1x fired handgun brass question

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Due to the current factory ammo insanity like all of us who love to shoot and shoot a lot I am upping my reloading to maximum capacity. Due to cost and the fact I have more small HG primers than large, I am strictly now reloading 9mm Luger.

I have only handgun cases made of actual brass and Boxer primed. I have never bought or used cases made from aluminum or steel or Berdan primers, strictly Boxer primed brass only.

Over the last 5 or so years I have amassed a considerable amount of 9mm Luger mixed head stamp one time fired brass. Of which about +/- 90% is my own recovered brass the reaming is brass gifted to me from multiple sources.
About 60-66% of my 1x fired 9mm/L brass is from well known and established sources of factory ammo such as Federal, WW, REM, CCI, Blazer, Fiocchi (GFL/HS) and Speer. The remaining 30-33% is from head stamps that I suspect likely were manufactured abroad.

My question is does anyone know of foreign or domestic boxer primed brass that is questionable or unsuitable for reloading?
I have considerable numbers likely combined 2500-2700 pieces of brass with head stamps from IMI*, PMC, Geco*, Aguila, CBC*, WMA*, Herters, and S&B Some of these I do recognize some I am guessing at and the rest I do not recognize at all.
(*= I do not recognize this head stamp)

I realize I am being a bit overly cautious and I feel it's likely safe to assume all Boxer primed brass case ammunition sold in America has to comply with stringent SAMMI standards that insure it is safe to reload with, but I have never used any of the above head stamped brass to reload with. Only ever reloaded hand gun brass from domestic manufactured brass or ammunition sources.I have wet tumbled the suspected brass with SS pins and inspected each piece and all look to be in VG shape and completely suitable for reloading.

Thanks for the helping and educating me.
 
IMI*, PMC, Geco*, Aguila, CBC*, WMA*, Herters, and S&B
I have shot all but the WMA as far as I can remember, and may have shot it as well. No issues. I have shot plenty of headstamps not on that list, all scrounged at the range. I used to shoot nothing but mixed 9MM brass, but after getting more serious about 9MM accuracy, and since I had so much 9MM brass, I sorted a bunch out and started shooting one head stamp. I think it has tightened things up a little, but that is my gut, no real tests, it just does better overall. Not night/day y any means, but better.

Welcome to THR
 
Yes, IMT, FM, and Ammo Land may have this ledge down inside them that decreases the internal volume of the case and causes them to break off at the top of the ledge leaving the rest of the case stuck in your barrel.
IMI.jpg

You have to look down in the case to spot them
 
I actually culled all the weirdo headstamps out and only reload 4 different headstamps in 9mm... RP, Federal, PMC, and some Winchester... I scrapped all the rest. Small differences in a high-pressure cartridge can spell big differences... sometimes not good differences... at the firing line, so I've decided to limit the variations of cases. Just my .02 worth.
 
Yes, IMT, FM, and Ammo Land may have this ledge down inside them that decreases the internal volume of the case and causes them to break off at the top of the ledge leaving the rest of the case stuck in your barrel.
View attachment 935569

You have to look down in the case to spot them
Funny some of you mentioned stepped cases as I came across quite a few of them. I figured the step would adversely affect case capacity so I pitched all I found. Never heard of let alone saw a stepped case prior to this. It is reasons like this I very closely and carefully inspect all my brass one piece at a time prior to reloading. Slow boring and time consuming but well worth it.

Thanks to all for the help. I have sufficient numbers of 9mm brass so I don't bother with military crimped brass and give it to members of my rifle club who make use of it.
 
I have shot all but the WMA as far as I can remember, and may have shot it as well. No issues. I have shot plenty of headstamps not on that list, all scrounged at the range. I used to shoot nothing but mixed 9MM brass, but after getting more serious about 9MM accuracy, and since I had so much 9MM brass, I sorted a bunch out and started shooting one head stamp. I think it has tightened things up a little, but that is my gut, no real tests, it just does better overall. Not night/day y any means, but better.

Welcome to THR

Thanks for the welcome. been coming here and learning for 10-12 years on/off and finally joined. I am reloading right now strictly for plinking ammo. Once I get my plinking loads down I will start to play with maximizing accuracy for each gun and load. I do know my stock 4.7" and 3.9" P-320's are very accurate when I do my part to let them work.
 
pieces of brass with head stamps from IMI*, PMC, Geco*, Aguila, CBC*, WMA*, Herters, and S&B
IMI (Israeli), PMC (Korean), Geco (German) are all excellent manufacturers. CBC is Magtech from Brazil. Wait until you find some cases from Browning...the head stamp looks Arabic

Of the "stepped" cases...IMT (not the same as IMI), FM (Freedom Muntitions), and Ammoland...the last two are domestic companies. Fiocchi (GFL/HS) is Italian. I too have loaded cases from all the 9mm manufacturers.

I don't reloaded R-P (Remington) as I have often found the case walls thinner and the rims smaller...I give it away
 
Yep, toss the stepped ones bad news, they are bad news.
I had one separate right at the ridge, midrange load.
Lucky it was practice not a match or something more important,

As mentioned earlier I also recycle any with crimped primers, I have enough fun removing crimps fro 5.56 and since I have plenty of 9mm I don't bother with them.
Otherwise I have used lots of mixed range brass with no issues, (yet)
 
I just knock the dirt off, spray on some lube and dump them in the collator.

I don't care about headstamp.

I'm not loading bullseye ammo. I'm loading run and gun/range ammo. As long as it stays in a 6" circle at 25 yards I'm a happy camper. Actually most of my ammo will stay on a 3x5 card at 25 yards if I do my part. The one double Master shooter I know has shot my loads and they are more accurate than most of his.

Stepped brass shows during the loading process. I've found ONE in 30K of loaded 9mm this year. It's the first one I've ever found. Crimped cases show up in the loading process. They are pulled from the press and scrapped.

Most people WAY overthink handgun ammo.
 
You might run across some AMERC brass but most of that should be gone by now. Generally considered to be bad brass. Out of spec, flash holes off center,primer pockets not round,etc. They have been out of business quite a while but you might run across some if you start picking up range brass.
 
Thanks to all a great deal for upping my HG brass education. I find it almost therapeutic to be able to get such great advice simply for the asking.
 
You might run across some AMERC brass but most of that should be gone by now. Generally considered to be bad brass. Out of spec, flash holes off center,primer pockets not round,etc. They have been out of business quite a while but you might run across some if you start picking up range brass.

After years of looking out for them I finally found two AMERC last week. Crushed them in a vice and tossed them. Oddly I found a few Starline 9mm in the same batch. Sweet

What do you guys do with 9mm FC with a cannelure?
 
Some of the S&B that look to be brass are actually brass plated steel. You may wish to wave a strong magnet through your bucket, or if you have a case feeder, simply position magnets at the feeder output.

Thanks much for the advice. I have S&B brass but not sure how much exactly. I have VERY powerful magnets I get from work that should easly pull out any brass plated steel cases. I use them when wet tumbling my brass to seperate any stray SS pins from the dirty water.
 
Welcome to THR
My question is does anyone know of foreign or domestic boxer primed brass that is questionable or unsuitable for reloading?

I have considerable numbers likely combined 2500-2700 pieces of brass with head stamps from IMI*, PMC, Geco*, Aguila, CBC*, WMA*, Herters, and S&B
I have reloaded all those headstamp brass and would gladly use them.

As rfwobbly posted, some S&B cases have been known to be brass plated steel cases so test them with a magnet.

If you are using larger metric sized primers, I have found some once-fired S&B/RWS brass with tighter primer pockets to achieve even flush seating of primers very difficult. Now I cull newer looking S&B/RWS brass to use with domestic brand primers.

As indicated by below linked thread on case wall thickness, some headstamp brass have much thicker case wall and when using with .356" sized bullets, can bulge the case neck enough to not fully chamber in tighter barrels or match barrels.

I actually culled all the weirdo headstamps out and only reload 4 different headstamps in 9mm... RP, Federal, PMC, and some Winchester... I scrapped all the rest
You might want to rethink that decision - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...neck-tension-and-bullet-setback.830072/page-4

What do you guys do with 9mm FC with a cannelure?
Not just FC but other headstamp brass with cannelure goes into general purpose range blasting brass bin.

Currently I am sorting out WIN/RP brass for accuracy range testing and myth busting threads as they minimize or don't produce any bullet setback.
 
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Some of the S&B that look to be brass are actually brass plated steel. You may wish to wave a strong magnet through your bucket, or if you have a case feeder, simply position magnets at the feeder output.
Yep, I use this magnet to run through brass.
Brass Magnet.JPG
 
I don't reloaded R-P (Remington) as I have often found the case walls thinner
I am finding this is no longer the case, at least for 9mm.

Case wall thickness measured .100" below case mouth at 12/3/6/9 O'Clock positions where taper crimp is typically applied - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...nd-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-10712225

Case wall thickness measured .200" below case mouth at 12/3/6/9 O'Clock positions where bullet base experiences more neck tension due to thicker case wall - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...nd-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-10713822

In fact, along with WIN (Winchester) headstamp brass, R-P (Remington) brass is another that do not produce bullet setback along with others but due to large percentage of WIN/R-P brass in the recent 10K+ boxes of range brass I purchased, I now use WIN/R-P brass for my accuracy range testing.
 
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