S & B 9mm Brass - too short?

[Steve H]

Last time I was at the gravel pit I found where someone left a nice pile of about 100 rounds of what appeared to be once fired S & B brass. Me being one that hates to see messy gravel pits brought it home and threw it in with my once fired 9mm mix. Today I look at it and it seemed short............it measures .710" which is about .035" under the trim to length data Mr. Speer has in #13. Is it too short to use?

 

[Borg]

You sure it's not 9mm Kurt brass,, same as 9X18 MAK
Borg

 

[Steve H]

WOW THANKS for the heads up. I just looked at the headstamp under the mag glass and see that it's stamped 9mmM...............

 

[ReloaderFred]

I believe you've picked up some 9mm Makarov brass. Look closely at the headstamp and see what it says.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[rcmodel]

+1

.710" is "trim too" length of 9x18 mm MAK.

Either made that way and so headstamped S&B 9mmM.

Or somebody trimmed 9mm Luger brass to make 9mm MAK brass out of it.

rc

 

[rdhood]

Or somebody trimmed 9mm Luger brass to make 9mm MAK brass out of it.

I was just about to say that. I line up all of my "collected" 9mm brass when I get it home and look for short rounds... MAKs and 380. They are easy to pick out when you stand them all on end in a group.

 

[Steve H]

OK now I get to go thru about 1000 cases to sort it out........stupid question. What happens if you load it in a 9mm Luger batch?

 

[Walkalong]

It will probably go bang, but you'll have excessive headspace I believe. I would have to look it up. Maybe someone will chime in with the math.

 

[bobotech]

9mm headspaces on the case mouth. If you put a 9x18 case into a 9mm luger gun, you will have far too much headspace.

The 9x18 bullet is bigger I believe but I assume that you are talking about if you load up one 9x18 by mistake with a 9mm luger bullet.

I wouldn't want to do that, could end up with a big problem with way too much headspace.

There is a chance it won't fire either due to the primer possibly being too far away from the firing pin.

 

[Steve H]

thanks much for the info, I'm sorting it out right now. Just goes to prove no matter how long you do something you can still screw up. I only have been reloading since 1965........

 

[rcmodel]

9mm headspaces on the rim.

It headspaces on the case mouth.
It doesn't have a rim.

9x18 case = 713".
9mm case = .754".

SO, 041" excess headspace.

In actuality, it wouldn't hurt anything to shoot it, as long as the extractor hook held it back far enough for the firing pin to hit it.
And you weren't shooting maximum or +P loads.

The 9mm MAK probably doesn't have nearly as strong a case as 9mm Luger.

The 9mm Luger has about double the standard operating pressure.

rc

 

[Steve H]

The 9mm MAK probably doesn't have nearly as strong a case as 9mm Luger.

The 9mm Luger has about double the standard operating pressure.

That's why I got scared. The Luger load in the Mak case may have been scary if the firing pin hit the primer. At least the brass was S & B, the red primer sealer made it easier to pick out.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Some S&B cases are steel, with a copper wash. They can't be detected by visual examination, but are readily picked up with a strong magnet. I've been fooled more than once by this "brass", and only found it with the magnet. It isn't all S&B brass, by any means, but it is out there.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[bobotech]

Edit, rcmodel is correct. I meant to say that they headspace on the case mouth and NOT the case rim.

Whoops. Will edit my posting

 

[Borg]

Just realized my post was incorrect. 9mm Kurt is 380, not 9X18 MAK.
But it's still MAK brass you have.
Borg

 

[wankerjake]

On a side note, S&B .380 brass is headstamped as 9mm br ct or some such, to indicate browning court. You can usually tell them apart when they are mixed in regular 9x19 cases, but I thought it was worth a heads up. I have been fooled a few times.

 

[ReloaderFred]

There are various names for .380 Auto. It can be called 9mm Corto, 9mm Kurz, .380 acp or .380 Auto. It's all the same, just different names.

The 9mm Makarov is also known as 9x18.

The 9mm Luger is also known as 9x19, 9mm Parabellum as well as 9mm Luger. There are probably other names as well, but those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

Hope this helps.

 

[MetalMan52]

Mak Brass

One other difference, 9mm Mak does not use the same diameter bullet that
9mm Luger does. Mak uses .365 diameter and Luger uses .356 diameter. I don't know if the Mak brass would size down to give good neck tension on a standard 9mm Luger bullet.

Pat

 

[evan price]

From experience: Yes, you can load Mak brass as 9x19 accidentally (the sizer dies squeezes it down perfectly), but if you load them into a standard ammo tray/box, you'll see the short ones because they show more bullet than the 9x19's do.

I've collected & saved samples of 9x19 loaded as .40s&w, .380 loaded as 9x19, 9x19 cut down and loaded as 9mm Makarov, and .40 s&w loaded as .45 acp!

 

[rondog]

Just don't throw 'em away, a lot of us here would rassle for 'em! Good reloadable 9x18mak brass is hard to find, most of it is steel Russian crap.