Bought internet brass, help....

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eng92cap

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I wanted to get going with reloading, so I bought a pile of "once fired" 9mm brass off the web. Arrived quickly, is pretty clean & it was reasonable price. Lyman's says to trim to length; .751". Measuring the brass, most is already at or shorter than .740" to .745". Is this too short? Do you think it has been already trimmed? Is this the norm for this type of material? Would love an explanation here, thanks!
 
what caliber? 9mm? If so I would expect it wasnt trimmed at all. Ive never had to trim any brass for a pistol. The .751 is the length that it cannot exceed or maximum length. Meaning if it were longer than that it would need a trim. Most pistol brass doesnt stretch much if ever. think to yourself how much 1/100th or 5/1000th of an inch actually is. Youll be fine with that length.
 
For the 9mm i dont know what your options are for powder but if you can find it ramshot silhouette is inexpensive, ball powder so it measures great and evenly, and has a flash suppressant treatment so the muzzle flash is non-existant. Another benefit of the 9mm is the powder goes a looooooonngggg way. 1 pound lasts forever.
 
I am finding the whole subject fun to research and am getting into it! Just wanted to pay heed to caution, because I'm new. Yes the .751" is the "Trim to this length", the Max allowable is .754" per the diagram of factory load. Lyman's also states not to seat bullet too deeply due to creation of excessive pressures. So wouldn't seating a bullet to normal depth in a case that is shorter than the called out spec length cause increased pressures?
 
Kyhunter, this is just the kind of help I was hoping for! Thanks, I will try to get some. I'm in CA and there is nothing available on any shelves right now.
 
yes and no. The 5/1000ths of an inch wont make much difference as far as pressures. But if your bullets are seated too far back or arent crimped enough and set back during feeding pressures can get unsafe in a hurry. Just make sure to seat your rounds longer than the minimum OAL length. I load mine longer than recommended then plunk test them and seat them a hair shorter of the chamber length or just short enough to fit in the magazine and feed reliably. Just dont go shorter than the load datas OAL and you ll be okay.

Plunk test= Load a round and drop it in your barrel removed from the gun. If it falls in the chamber and "plunks" then falls out when the barrel is held vertically it passes. This means that the bullet is out the rifling and fits in the chambers specs. Be advised that this is too test maximum length. A cartridge too short will pass a plunk test. Too long will not.

If you load for a bottleneck rifle cartidge the bullet seating too long and in the rifling can and will destroy your barrel, action, and/or yourself. The rifle cartridge is made to handle higher pressures and is a lot bigger in capacity. So in a small pistol cartridge the effects of bullet setback is magnified.

and good luck and happy loading in the future. Supplies are hard to come by now a days. Internet sites to check : grafs,natchez,midway,fsreloading,wideners. Be sure if at all possible to get a lot of powder and primers shipped together to offset the 25$ extra hazmat shipping fee or buy these components in a retail store.
 
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A note for you.:) If you are measuring case length BEFORE you resize the brass then it will be short. It generally "grows" in length when resized. I have never ever trimmed any of my handgun brass. I have not had any problems with it ever either. FWIW I usually loose my auto-pistol brass before it wears out in any way. Straight walled brass like 30 Carbine and all bottle necked brass will grow in length when fired so you have to check the length after a couple firings (I do) to be safe.
 
The times I have found it beneficial to trim once fired is if you are using a crimp. With mixed once fired lengths will vary. If you are crimping, the differing lengths will cause inconsistency as longer cases will be crimped tighter and shorter cases my not get crimped at all, Depending on which the die is set up for.
That will effect accuracy. If you are not crimping Then those above have already answered.
 
I used mixed 9MM brass, never trim it, and it still shoots better than I can hold. It's the rare bird that trims auto pistol brass. Some do sort it by head stamp and length, but not me, no siree.

I am the odd duck that trims all his revolver brass unless it is all one make and of consistent length.
 
Most modern brass will load and load without ever having to trim the length. Just check the length of one every once and awhile and load away. I doubt you will ever find one that exceeds max length.
 
eng92cap said:
So wouldn't seating a bullet to normal depth in a case that is shorter than the called out spec length cause increased pressures?
Click to expand...

Seating depth is controlled with the seating die and measured by overall length. Shortening the case does not cause the bullet to be seated deeper, so there's no pressure increase. Rather than seating deeper, there will just be less overlap between the brass and the bullet.
 
I trim all straight walled brass used in my revolvers, e.g. .38 special and .357 magnum, ad these calibers use. Roll crimp, that I wish to apply uniformly.
 
I've reloaded 10's of thousands of rounds of 9mmx19, never seen the need to trim. If anything, the rims get a little broader with repeat firings.

I like Winchester Super Field powder for factory-spec velocities with 115 and 124g jacketed projectiles, but there are bunch of other suitable powders. I've also used WSF with 124g cast projectiles in 9mmx19 too.
 
Have never trimmed 9x19 brass, and never will. I've got buckets of it, and if one ever did get too long, I'd just scrap it and move on, but none ever have..........

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Based on cover to cover reading of my first Speer reloading book, the #10 1970 something revision, 9mm is extremely pressure sensitive to seating depths. .030" can drive pressure up more than double. So, being a person who takes everything in this hobby seriously, I do trim all my brass, be it 9mm or other, it gets trimmed accordingly.

As for 9mm brass not stretching, it does. I trim all my once fired 9mm brass to published trim too lengths, and when I reload it the second time, it has grown at least .005" or more after resizing. So in a test, I took once fired brass that most measure around .751", which BTW is just .003" shorter than SAAMI max length of .754" and I didn't trim it, loaded it and then shot it. After resizing during the next reloading session it measured .757"+, that's at least .003" beyond SAAMI max.. Left untrimmed for another 1 or 2 relaodings it will grow at least .010" beyond max. Needless to say, I trim all of it to .744" and then when it goes beyond .754", which some does, I give it another trim.

My point being, that if you don't trim 9mm brass, ever, it is going to exceed SAAMI max. by a significant degree. And since I pretty much load stout jacketed stuff that takes pressures up in to maximum range, so .010" or more will definitely have some effect on pressures. If this was not true there wouldn't exist a SAAMI spec. with stringent guidelines as well. Now for those who load target or plinking loads, I doubt you would notice much, if any difference in pressures. And then there is the head space issue, which can cause problems with the action not going into full battery if rimless brass is allowed to go well beyond SAAMI max.. I seem to hear a good deal about reloaders having problems with rounds not going into battery, even though OAL is in check, I wonder why?

GS
 
To the OP: You'll find that advice from a guy who uses 1000 words to say what could be said in 50, not as valuable as the advice from a guy who writes the 50 words. ;) Those obviously suffering from OCD tend to make life a lot harder than it should be! :)

Don't trim your 9mm brass!! Ever! It WON'T get longer!!! Taper crimping only removes the bell, so case length isn't consequential to the crimping process. Load and enjoy. :cool:
 
So, if I set my taper crimp die to take the bell out of the case that measures .740 and I them load one that measures .751 the .751 case will not be crimped down more than the case that measures .740? I must have a defective taper crimp die...
 
I have never, ever, ever trimmed any pistol brass - and have never, ever had any problems related to length. Other problems, sure, but never related to case length (we're talking auto loaders here - but I have never trimmed any pistol case). :cool:
 
Its common for semi-auto pistol brass to be shorter than suggested trim length. You will see it in 45's, and even 40's. Like others have said, it hurts nothing, just shoot it. Lightman
 
What is the connection between case length and COAL that would lead to pressure concerns?

Isn't the case volume the same for a given seating depth for a given bullet, without regard to the length of the case?

Mike
 
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