Question on the safety of reloading 9mm casings numerous times?

[ny32182]

I've loaded plenty of stepped brass, never had an issue with it yet in my medium loads. It might be different if you want to load a bunch of firewall loads.

Like others, I load 9mm (and .40) till it splits or I lose it. Well over 100k rounds total in the last four years.... Zero case head separations.

I split probably one out of 500 on average. The vast majority of my brass comes from indoor range floor sweepings, so I have zero insight into its history... it could be fired one time or 50; I couldn't care less really.

I have had a small quantity of nickel plated cases that I owned from new that came from Speer and Federal high dollar self defense ammo. These load fine but split faster, especially the Federal. Those are often split within four loadings or less. So if you are paying specifically for brass that you intend to recover and load repeatedly, I would stay away from nickel cases. But like anything else that shows up in my brass supply, when I get them, I load them without regard to how many times they have been loaded in the past.

 

[ny32182]

First 9 I have had split like this.
I was most likely shot from an LC9s.View attachment 230765

Uhhh. that is not a "split", that is a case head failure, and something had to be badly wrong there.

 

[Load Master]

I had that happen with a Federal case from my M&P 9mm with a KKM barrel. 3.1gr of TG, 147gr HiTek coated bullet
https://goo.gl/photos/ox2mVvG5JVYahV349

What were the signs with the gun that this had happened? Sound different or damage?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Uhhh. that is not a "split", that is a case head failure, and something had to be badly wrong there.

I had no malfunctions and didn't notice anything unusual. Now that I think back, a friend was shooting his new Glock that day. I'll have to ask him what loads he was using.

 

[lewallenap]

However, Federal brass is known for being softer than other brands. Just means it doesn't last as long. When you start getting a lot of cracked case mouths, primer pockets out of round, etc., pitch 'em.

I agree, the Federal brass definitely does seem to be a bit softer and more ductile than my other brass, particularly my UMC brass. But that's also one of the reasons I like it so much, it runs very smoothly though my press, especially resizing. My primer pockets don't seem to be loosening quite yet, but I'm using S&B primers which already seem tight so maybe that will help when they start becoming loose. Those primers are very tight in the UMC brass, which tells me they'll hopefully last longer. I actually just received some 124 grain FMJ and 147 grain bevel base (almost a boat tail) bullets from RMR today. I'll have to try some different loads with the FMJ, and probably use a different powder for the 147 grain, more than likely CFE pistol. Hopefully the lower pressure loads will help my brass to survive longer.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

This is a work hardened 40 SW that shattered when cycled from the mag causing a FTF. I find fired brass like this once in a while. This is the first one I have found un-fired. I'm surprised it didn't shatter in the die.

 

[Walkalong]

Wow, did you run that over with a truck before reloading it?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Wow, did you run that over with a truck before reloading it?

Very possible, sometimes I shoot from a gravel driveway. I don't think it got polished either.

 

[lewallenap]

Very possible, sometimes I shoot from a gravel driveway. I don't think it got polished either.

The work hardening occurs from being fired so many times, correct? I didn't realize brass could be work hardened in such a way.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

The work hardening occurs from being fired so many times, correct? I didn't realize brass could be work hardened in such a way.

It's caused by being fired (expanded) and resized (reduced) repeatedly. The brass in the photo has been reloaded many times.

 

[lewallenap]

It's caused by being fired (expanded) and resized (reduced) repeatedly. The brass in the photo has been reloaded many times.

Thank you, that's good to know. I didn't realize brass was a metal that was prone to work hardening like that. Although I guess under those intense pressures, just about any metal would probably react similarly. I just fired all of my test loads for the 147 grain bevel base bullets I just got yesterday. I loaded them fairly long (primarily because the bevel is so aggressive and long) and used a 3.9 grain charge of CFE pistol, and they shot great. I didn't expect them to cycle my P-07, but they did. The recoil feels more like a shove than a snap, and the point of impact was better than lighter projectiles, so I'm liking them. The pressure also seemed quite low, as it didn't take much at all to resize my cases, so I'm making the assumption firing didn't expand them too much. After getting into loading these heavier grain bullets, I'll probably never load 115 grain again, unless cost dictates it. My gun just launches the heavier bullets much better.

 

[Walkalong]

The brass in the photo has been reloaded many times.

A great many times.

 

[Gottcha]

No the correct answer to how many times 9mm brass can be reloaded it exactly 5 times! If you have already exceeded that you must stop using it and send it to me for proper disposal.

 

[Kaldor]

What were the signs with the gun that this had happened? Sound different or damage?

Just some blow back from the chamber and the case slipped off the extractor requiring me to pull the case from the chamber with a pliers. Ive fired 5000 of this exact load from from this exact gun made with the exact same components. First and last time. Ill chalk it up to a bad case.

 

[ny32182]

I had no malfunctions and didn't notice anything unusual. Now that I think back, a friend was shooting his new Glock that day. I'll have to ask him what loads he was using.

I've never seen a failure like that in person, and every one I can recall seeing on the internet was the result of a double charge or other catastrophic mistake and resulted in things like the magazine blown out, cracked frame, etc... If you didn't notice any issues, I'd strongly suspect that didn't come out of your (or your buddy's) gun.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I've never seen a failure like that in person, and every one I can recall seeing on the internet was the result of a double charge or other catastrophic mistake and resulted in things like the magazine blown out, cracked frame, etc... If you didn't notice any issues, I'd strongly suspect that didn't come out of your (or your buddy's) gun.

It came out of one of them because I have never picked up brass anywhere other than at my residence.
I don't think its as catastrophic as it appears, a flawed case possibly. A double charge would not have gone unnoticed in a LC9s or a G42. If I can find it I'll do a postmortem.

 

[ny32182]

Oh wow.. well.. interesting!