9mm brass not worth saving....?

[ilbob]

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?

Reloading is part of the hobby. Not just about saving money.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I am cheap and easy. this 380 acp die thing works all the time so I will let you run your experiment and buy all those dies. good luck and let us know how it turns out.

murf

Any idea the size difference between a .380 sizer and an undersized 9mm?

 

[lordpaxman]

I consider myself an ecumenical brass hoarder.
I do throw the stepped, steel or aluminum cases but other than that they get reloaded.

 

[Savage30L]

Reloading is part of the hobby. Not just about saving money.

It causes me neck and back pain. I don't have my own bench, I use the bench of a friend, and at his setup I can't get my knees under it.....so I end up bending over from the stool the whole time. (He's quite short, so it doesn't bother him.)

I reload as a precaution against future shortages. If we still had the prices and availability that I remember from the 1990s and before, I wouldn't do it.

 

[WeekendReloader]

I save all my brass and any I pick up at the range. It's basically money in the bank.
As a result, I have a stockpile of cleaned & deprimed 9mm range pickups stored away.

I also save other caliber brass I don't reload and pass it on to friends.

 

[murf]

Any idea the size difference between a .380 sizer and an undersized 9mm?

Thx for the concise question. Here is my 1000 word dissertation on the subject:

The dies used:

The wimpy press used:


All cases were lubed before sizing; the 380 die was set to touch the shell holder, the 9mm dies were set to cam over slightly; cases were randomly selected out of a pile of fired cases; size length below mouth is how far down the case the sized mouth od goes.

Let me know if I left anything out,

murf

p.s. the 9mm rcbs die set has a Dillon sizer die, not a rcbs.

 

[W.E.G.]

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.

This is the answer.

Look what just happened in the elections.

Things aren't going to get easier.

 

[FROGO207]

I save any brass I find period. I sort out berdan primed, damaged, stepped or out of spec brass and sell it for scrap. I trade what brass I can't use with others to get more in calibers I can reload. With 9MM I use the thin walled brass to load the lead or coated bullets and the thick walled for jacketed type. I also do it for the love of reloading as we all know there are never any cost savings.

 

[BushMaster-15]

With current prices of components brass included , ANY name brand quality cases are worth picking up .

7.62x51mm and 63mm are becoming more and more difficult to obtain . I can remember cases littering the firing lines and thick as carpet ,now even .380 cases are scarce . A : A whole bunch of people are reloading ?. B: People are scouring ranges for brass to sell off to brass case processors ?. C: Shooters aren't leaving cases or have ceased shooting .

So take your pick IMO it's ABC

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

With current prices of components brass included , ANY name brand quality cases are worth picking up .

7.62x51mm and 63mm are becoming more and more difficult to obtain . I can remember cases littering the firing lines and thick as carpet ,now even .380 cases are scarce . A : A whole bunch of people are reloading ?. B: People are scouring ranges for brass to sell off to brass case processors ?. C: Shooters aren't leaving cases or have ceased shooting .

So take your pick IMO it's ABC

I agree it’s all of the above for the situation you described. That’s not what I see up here though.
I go to an indoor range and leave my pistol brass because it helps the owners pad their costs. I’ve known the current owners since their eldest was a bun in the oven and I knew the previous owners since I enrolled at GatorU. We got some history together. But I don’t see any other shooters there collecting pistol brass either. A few people have given me revolver brass and I have found a few boxes of .38 brass in the trash. There’s a lot of new shooters who go there which might explain tossing brass.
So I don’t know if it’s a lack of reloaders or people doing what I do and deliberately leaving brass for others or maybe just newbies who don’t know brass can be reloaded?

 

[Tilos]

It causes me neck and back pain. I don't have my own bench, I use the bench of a friend, and at his setup I can't get my knees under it.....so I end up bending over from the stool the whole time. (He's quite short, so it doesn't bother him.)

A good reason to get your own setup/bench...or a shorter stool/chair for your friend's bench.
jmo,
.
Edit: I have found that standing to reload to be best for me and have built my bench for that.
You could also build a riser out of a $5 length of 2x6 or 2x8 for your friends bench.
Like this one under my drill press:

.

 

[BushMaster-15]

I agree it’s all of the above for the situation you described. That’s not what I see up here though.
I go to an indoor range and leave my pistol brass because it helps the owners pad their costs. I’ve known the current owners since their eldest was a bun in the oven and I knew the previous owners since I enrolled at GatorU. We got some history together. But I don’t see any other shooters there collecting pistol brass either. A few people have given me revolver brass and I have found a few boxes of .38 brass in the trash. There’s a lot of new shooters who go there which might explain tossing brass.
So I don’t know if it’s a lack of reloaders or people doing what I do and deliberately leaving brass for others or maybe just newbies who don’t know brass can be reloaded?

As was pointed out to ME some time back on this forum , ranges have different rules . I had not even considered indoor ranges ,MY stupidity !.
Some indoor ranges I've shot in don't allow pickup ,advantage revolver shooters and range owner .
And fully agree ,new gun owner ,shoots a box or two leaves them lying where they ejected ,revolver shooters put empties back into the boxes ,then trash on way out . At our indoor range ,I Never find anything on the floor ,with exception to crumbs from the kitchen area !.
Our indoor is in the clubhouse with kitchen and dining area adjacent to the indoor range ( under same roof ) .

 

[Tilos]

found a few boxes of .38 brass in the trash. There’s a lot of new shooters who go there which might explain tossing brass.
So I don’t know if it’s a lack of reloaders or people doing what I do and deliberately leaving brass for others or maybe just newbies who don’t know brass can be reloaded?

I recently shared a bay at a public outdoor range with a guy, a woman, and a teenage girl.
After a while, the woman came over and asked me why I was picking up brass.
I explained to her about the process of re-loading, and showed her some reloads, etc.
So yeh, no clue.
.

 

[Savage30L]

There’s a lot of new shooters who go there which might explain tossing brass.
So I don’t know if it’s a lack of reloaders or people doing what I do and deliberately leaving brass for others or maybe just newbies who don’t know brass can be reloaded?

I shoot at a coon-hunting club out in the middle of nowhere. The membership is 90% good-old-boy retiree trap-shooters who grew up during the 30s and 40s. Ain't no "newbies" there. And I'd guess that at least half of them reload.

 

[Charlie98]

So yeh, no clue.

Good friend of mine, who is also a very avid shooter, doesn't even really grasp the concept of reloading or handloading... he says... 'can you repack these bullets for me?' You can lead a horse to water....

 

[Wildbillz]

Just some random thoughts on all this.

As far as 9mm goes? I reload most any of it I find. Berdan primed, cracked cases, ones with off center flash holes and those darn pesky stepped case ones go in a bucket next to the reloading bench. Once every couple of years I take it in and sell off the scrap ones. I even have some old Norinco cases still floating around.

I am a self admitted brass hoarder. I pickup every thing I can find that is reloadable. What I can use I use what I can't I save up for trading or selling.

A lot of guys will say that 9mm is not worth the time and effort to pickup. That's fine for them. For me I keep at it. During COVID while some were complaining about price and availability I actually shot more then normal. I just loaded up what I needed and went to the range. Having a stock of primers, powder and bullets paid off.

Nice thing about having a bit of a stock is, you can load most any round you have powder and bullets for. LP primers work with all larger pistol primed brass and small will do the same for small. All you need to have is the tools and time.

If you have the equipment all ready. Not all that long ago (not at todays prices) for the price of a pistol you could have put 5K of small pistol primers, a couple of boxes of cast bullets and a 8lbs jug of Unique up in your closet. This would keep you going to the ranger in bad times. If you bought a K of bullets every two or three months you could build up a good supply.

With the cost of primers and new ammo now. I don't reload 9mm as I would rather use the Small Pistol Primers for something that would cost more to buy new. In stead of 9mm I will use my primers on 38Spl or 357Mag and just buy a box of factory 9mm. Sort of $15 (9mm) vs $35 (357mag) just doesn't make sense.

It works for me but may not be the thing for everyone.
WB

 

[BushMaster-15]

Just some random thoughts on all this.

As far as 9mm goes? I reload most any of it I find. Berdan primed, cracked cases, ones with off center flash holes and those darn pesky stepped case ones go in a bucket next to the reloading bench. Once every couple of years I take it in and sell off the scrap ones. I even have some old Norinco cases still floating around.

I am a self admitted brass hoarder. I pickup every thing I can find that is reloadable. What I can use I use what I can't I save up for trading or selling.

A lot of guys will say that 9mm is not worth the time and effort to pickup. That's fine for them. For me I keep at it. During COVID while some were complaining about price and availability I actually shot more then normal. I just loaded up what I needed and went to the range. Having a stock of primers, powder and bullets paid off.

Nice thing about having a bit of a stock is, you can load most any round you have powder and bullets for. LP primers work with all larger pistol primed brass and small will do the same for small. All you need to have is the tools and time.

If you have the equipment all ready. Not all that long ago (not at todays prices) for the price of a pistol you could have put 5K of small pistol primers, a couple of boxes of cast bullets and a 8lbs jug of Unique up in your closet. This would keep you going to the ranger in bad times. If you bought a K of bullets every two or three months you could build up a good supply.

With the cost of primers and new ammo now. I don't reload 9mm as I would rather use the Small Pistol Primers for something that would cost more to buy new. In stead of 9mm I will use my primers on 38Spl or 357Mag and just buy a box of factory 9mm. Sort of $15 (9mm) vs $35 (357mag) just doesn't make sense.

It works for me but may not be the thing for everyone.
WB

Nothing wrong with those economic lessons . Buying .44 Mag. isn't on MY shopping list but reloading them is and given a choice instead of .45 acp ,.44 mag's would get primers . Thankfully I never have to choose one over another ,as I've enough for all . IF push came to shove ,I'd prioritize .

So when 9mm factory 124's in Federal ,S&B and Fiocchi went on sale for $140.00- 150.00 per 1K delivered ,it was a NO Brain'r , while primers were running $0.12- 0.25 each at the height of phony shortage . Primer ,powder, bullet just couldn't be done. Bonus I got K's of New 9mm brass in the bargain

 

[sparkyv]

Of these, I've found that the rim on R•P 9mm cases are a bit smaller than the others and often pull out of the shell holder, so those go into the scrap bin.

Remington and Federal, but I also have CCI, Blazer, Fiocchi, and Winchester

These are my preferred cases in 9mm, in order of preference:

I don't use Speer, blazer or federal.

 

[tominboise]

It causes me neck and back pain. I don't have my own bench, I use the bench of a friend, and at his setup I can't get my knees under it.....so I end up bending over from the stool the whole time. (He's quite short, so it doesn't bother him.)

I reload as a precaution against future shortages. If we still had the prices and availability that I remember from the 1990s and before, I wouldn't do it.

This is why I stand while I reload. All my benches are tall enough that I don't bend over.