you'd have to do.

Remember semi-autos pretty much have tight headspacing, but in a revolver the case has a little fore-aft travel. It's this sloppy headspace that makes this a problem The front half of the case expands and grips the cylinder wall while the back half tries to move back a couple thousandths of an inch.
 
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alfsauve said:
The ring isn't in the barrel, but in the chamber. Hence you can't load another round. What I did with my 8 shot revolver to finish the day of practice (only 4 moon clips left) was to remove one bullet from each moon clip. Later I removed my cylinder and rapped in on the bench sharply and the ring fell out.

With a semi-auto you would have to remove the ring to continue, but I'm betting that taking the barrel and raping it on the bench, chamber down of course, would be all you'd have to do.

Remember semi-autos pretty much have tight headspacing, but in a revolver the case has a little fore-aft travel. It's this sloppy headspace that makes this a problem The front half of the case expands and grips the cylinder wall while the back half tries to move back a coupe thousandths of an inch.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, thanks for the clarification.
 
NOTE: These are probably no problem at all with semi-autos
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They are a problem there as well.
Had one split in my Springfield 9mm 1911 which has a fairly tight chamber.....

I hand prime so I usually catch them then but one snuck thru.
Lucky it was practice, not the middle of a match or even worse a SD encounter.

Just a major pain......
I have only seen them in 9mm so far......
 
Kaldor said:
Same here. I just cull them as I decap before tumbling.

Ammoland
IMI
Magtech

Those are the ones I have found and tossed.
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Magtech, or Maxxtech? The Maxxtech I have seen are the worst. They make 9mm with and without the internal step.
 
alfsauve said:
NOTE: These are probably no problem at all with semi-autos. In SAs you have a tight headspace, but in revolvers with their loose headspace is when issues will occurs as it did with me. Don't know Ammoload, FM, et. al. do this with other calibers. I'm guessing someone thought this would be good for major power factor, especially with incompletely supported heads.
View attachment 837869
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No, no, no, just the opposite. They're bad in semi-autos (and especially in the blow-back PCC's). I have a high degree of confidence you would blow something up if you somehow managed to get a 9 major load of powder in that case and then smashed it down hard enough to get the bullet to seat at a chamerable depth.

There is absolutely no user benefit to these things. They are just a by-product of a particular manufacturing method (which, IIUC, is cheaper in terms of initial capital investment on the machinery). They are just awful. I'm not generally for more regulation of gun stuff, but I'd welcome an ATF ruling that these things are destructive devices and cannot be sold to the general public!
 
Auggh!

I had sloughed off warnings of "stepped" brass and loaded it right in with the rest of the range pickups. Chronograph showed no significant difference in velocity due to reduced case volume. I was happy.
Last night, I cut a case in half which brought my string of fire to a screeching halt at the first target of the USPSA stage. I assume it separated at the "step," although I could not find the rear piece to be sure, it had ejected normally.

Another shooter provided a brush that I used to drag the front part out, it for sure did not fall out when rapped. The RM kindly let me have a restart at the friendly club shoot.

I will
1. Add a brush to my range bag, in case I run into another one in loaded ammo on hand.
2. Discard stepped brass in future reloading.
 
I haven't seen any of that for a long time, although I did keep a couple to show people. I know Freedom Munitions stopped using it years ago, so I guess people must still be reloading it.

Dave
 
Glad when mine came apart it was practice, not a match.
And the piece did not just come out of my pistol, it required some coaxing.
One was all it took, I recycle those POS. (I even smash them [they deserve it]so they can't end up back in the reloading world unless melted down.)

Glad they gave you a reshoot Jim, sorry it happened in a match.
(but we did warn you :evil::))
 
I've reloaded them. I bought a Glock 17 during the "great famine" a few years back. I didn't find ammo (9 mm) for 2 months. This shortage caused me to immediately get into reloading.

No long into it, I purchased some Ammoland 9mm. Reloaded them, no problem....but the step bothered me, plus interior looked smaller.

Query here at THR gave warn, and into the recycle tube they go!

Russellc
 
Jim Watson said:
Auggh!

I had sloughed off warnings of "stepped" brass and loaded it right in with the rest of the range pickups. Chronograph showed no significant difference in velocity due to reduced case volume. I was happy.
Last night, I cut a case in half which brought my string of fire to a screeching halt at the first target of the USPSA stage. I assume it separated at the "step," although I could not find the rear piece to be sure, it had ejected normally.

Another shooter provided a brush that I used to drag the front part out, it for sure did not fall out when rapped. The RM kindly let me have a restart at the friendly club shoot.

I will
1. Add a brush to my range bag, in case I run into another one in loaded ammo on hand.
2. Discard stepped brass in future reloading.
Click to expand...

That’s how the most remembered lessons are learned. You would certainly remembered it, if it was one of the sanctioned matches you used to use them in because they are “lost brass”. At least this one you got to reshoot vs ruin your trip.
 
Yup
I added an extra eye flick to the 550 today.
Powder present, not zero or 2x, check.
Straight wall case, check.

Loaded ammo on hand, hope for the best.
I only shoot Level I, Tier 1 any more, I'm not paying in advance for the privilege of shooting in the rain any more. A busted stage will be a minor annoyance.
 
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