Questions on 9mm brass

[Potatohead]

I'm curious how the headstamp can affect the die adjustment, if the brass is the same length wouldn't the die adjustment be the same?

The length varies... Even within the same headstamp sometimes it seems...

 

[jwrowland77]

Uh oh. Ive got a lot that are unmarked...

On a side note, I kind of worry about range pick ups now. Since brass and components are so valuable now I figure nobody is going to leave brass laying about unless theyve been overused or pushed to the max. I have a hard time believing that someone, even a non reloader, would fire factory brass for the first time and then just leave it all. Hopefully Im wrong.

I don't. Lots of non-reloaders out there just blasting away that care nothing about picking up there brass. I scored 100 7mm Rem Mag cases, all Winchester, last weekend while shooting. A guy and his buddy were shooting and didn't reload. I asked them for their brass. Got 100 pieces that didn't even touch the ground.

 

[jwrowland77]

Theyre not always the same length. Even within the same headstamp sometimes it seems.

True but I'm OCD, I trim the first time. Lol.

 

[Potatohead]

That's crazy theyd do that (leave their brass)...I'm glad though..

 

[Potatohead]

True but I'm OCD, I trim the first time. Lol.

Gotcha.
I need to get a trimmer. I actually love doing brass prep and that would give me another toy to play with!

 

[Mohave-Tec]

On a side note, I kind of worry about range pick ups now. Since brass and components are so valuable now I figure nobody is going to leave brass laying about unless theyve been overused or pushed to the max. I have a hard time believing that someone, even a non reloader, would fire factory brass for the first time and then just leave it all. Hopefully Im wrong.

When sighting in scopes or doing some load development I shoot at the majorly busy Clark County Shooting Park here in Las Vegas. I'd say 90%+ do not pick up their brass. Until the guy beside me leaves, his brass doesn't belong to the park. I almost always chat it up with the people beside me, we trade guns, I note what they are shooting and ask if they are keeping their brass. That is how I've collected my 50,000/100,000 pieces of brass. The point is, most people don't keep their brass.

 

[gonoles_1980]

Most people at the range I shoot at leave their brass. I collect mine, and sometimes others, the range has a policy "You can only pick up brass you bring in or buy here".

 

[Dudedog]

I see people at the range who don't reload fire a new box of ammo and leave the brass laying there. SCORE! I mention that I reload and ask if I can have thier brass, even had some people pick it up for me. I say I enjoy reloading, it saves me money (sort of just shoot 3 times as much so I don't really save anything) but I think some people just don't have the inclination to reload. It does take time and costs money to get going and I think a lot of people are just "to busy". To each his own, I can always use free brass. The ranges I shoot at have the same type of policy, your brass only, but as long as the other people have not left it does not become the ranges brass and so far I have had no problem with range staff if others give it to me.
I don't think I have lost a 9mm case to split necks, it is usually always the loose primer pocket. (about 7000 9mm reloads so I'm sure others have had more experience here. Primer goes in way to easy (BAD). It's hard to define to easy, but just easier than the other ones. I work on the if in doubt throw it out plan. Used Red, Black, Blue and Green sharpies to mark these but since I use Lee equipment I settled on the Red one! (It works well and is a lot less expensive than Blue or Green)

 

[hartcreek]

I see no reason to count how many times a cartridge has been reloaded. I full size everything and when I do that I find the split mouths and the few that can not be reshaped. When I prime with a hand primer I catch the once that will not hold a primer.

If there is a slight dent in a case it will fireform out.

 

[Dudedog]

I actually love doing brass prep

Hey Potatohead,
If you ever feel you need more love in your life let me know and I will send you some of my brass to prep. I sure others would be willing to make the sacrifice to help you out here as well.

 

[LiveLife]

9mm brass ... My Layman's reloading manual says brass is good for 6-15 reloads.

I count the number of reloadings for rifle cartridges like .308 and start to inspect the inside of case for incipient case head separation after so many reloadings but for straight walled pistol cases, I do not count the number of reloadings.

It's harder to determine the number of reloads with the 9mm brass since I have a mix of my brass and range brass (hard to tell which is mine on the floor mixed with others). So do you just carefully inspect the brass or just toss after a half dozen or so reloads?

My brass cases are marked (tiny indentation/scratch marks) so I can tell them from other range brass. When I sort brass, my cases go into separate containers so once-fired/newer brass are stored in 5-gallon buckets and not used. I usually use 2-3 large Folgers coffee containers worth of brass for each caliber and mark them Dirty/Clean. I only toss/recycle brass when the primer pocket gets loose or brass gets damaged.

Headstamps, I'm reading in some sites that you should sort your 9mm brass by headstamp, the Layman's manual has good info on pistol brass, but doesn't mention a thing about sorting by headstamp. Is this really necessary for the 9mm?

No, I don't sort pistol brass by headstamp, not even for match rounds. I do, however, prefer to use verified once-fired brass for back up defensive rounds. Only time I sort brass by headstamp is for .308 cases where thicker walled military LC cases have smaller inside case volume than commercial cases and I use lower powder charges.

Some of the brass had been stepped on and was deformed at the mouth some. The sizing die fixed most of it. But a few pieces while looking fixed have a shiny triangle on the outside of the brass where the indentation was. I'm guessing I should toss those, along with the ones that were heavily dented to start with.

While minor dents will fire-form back out after the firing, if I have to pause long enough to ponder whether a case has enough damage to be reloaded, I toss/recycle the case - but I have 5-gallon buckets of brass. If you don't have much brass, you could mark the case and try reusing the brass and see how they look after firing. If OK, then reload away. If not, toss/recycle.

 

[dickttx]

When I first got a 38 Super I ordered 500 new cases from Starline. In working up loads some of the first 100 were loaded 26 times. No split mouths, etc. When I broke out the next 100 I was surprised at how hard the primers were to seat as compared to the first batch. I furlowed that first 100 until I REALLY need them again.
As to why people leave brass lying around, I would guess that only about 5% of shooters reload, and the 95% that don't, think that those that do are crazy.

 

[Cheetos]

I have 30+ reloads on some of my 9mm brass without any failure. I find that the primer pockets are starting to get a bit loose.

 

[Potatohead]

When sighting in scopes or doing some load development I shoot at the majorly busy Clark County Shooting Park here in Las Vegas. I'd say 90%+ do not pick up their brass. Until the guy beside me leaves, his brass doesn't belong to the park. I almost always chat it up with the people beside me, we trade guns, I note what they are shooting and ask if they are keeping their brass. That is how I've collected my 50,000/100,000 pieces of brass. The point is, most people don't keep their brass.

Wow. Good to hear.

 

[Potatohead]

Hey Potatohead,
If you ever feel you need more love in your life let me know and I will send you some of my brass to prep. I sure others would be willing to make the sacrifice to help you out here as well.

LOL.

Yea, maybe I should re phrase that a little

 

[mstreddy]

free brass

Potato Head: On a side note, I kind of worry about range pick ups now. Since brass and components are so valuable now I figure nobody is going to leave brass laying about unless theyve been overused or pushed to the max. I have a hard time believing that someone, even a non reloader, would fire factory brass for the first time and then just leave it all. Hopefully Im wrong.

PH as reloaders, we are actually in the minority of shooters. It appears that there are a lot of us, given this forum we frequent, but think of how many around you shoot -- and then from those - how many reload?

At the indoor range where I shoot most often, I'm usually the only guy picking up brass. Well, now one of my shooting buddies got into reloading so he's the one picking up. On a normal evening, all the other shooters leave the brass laying. The range guys will sweep it up for us into a nice pile. I'm letting my buddy have first dibs so he can get 45 and 9mm. He'll bring me back the bunches of 40, 380, 38spcl, etc.
Recently at the outdoor range I frequent, there was a littering of 223 cases. I kept looking at it -- and finally got a bag, and started scooping it up. Probably around 300 cases of mostly FC 2013 1x (primer crimp intact).
So, yeah, folks just shoot and leave the brass lay.

 

[germ]

Sometimes I think I'm the only reloader at our local indoor. Even at the outdoor I often find lots of (mostly) once fired. I can easily tell if it's once fired not only by the condition of the very shiny brass, but also the large amount of obviously brand new empty boxes in the garbage cans. To paraphrase a certain idiotic government program, my policy is: "No brass left behind". At the indoor, I cringe when I look out at the sea of brass laying on the floor on the unobtainable side of the bench, pushed out there by the RSO's. I think each day's worth of brass they scrap would last me a lifetime. Sniff, sniff, sigh.

 

[hartcreek]

I have picked up buckets of brass that someone left around and it sure was not worn out.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

At my local indoor range about 95% of the shooters are shooting factory ammunition and when they are done they sweep up their lane and dump 'em in big plastic buckets. If I tell all the folks shooting around me to just clear their lane and sweep all the brass towards me they will.

I gather it all up and sort mine and any other 9mm or .38 or .45 out at home and bring the cast offs back and throw 'em in the bucket. I have had folks shooting factory .38 and .357 save their brass for me...they put it in my range bag in the big plastic ziplock bag and smile and give me a thumbs up.

Nice folks most of them. If they know you reload they help by saving the brass fer ya...how cool is that?

VooDoo

 

[1SOW]

On a side note, I kind of worry about range pick ups now. Since brass and components are so valuable now I figure nobody is going to leave brass laying about unless theyve been overused or pushed to the max. I have a hard time believing that someone, even a non reloader, would fire factory brass for the first time and then just leave it all. Hopefully Im wrong.

OH but they DO JUST THAT. Thankfully.

re 9mm: It's all I reload shoot for years of 1000-1200 per month. Shoot it it 'til it splits, the primer seat is loose or case retention weakens. As said above use a sharpie to mark your "don't re-use" cases. A 9mm Luger Winchesteror other sturdy case will load over 20 times with light to mid-range loads--fact. .

When you get home from brass scrounging, cull the losers: Creases are no good, smooth dents are fine. The ones you marked as bad also get culled. There are some headstamps I won't reload, but that's just my choice.
They'll last a very long time. Load 'em and shoot 'em.