9mm brass not worth saving....?

[Savage30L]

I have done a bit of reloading for various calibers, but not yet for 9mm, even though I have the dies. I have about 400 rounds of assorted brands of range ammo handy, and I'm wondering if I should start saving the brass, in advance of another potential round of ammo shortages; so I have a question for those of you who reload for 9mm. Are there brands of brass not worth saving? I would certainly save Remington and Federal, but I also have CCI, Blazer, Fiocchi, and Winchester white box (that one I'll discard, as I've had problems with extraction and ejection with WWB in my .40-cal guns). What should I not bother keeping?

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

This gets asked pretty regularly with a different consensus each time so it’s obviously a good question. For me the answer is to save them all - mostly because what doesn’t work well for 9Luger I cut down to 9Makarov - but also because reforming and reshaping brass is a fun part of the hobby for me.

You’re going to get a big swing in answers based on how each person loads and why they reload 9mm. I reload on single stage presses, including a hand press, in batches of 20-250 strictly for paper, cans and bottles. I don’t consider the 9mm more than a range piece. YMMV and that’s where the fun begins.

 

[Ironicaintit]

people's preferences are all over the place.

I myself like a good and tight neck tension... therefore I don't use Speer, blazer or federal.
But a lot of guys like them for whatever reason.

When in doubt, keep all of it

 

[Starter52]

I stopped reloading 9mm a year ago when range ammo came down in price.

Prior to that I reloaded 9mm for 20+ years.

I saved all the brass I could find regardless of brand. Brass or nickel plated, I hoarded it all. I found that just about every USA brand worked for me. I never bothered to sort it.

 

[Howa 9700]

I"m in the save it ALL camp too. You may not use it now, or even yourself, but if the day comes when brass and components can't be found, you will be glad you have it.

Yesterday, I loaded some rifle brass for first time in months, having been handling 9mm pistol brass lately. Could not believe the heft of it. I remember thinking that leaving that laying on the ground and not saving it would be hugely irresponsible. But that was also after waiting over 10 months for that brass to show up.......and thinking back a couple years when no brass at all was available. It has value......save it. All of it!

 

[snowman357]

I had a brand new never used 9mm die set until covid hit and 9mm prices went up. I saved all my brass but never reloaded 9mm. I have sold it for scrap because it was hard to sell as once fired. Lucky for me when covid hit I had almost a full 5 gallon bucket of mostly 9mm. I reload winchester, blazer federal and remington. I have had a few remington cases split in process but these were a plain brown box remington (may be different quality?). With loaded 9mm at 23 cent a round I will probably stop reloading it when I use up my projectiles. with a bullet and primer adding up to 15 cent I would only save around $60/1000. Reloading time would be better spent on other calibers. Save all brass you never know what you may need or can trade. I no longer have a makarov or 30-30 but I still have the brass, never know what future gun deal could come my way.

 

[Kaldor]

9mm I save it up to a certain point. I used to save everything and pick up everything. I have north of 10000 pieces now, so I stopped picking it up, and only pick up up the easy stuff when I shoot now.

As far as brands? I dump anything with off center flash holes, anything with obvious primer crimp, and stepped brass. The rest? My guns can't tell the difference, or I can't shoot the difference.

 

[Savage30L]

The responses so far are interesting. Out at the gun range at our gun club, there are thousands of 9mm empties on the ground, but absolutely nothing else reloadable can be found....it's evident that I'm not the only one who views certain brands as not worth keeping.

Storage space is another issue...I'm already over-capacity, and have to be very selective about what I'll keep.

 

[reddog81]

I reload 9mm so I usually try and pickup the cases but I don’t really care about loosing them like I would .38 ACP or 10mm. Any 9mm that I pickup with a crimped primer pocket gets trashed.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

The responses so far are interesting. Out at the gun range at our gun club, there are thousands of 9mm empties on the ground, but absolutely nothing else reloadable can be found....it's evident that I'm not the only one who views certain brands as not worth keeping.

Storage space is another issue...I'm already over-capacity, and have to be very selective about what I'll keep.

I would call that an opportunity for collecting recycling money. If your local has a metals recycler who pays.

 

[JohnB-40]

I've had neck tension problems with Blazer.

 

[Laphroaig]

The responses so far are interesting. Out at the gun range at our gun club, there are thousands of 9mm empties on the ground, but absolutely nothing else reloadable can be found....it's evident that I'm not the only one who views certain brands as not worth keeping.

I have a different take on that. I don't think many 9 mm shooters reload but unfortunately most buy the cheapest that they can find. Blazer, Remington, Fiocci, Federal and whatever else. Its all reloadable on my press. For the type of shooting that I do it doesn't matter that much.

 

[MEHavey]

I reload 9mm so I usually try and pickup the cases but I don’t really care about loosing them

^^^^ THIS ^^^^
Do run a magnet over them, though.
There's some brass-washed steel out there.

 

[DMW1116]

I reload it all. The only issue I’ve had is some is too long. I have about 10 I’ve found over the max case length. I set my calipers at the max case length in the die instructions and if it passes through, I load it.

I clean, size, flair, charge, & seat all with a second hand set of 9mm Lee dies I found at a pawn shop. I have the included factory crimp die set in the lowest recommended setting according to the instructions and crimp everything. I’m probably just removing the bell of the case mouth. I use a fair bit of cast 9mm bullets and beveling the inside of the case isn’t quite enough.

 

[tominboise]

I have a few thousand and pick up my empties when I shoot. They get decapped and go in a coffee can. When enough build up, I wet tumble them and store them in zip lock bags. When I run low on ammo, I grab a bag and run a couple hundred or whatever through the Dillon 550. If I am loading for accuracy (for my SIG P210), I pick through and load all of one brand, usually Rem, Fed or Win. Everything else is just practice ammo, so it is mixed. I don't firewall the powder charges, so I don't worry about it all that much. I have a couple cases of factory hardball ammo and I will shoot a box or two every now and then. Carry ammo I buy factory ammo.

 

[doubleh]

I got into 9 mm as a cheap centerfire plinker and it remains that. Blaster aluminum was the cheapest thing around and I shot a lot of it. Nothing to pick up and no reloading. Then the price started to climb until I could cast my bullets and save some money reloading so ,yes, I save 9 mm brass, I am long retired and have the time although I would prefer to be doing something else as I see reloading as work I do to be able to shoot more. Picking up the empties has become a problem as my back quickly starts hollering STOP so I have become like other geezer brass picker uppers but use a folding broom and dust pan to sweep them up instead of a pickup tool which is much slower. Yes, I get some dirt and small gravel but with the right technique it isn't much and easily separated using a kitchen strainer my wife gave me. I will continue to reload for every centerfire caliber I have until I can no longer work the press lever.

 

[DMW1116]

I got into 9 mm as a cheap centerfire plinker and it remains that. Blaster aluminum was the cheapest thing around and I shot a lot of it. Nothing to pick up and no reloading. Then the price started to climb until I could cast my bullets and save some money reloading so ,yes, I save 9 mm brass, I am long retired and have the time although I would prefer to be doing something else as I see reloading as work I do to be able to shoot more. Picking up the empties has become a problem as my back quickly starts hollering STOP so I have become like other geezer brass picker uppers but use a folding broom and dust pan to sweep them up instead of a pickup tool which is much slower. Yes, I get some dirt and small gravel but with the right technique it isn't much and easily separated using a kitchen strainer my wife gave me. I will continue to reload for every centerfire caliber I have until I can no longer work the press lever.

What you need is a longer lever.

 

[Tilos]

people's preferences are all over the place.

I myself like a good and tight neck tension... therefore I don't use Speer, blazer or federal.
But a lot of guys like them for whatever reason.

When in doubt, keep all of it

I actually prefer "thinner" brass, I can load .357/.358 diameter bullets in it, and it will plunk in tight chambers.
I de-prime range brass in my drill press, it's faster and I can see into the case for any steps, I can feel cases with crimped primers and chamfer them then and there.

If I don't catch the steps while de-priming, they are readily visible after wet tumbling.
I put wet-tumbled (dry) cases in my vibe tumbler, without any media, and all cases become mouth-up after 30 seconds and easily checked for steps.


Here's the same powder drop in different head-stamped cases:

Pic stolen from Walkalong ^
So yeh, I pick up range brass, "process" it as described and separate via headstamp.
Long answer to a short question...
.

 

[doubleh]

I made a shorter lever just for easy to resize brass like 9 mm, 38 special, and 45 ACP. Less motion means less stress on my surgically repaired shoulder and I can hold out for a longer session.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Here is the definitive answer—

Save these:


But don’t save these:

 

[packetloss]

It really depends on your goals. I've been reloading 9mm pretty much as long as I've shot 9mm. I save all cases except stepped, berden primed (generally steel anyway) or aluminum. I ended up with about 40K cases without even trying. My local range collects their brass once a week so I could scoop up 5-10K cases a week if I needed. For me, I can load much better ammo (HP), customized to what (fast burning powders) I like for significantly less than factory ammo. Additionally, I can load up a batch of 200 faster than I can get too my LGS make a purchase and get back home (30-45 minutes full trip depending on how crowded they are). The bonus is I only load HP bullets (I like Montana Gold) which I have found to be more accurate and don't have exposed lead at the base. I couldn't find factory loaded HP ammo for even double what my costs are (under $9 per 50).

I wet tumble all cases and use a case dryer and then deprime them all (it's pretty quick on my Dillon). I only do this once every 3 years as I end up with way more cases than I need.

After I load them, I case guage them all in a Hondo and will generally end up with 3-5 per 200 that don't guage properly. I just pull those bullets, save the powder and primer and toss whatever case it was. I used to toss CBC, NXT and a few others that were generally bad, but found it was faster to just load whatever I grabbed and if something didn't case guage properly just pull the bullet.

Would I do any of this without a progressive press with a case feeder and bullet feeder. No.

I also do enjoy the process, so it's more than just saving money and producing more accurate rounds.

 

[splattergun]

The brass your gun likes is a matter of tolerances. What brass you like is a matter of personal preference. Where both you and your gun agree is what you keep to reload. The rest you can keep to trade for your preferred brass.

 

[Charlie98]

I reload 9mm, but I also shoot a lot of factory 9mm as well. One feeds the other. As was mentioned, when 9mm was cheap, I quit reloading it and just bought factory. During the last shortage, when you couldn't find a box of 9mm, I dusted off the 9mm dies, pulled out all that nice once-fired by me factory brass, and went to work. Luck favors the prepared.

FWIW, I have about 5 or 6 9mm headstamps I keep, mostly domestic, the rest gets scrapped. I have so much of it, I don't NEED to keep every single case I find, I'm able to cull out what I like, and turn the other stuff in for more ammo money.

If you are a reloader, you should have the dies and components on hand to load for all of your cartridges... even if you don't need them immediately. The past few years have shown us things can change very quickly.

 

[n2omike]

I already have plenty of reloading components for 9mm... so at this point it's basically free compared to buying it. lol

To simplify things, I use RMR Full Metal Jacket bullets. This way, I don't have to bell mouth and crimp like you'd do with cast bullets. I just run the expanding die just short of the bell mouther, then set the bullet. Makes things a lot quicker and easier... especially on a single stage press. (Lyman Turret) Never an issue. The RMR price point is what makes it possible. With them in business, there is zero need to cast bullets for 9mm... unless you're just bored and want to do so because you enjoy it.

I also do NOT sort cases by brand, number of firings, etc. I shoot 9mm through a pistol offhand... so any tiny component variances are insignificant in the grand scheme of blasting steel, center mass targets, etc. lol

 

[murf]

I reload many different headstamped 9mm cases. I used to have a problem with thin wall cases not holding bullets tight. Now I size the cases a second time with my 380 acp sizing die before I expand them. the extra couple thousandths of sizing eliminates the problem with the thin wall cases.

luck,

murf