Military crimped 9mm

[Nate1778]

Trying to sort my 9mm casings as the crimped ones are giving my equipment fits. I have located the head stamps marked WCC and have the NATO head stamp, they have an obvious ring around the primers. I am simply wandering if there are any other hidden signs that might not be apparent to the naked eye or is this ring going to be obvious on most crimped casings (kinda like .223). I have a bunch that are marked F C 9mm but they do not appear to have the ring although when I researched it online this was one of the head stamps to look for, but it doesn't looked crimped. I have not been reloading 9mm for very long, only a few hundred rounds, but am tired of the hang ups these buggers are giving me. Thanks

 

[rcmodel]

U.S. crimp will be the "ring around the primer" type you have.

Some foreign 9mm might have three or more "stab" crimps.

In any case, it should be obvious if they are crimped or not.

rc

 

[chbrow10]

Yeah, these are a pain on my equipment as well. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Where I shoot, 9mm free range brass is everywhere, so I don't even bother with the military headstamp. If I find one that won't work in the press, I throw it out immediatley.

 

[Nate1778]

Yeah I am in agreement, the 9mm brass flows the river wild, but man I am tired of it bringing my reloader to a screeching halt. I guess I just figured out to start sorting it before it causes a problem.

Thanks RC that's what I was hoping for, it was pretty obvious, and the number I pulled represented pretty well how many hang ups I had in the amount of brass I am using.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I prefer military 9x19 brass, since it's heavier in construction and holds up better. With Federal military, in addition to the FC on the headstamp, there will also be two numbers, indicating the year of manufacture, i.e.: F C 04, indicating it was manufactured in 2004 by Federal Cartridge. You'll also see WCC, with a year, RA, with a year, etc.

You only have to swage the primer pocket once, and then you have some really good brass. If you're not going to use it, recycle it, but don't throw it away in the trash.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Nate1778]

All the F C I have simply states 9mm Luger with it, I am assuming this is civilian ammo by Federal, am I right? Out of all of the brass, probably 400 casings there were 15 marked WCC and had an obvious crimp. I have no problem with crimped brass, its when it gets in the mix with the non crimped and the machine goes " wait a minute".

 

[D. Manley]

I prefer military 9x19 brass, since it's heavier in construction and holds up better. With Federal military, in addition to the FC on the headstamp, there will also be two numbers, indicating the year of manufacture, i.e.: F C 04, indicating it was manufactured in 2004 by Federal Cartridge. You'll also see WCC, with a year, RA, with a year, etc.

You only have to swage the primer pocket once, and then you have some really good brass. If you're not going to use it, recycle it, but don't throw it away in the trash.

+1. WCC is one of my favorites...tough, durable, consistent brass. Well worth the little bit of time to run through the swager, IMO.

 

[ReloaderFred]

All the commercial 9x19 brass made by Federal that I've seen, has had the F C and caliber headstamp. All the military 9x19 that I've seen made by Federal has the FC and year stamped on it, but no caliber designation.

If the brass says "FC 9mm", then it's commercial.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Nate1778]

Fred more than you know that was a huge help.

Thanks guys, hopefully this will keep the press running smooth.

 

[rfwobbly]

I prefer military 9x19 brass, since it's heavier in construction and holds up better. With Federal military... there will also be two numbers, indicating the year of manufacture, i.e.: F C 04....

The stuff is bulletproof !! I got a pile of about 300 cases I run through over and over. I always read the headstamps to make sure none of it is 380 or Mak. Of that number several with headstamps such as "FC 84" and "FC 90" pass by every now and then. I just have to chuckle.

 

[Steve Marshall]

If you need to screen your 9MM brass here's an easy way. I use 2 RCBS loading blocks. Jiggle the brass into one of them, check the few that are headstamp up then line up the other block on top and invert. Under a decent light I can check several 100 in but a few minutes. Since I use CCI primers and they tend to be tougher to seat than most I find I have to take out the S&B,MRP,CBC,PMP and Geco. I take all those and pitch them in a 5 Gal. pail. When it gets full enough I'll process them with the Dillon Swager. Or if scrap prices go nuts again I might sell them.