Why we check 9MM range brass with a magnet...

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Dudedog said:
Ok off thread but a little humor..

Rule3


You are fine if you keep the brass oriented on a N-S axis and make sure you keep the magnetic flux lines parallel to the long axis of the case
Otherwise you can have shots on target that appear to be fliers or pulled shots but are really due to the molecular degradation of the brass itself.;)
Molecular degradation of brass is main cause of hitting No Shoots:evil::)
(can't possibly be due to shooter error, it just happens to to many people.......)
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I've noticed that rounds shot from steel cases tend to follow the natural magnetic declination, especially when shot due north (Magnetic North, obviously), also taking into account the coriolis effect. :p
 
rpenmanparker said:
If it were not for the emojis, I would be afraid you were serious. :)
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Trust me, someone out there is concerned and will do research on this, if not already done so.:)

I am done picking up brass other than my own( mark it with a sharpie)
I have a big speaker magnet I glued to a piece of wood for a handle. Just put it in the big flat bucket of brass, pulls out staples and all the steel stuff. Picking out aluminum was a pain.
 
I picked up a full 5 gallon bucket pickup brass in September. I worked as an RO for a tier II SCSA match and we had brass catcher nets making it easy to get most of the brass with a minimum of work. Anyway, I ran a magnet over the brass several times while processing and only found about 10 steel cases. Probably found 100 Alum cases though.

I separated the 9mm, Winchester (this is what I mainly use), Federal and Blazer. The rest I called mixed range brass. About 500 pcs 40 S&W, about 100 pcs 38 super and about 50 pcs 45 ACP. Someone was using Starline brass found about 200 pcs of that.
 
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Hmmm, Noticed/culled some 'funky colored' ones after tumbling a while back,,,, Could be,,,,,,,,,,,,, !
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Most likely. Never had any brass cases come out a funky color. So far all the funny color ones I have found stick to a magnet.
If you are not using Citric acid (Lemishine) in your wet tumbling process it probably won't happen, something with the acid and the "brass" they use to coat them.
Wish I would have saved some to take a picture of now.
 
Fine Figure of a Man said:
It was news to me as well.
Glad to hear they’re not likely to damage dies.
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So knowing this, do we bring a magnet with for range brass? I can't imagine the few steel casings harming carbide dies at all.

Maybe someone can enlighten me on what I'm missing out on sans magnet. I can't tell...
 
^ more thinking that the magnet separation had to do with die preservation.
 
Mn Fats said:
So knowing this, do we bring a magnet with for range brass? I can't imagine the few steel casings harming carbide dies at all.

Maybe someone can enlighten me on what I'm missing out on sans magnet. I can't tell...
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You don't need to bring a magnet to the range. :scrutiny: Bring the brass home as usual. Separate the brass as usual. As part of the inspection before cleaning just pass a magnet over the lot and you're done.
 
I never knew that. I don't find much S&B at my local range but I know I have some. They seem to have tighter primer pockets. I'll start checking as soon as I invest in a magnet.
 
The steel cases I have ever found were steel with a greenish varnish or something on them. I figured they were military and I picked them up off the range and threw them in the trash. They were rifle cases.
 
9mmepiphany said:
The newest brass plated steel cases I've come across has been from Xtreme.

Their loaded ammo comes in both brass and brass plated steel. The steel cases have a different headstamp: Xtreme ST
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Nice catch 9! Found one of the little buggers in my range pickup bag!
IMG_2960_kindlephoto-350608046.jpg
 
I checked about 600 of my pickup 9mm cases last night including a bunch of S&B.... none were magnetic. Also none had the internal step so, bonus.
 
I found a few of those 2-part SS cases once. Obvious by looking at them. They don't stick to a magnet all that well and will knock off easily if hit by other brass while checking a batch. The steel and plated steel will stay on the magnet. My magnet will pull steel cases from over an inch down in a pile of brass. Not so with the SS cases, they must be in contact with the magnet to stick.
 
mcb said:
There is also no way steel cases are going to hurt a carbide sizing die. Tungsten carbide is also used to make machine tools used to machine steel, even hardened steel. Even regular steel sizing dies are made from tool steel again material typicaly used to make cutting tools that cut mild steel like what a steel case is made from.
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^^^This^^^
 
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