9mm brass problem

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I was just loading up some 9mm and came accross 1 case that wouldn't resize. I sort my brass by headstamp and had one that had WW on the headstamp and treated it as the one's with Win. headstamped. I always check neck tension after finishing my loads, and that one had no more neck tension than an unsized case. I emptied the powder and tried resizing it again, curious as to the cause, and it didn't improve at all. It measured much larger from the inside, about the same as an unsized round. Anyone know if the WW cases have a problem, or are not intended for reloading? I'm fairly certain I've loaded them before.
After all the years of following the safe guard of checking neck tension, and I thought it was a waste of time until now.
 
Back in the day when Navy Seals were exploding M9's and complaining about bad metalurgy, some people suggested that the contracted subsonic ammunition was loaded too hot, exceeding proof-level pressures. Maybe you found a fossil?
 
WW cases are Winchester-Western. May just be old and tired. For 1 case, pitch it.
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Watch it there, whippersnapper!

WW cases can be found OFTEN because a lot of reloaders have used them. The primer holes also often needed to be bevelled more or you may waste one trying to force it in.
 
Winchester also makes a lot of other 9mm brass, besides "9x19 Luger". You might have 9x18 Makarov (usually marked "9mm Mak") which is actually 9.3mm. This is slightly larger than what you know as 9mm and could account for the difference.

So 9mm is not always 9mm. :D
 
Nope, it's clearly marked 9mm Luger WW which is why I added it to Win. headstamp sorted brass. The inside diameter was the same as a fired round before resizing. But again, safe reloading practices were responsible for me seeing the problem before it made it's way to the firearm. Does Winchester still make 9mm brass with the WW headstamp?
 
Some WW 9MM brass has crimped primers. I just did the PP's on a small batch.
 
I've loaded several thousand 9mm, and have yet to run across that problem. If you've got a set of calipers, you might take measurements and see how it compares to sized and unsized 9mm brass (some of those Winny cases you have laying around?).

Either way, it's probably not too big a deal, unless you have a lot of trouble finding brass laying about. I routinely pick up 200+ once-fired brass when I bother looking (public range I visit infrequently), so the odd steel or otherwise worrisome case isn't normally worth worrying about.
 
Simple. Doesn't matter if it's Mak brass or Largo, or 38 Super. If it fit in your sizing die, it was sized. But each time a case is shot and sized, it gets work hardened a bit more. The more worked it is, the more it resists sizing. You squeeze it down the same amount, but it springs back more than annealed brass. To be clear, it could still be sized, properly, but you'd need an undersized die to get the results you want. This is also one of the issues you can run into with steel cases. It can be overcome with the right die or by annealing. But for the odd luger case, you should just retire it. That case probably had a good life. :)
 
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I reloaded and fired the same 9mm case 30 times in one afternoon, measuring growth and case expansion. They may get work hardened, but not enough for you to notice.
 
One case? Just toss it. Why suffer any "brain damage" over why?

9mm brass is so common, readily available, and cheap that one piece is not worth much analysis.

As for W-W brass being a problem, I haven't seen any more from it than any other "brand".

My biggest frustration with loading 9mm is that darned .380 brass that keeps sneaking into the case feeder of my press. Luckily I load my cartridges long enough that the bullet often falls out of the case when it is dropped into the finished cartridge bin.
 
9mm brass is so common, readily available, and cheap that one piece is not worth much analysis.
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What do you mean?

It proved your work hardening statement wrong. I reloaded another case 20 times, but it started to leak gas through one of the cannelure indentations. Same thing. The resizing effort did not increase at all.
 
My biggest frustration with loading 9mm is that darned .380 brass that keeps sneaking into the case feeder of my press. Luckily I load my cartridges long enough that the bullet often falls out of the case when it is dropped into the finished cartridge bin.
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:eek:

I guess loading with a single stage I guess I have plenty of opportunity to catch them...lol!!!
 
What gets me every time is the European 380 brass, which they insist on marking as "9mm Kurz" !! That'll waste a primer every time.

:D
 
I can feel the difference in a .380 case when I pick it up. So far none have gotten by me.

I agree that work hardening isn't the problem with the OP's piece of brass.
 
WANTED:

Small primer pocket 45 ACP brass


How much would you want? I have some in all of mine. run into it now and then ( usually when I am loading in my progressive..argh ..)
 
Just pay attention to the effort you are putting in the press lever. A 380 case in a 9mm luger sizing die offers no resistance, and if you're paying attention to what you are doing, you should notice this. I found 3 pieces of 380 in my last thousand round batch, and those were cases I had headstamp-sorted, by hand (I guess my sorting has 0.3% error rate, oops)
 
I reloaded and fired the same 9mm case 30 times in one afternoon, measuring growth and case expansion. They may get work hardened, but not enough for you to notice.
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Maybe not that brass, with that load, with that gun. But you don't know where that WW brass has been. It could have been shot in an loose chamber, and the brass alloy might be different. And how would you know it wasn't reloaded more than 30 times?

What do you mean?

It proved your work hardening statement wrong.
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This depends on your definition of proof, and your interpretation of my statement, I suppose. It's pretty much a fact that brass work hardens, and that work hardened brass is springier than annealed brass. That was my statement, BTW, not Amlevin's.
I reloaded another case 20 times, but it started to leak gas through one of the cannelure indentations. Same thing. The resizing effort did not increase at all.
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The ones I've come across weren't noticeably harder to size. 'Course, I didn't take any measurements. I just tossed 'em.

Either the brass is too thin, or it's too hard. Or a combination of both. There's nothing else that would cause this. Micrometer to the outside of the sized case would settle it.
 
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Work hardened brass gets harder, or stiffer if you prefer, which resists sizing, so it "springs back" more than dead soft brass, which just stays put.

It shows up in sizing rifle brass when our shoulder is not pushed back as far anymore with the sizer set the same as it was before. Dead soft rifle brass stays where it is pushed to, while work hardened brass "springs back" a little, changing where the shoulder is.

It affects neck tension to some degree as well.
 
I found 10 pieces of 9mm Luger brass stamped W-W that will not hold a bullet. I can push the unseated bullets in with my thumb. They will not crimp and hold. I unloaded 5 and culled 5 more before I even tried to seat them.

I am a relative newbie to loading, but have loaded over 500 9mm and never saw anything like this with WIN stamped Winchester 9mm Luger brass. I have also loaded R-P, Sellier and Bellot, and Federal brass with no problems what so ever.

These 10 cases are primed, so I will not be even trying to resize them again. I measured the inside of the case neck and found it to be .352, but I wouldn't bet the farm on my inside measurements. ;)
 
I found 10 pieces of 9mm Luger brass stamped W-W that will not hold a bullet. I can push the unseated bullets in with my thumb. They will not crimp and hold. I unloaded 5 and culled 5 more before I even tried to seat them ... have loaded over 500 9mm and never saw anything like this with WIN stamped Winchester 9mm Luger brass. I have also loaded R-P, Sellier and Bellot, and Federal brass with no problems what so ever.
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If I have any actual issues, problems or have to ponder/guess what might be wrong with a case, it gets tossed into the recycle bin. If I find a trend, I try to isolate the cause to determine whether the cause is component related or my reloading equipment/practice.

Recently I ran across verified once-fired PMC brass that would not chamber in the Lone Wolf or even the Glock factory barrel. It turned out that this particular bunch had softer brass and the case was bulging when the bullet was seated. The entire lot got tossed. Problem solved as older PMC and other head stamp cases did not have any issues.

9mm cases are plentiful enough, I think life is too short for some things.
 
I have no problem with tossing the 10 cases. I just felt the need to chime in with my findings since nobody else seemed to have the same troubles with this head stamp.

Now I have to be on the look out for the same head stamp in the 700 or so Winchester 9mm cases I have sorted, primed, and boxed ready to be loaded.

Since this brass was given to me along with 25 new Styrofoam/cardboard boxes from Midway for free, I can't be too critical. ;) The guy planned to reload 9mm, but sold the gun before he ever started.
 
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