Would you reload your 9mm reloads?

[mstreddy]

OP, some have mentioned it. For 9MM there really is no need to keep track oh how many times loaded. When I first started, many moons ago, I tried to keep track of 1x, 2x, etc... Then I learned that it didn't matter. Now, I just sweep up the brass, tumble it, then I load it. That's it for 9MM. I do sort my revolver brass by head stamp as it helps for the flare and seating/crimping.
Rifle brass, I do track # of firings as best as I can.

 

[Otto]

I shoot >20k a year. To keep a log of how many times a case had been fired would be a nightmare.

 

[Laggy]

Reload them until the fail or get lost in the Bermuda triangle.

This is signature worthy

 

[Telum Pisces]

Why yes I do and I always will!

 

[EMC45]

On another note, I also pick up Wolf and Tula cases. The steel ones. They load just fine in carbide dies - they size, flare and crimp perfectly. I will shoot them at the range and not be too heart broken if some get lost. I was going through a coffee can of .45 ACP yesterday and found quite a bit of steel cases - dark grey in color.

I also have some .45 ACP cases that have headstamps that are close to unreadable. No telling how many times they have been loaded.

I found .45 ACP at my range in the past few years with a 1942 headstamp with copper colored primers. They load up just fine too. Someones been shooting up some old ammo.

 

[doubleh]

By all means, reload them until the case mouths crack, primer pockets get loose, or you lose them which will probably happen before the other 2.

I am firmly convinced that the world is filled with gremlins. The brass loving ones pop up when you are shooting semi-autos and abscond with your brass. They are little fellers and the smaller the case the more they run off with.

 

[.308 Norma]

sounds like the feedback is rather consistent - reload until they are no longer reloadable, or....just lost (happens to me all the time). thanks!

Yep, stick around - you'll find a good many folks here (including myself) that pick up found brass at the range, take it home, and reload it until it splits, the primer pocket gets loose, or it gets lost again. However, because my "range" is a local county gravel pit about 2 miles south of the house, the brass I find there is probably not as often reusable as the brass other folks find at genuine public ranges - particularly the indoor ranges. The brass I find at the gravel pit is often full of dirt and corroded. And sometimes it's obvious it's been under the snow since last fall. For that matter, because my family and friends have been shooting in that gravel pit for 40+ years, there's little doubt that some of the brass we find there is brass that we ourselves lost there a year or two before. I just have to inspect found brass and use a little common sense when it comes to deciding whether or not to reload it.

 

[George P]

Really?

IME, yes. plain brass goes smoother through the dies; especially with bottleneck cases

 

[packetloss]

I know there are different schools of thoughts on this and would very much appreciate you sharing yours.

I intend to reload my hand loads that employed new brass the first go around, it’s the “once fired” that I got from Capitol Cartridge and the range retrieved brass that I’m not sure about. I load towards the starting value typically with 124 or 147 Berrys and Xtreme projectiles. I primarily use nickel plated brass, but don’t know if that makes any difference at all.

Share your wisdom please!

You do realize that "once fired" just means it's not new and could have been fired 10+ times?. In any case as long as there are no cracks you are good to go to reload those cases till they crack.

 

[Dudedog]

I reuse it until
1. It gets lost
2. I gets splits at the case neck
3 Primer pocket gets loose.

90+ % of it due to #1

 

[sparkyv]

Won't ever be a problem for 10mm in a semi-auto...can't ever seem to find up to 40% of 'em. I think they're in the next county over.

 

[jedred1]

I like to buy ammo new. In lots of 1000. Shoot them up (keeping the brass of course). Reload them as a group until the necks start cracking (usually the first problem I run into). 4 - 5 shells with split necks out of 1000 and that's enough of an indication to me that the whole batch should be retired. Then I buy another 1 - 2 thousand new ones and repeat. I load 9mm and 45ACP. The 9's start splitting much faster then 45's. I have some military head stamped 45 shells I have shot probably around 50 times with out issues. I had to de-crimp the primer pockets. I find that if all of my shells are the same brand I have more consistent results with bullet seating and such.

 

[Hanshi]

I don't shoot very much 9mm but still do reload for it. All cases are reloaded until they can't be reloaded any longer. If intended for any potential and serious use, I either load with factory or use new cases for the reloads. I'll reload any case that comes along and isn't beat up. For practice and fun shooting I don't separate cases or keep count. Decades ago I received a supply of WWII steel case .45 acp. That stuff is excellent and I'm still reloading it. In fact, I prefer it in my S&W 1955 M25 revolver.

 

[durachoke]

I love to read everyone’s various techniques and process. I reload mine, and am anxious to learn where the point is that I shouldn’t.

 

[mstreddy]

Won't ever be a problem for 10mm in a semi-auto...can't ever seem to find up to 40% of 'em. I think they're in the next county over.

Funny, that's the same case (no pun intended) with 32 ACP. Those little cases fly far!

 

[brewer12345]

I must say I find this thread to be hilarious. 6 months ago nearly every thread about 9MM was filled with people saying they would never reload it because it was so cheap and readily available.

 

[Jonesy814]

I started reloading in early 2014 since then I have loaded 13,000 rounds of 9mm. 100 percent of my brass came from ammo that my friends and I shot. Some of it was even Freedom Munitions commercially remanufactured ammo which means the brass was on its third loading (at least) when I first loaded it. I have not had more than 5 or 6 cases crack on me so far. I tend to load in the middle of the load range.

 

[2ndtimer]

I reload 9mm and 45 ACP, and concur that .45 brass lasts much longer. It makes sense, since the 9mm operates at much higher pressure (35,000 psi) compared to the 45 ACP (21,000 psi). Also, the brass for the 45 is easier to find, so you have the opportunity to load it more times. It used to be that it didn’t matter how many of my 9mm cases disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle, because other shooters left hundreds of once fired Blazer Brass, S&B, Remington, Winchester or CBC cases all around the club range. I have noticed lately, far fewer abandoned brass cases. Either the shooters realize that they are actually valuable, or other scavengers are beating me to them. . I continue to scavenge brass, clean it in a liquid tumbler and load them until I lose them or necks split or primer pockets stretch out. I do sort them by head stamp and load 9mm in bunches on a Dillon RL-550B. I don’t load them hot, but upper mid range for reliable, accurate functionality.

 

[EMC45]

I actually had a .45ACP case crack yesterday. I was flaring for a cast bullet and it got a longitudinal crack down the case. I primed and then flared, so I have a primer in a no good case now.

It was a Winchester marked Sellier and Bellot case from the early 2000s. The rims are rounded off on them and the font is the same.

 

[FROGO207]

I have several 5 gal buckets of 9MM brass to reload. I use it till it is lost usually. Not many split or get loose primer pockets here. I do however recycle the brass that has the internal ring reducing the capacity. Not worth messing with IMO. Just make sure you inspect them for damage that will disqualify them from being safe to use.

 

[Cemetery21]

Been loading 45+ years and never owned new pistol brass. Either found it or bought it used.
Rifle brass, I always start with new.

 

[Dudedog]

I do however recycle the brass that has the internal ring reducing the capacity. Not worth messing with IMO

Those are bad news. I had one separate right at the ring (mid range load) leaving the front half stuck in my chamber.
They all go to the recycle can now that I know to watch for them.

All 9mm brass with primer pocket crimps goes to the can as well, not worth messing with when I have plenty of brass.

 

[mdi]

Like most previous posts, I use a lot of "once fired" brass. I have purchased quite a few, maybe 90% of my cases are purchased "used". I have had no more failures with them than my new purchased and reloaded brass, or my factory ammo I fired. I only tumble 2 caliber case to a shine; 45 ACP and 30-06 because they are easier to find in the dirt at the "range" where I shoot (I often go home with more 9mm brass than what I brought with me).

I have not experienced any "flaking" or lower case life with the nickel plated cases I reload. I have some that I have reloaded so many times the nickel plating has worn thin and brass shows through. I don't treat them any different than plain brass cases. I have a box of Federal 44 Magnum nickel plated cases that I keep separate and count the reloadings. They are used exclusively for my "T-Rex Killer" loads; a 265 gr RNFP loaded to near max with WC820, a bit over 1,200 fps from my Super Blackhawk, a very hefty load. Fourteen reloadings so far, no split necks, no flaking, no stretched primer pockets...

 

[.38 Special]

Regarding nickel plated brass...

I have loaded many tens of thousands of rounds with it. They have never damaged any of my dies. I am not quite ready to disregard the idea as a myth, but I'm pretty close to that point.

I also have not found a significant difference in sizing effort. I think things like the presence of a cannelure have far more influence. I have had batches of brass which were easy to size and batches which were difficult to size, in both nickel and plain.

I have found that some lots of nickel plated brass do not last nearly as long as they should. In my experience, that is extremely rare for unplated brass, but not terribly uncommon for nickel. It has happened to me with several different brands, but only once with Starline, so that is now the brand I turn to for nickel. It also has been my experience that if a given lot of nickel brass does not start to fail early on, they will then generally last about as long as unplated brass.

So I intend to continue using nickel for most things - and I am another one who will reload a batch of cases until they start to fail.

 

[sparkyv]

No problem. Gently remove the primer and use it. I use a universal decapping die from Lee. Easy peasy.

I primed and then flared, so I have a primer in a no good case now.