9mm questions ...

[bigjeepman]

I have been reloading for 30+ years but have never reloaded for the 9mm. I haven't even had a 9mm pistol since I sold my Shield to my brother about 3 years ago. That changed this week when I bought a new M&P 2.0 9mm Compact with a 4" barrel.

Starting a month ago when I realized I was going to need 9mm reloading components because I was going to buy that pistol when I found one, I have found dies (RCBS carbide), bullets, more powder, and brass.

Powder - W231 (also use in my 45 acp)

Bullets - Berry's 115gr RN plated and 124gr RN plated, and Rim Rock 100gr FP Hard Cast lead

Brass - I found 1500 pieces of range brass since new brass is impossible to find

So after all of that, my questions concern the range brass which actually exceeded what I was expecting when I met the guy. The brass had been cleaned and one bag of 500 had been deprimed. The mixed brass included Starline, Win, Rem, Blazer, and other brands I am unfamiliar with. Is there any of this I should avoid using for whatever reasons?

Even though I have only tossed out 4 pieces after inspection, I am a little concerned about using some brand I shouldn't be reloading in my "middle of the road" loads I plan to use. Not all pieces said 9mm Luger as some shows 9mm Makarov which I do not know if I can use. All pieces fit fine in the 9mm shell holder when depriming but that doesn't tell me too much.

What should I toss out as none are primed but only deprimed? I did notice some of the pieces were not smooth from the mouth down on the inside but had like 2 steps making sizing a little more difficult. This brass says 9x19mm. I have attached a picture showing the top step (?) and there is another one approximately 1/16" from the bottom. I have not seen this before ... sorry ... but better safe than sorry.

 

[ejjeff]

I would toss the "stepped" brass and of course the makarov. I think you will find the makarov shorter than 9mm 9x19 brass.

 

[mikld]

Agree with ejjeff. 9mm Makarov (9x18) is slightly different size case and bullet (360" bullet, .713" case length). The stepped ID brass shows up on forums once in a while, and the consensus it to toss them (powder capacity is smaller leading to higher pressures with "normal" brass loads.). 9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger, 9x19, 9mm NATO are all the same cartridge and brass used interchangeably.

 

[Liftrat]

I would second ejjeff's opinion. Never seen any stepped brass like that, but I would think the internal volume would be substantially less. And 9mm Makarov is not 9X19 Luger (or Parabellum). If it were me, I'd only use brass from a known maker; the ones you listed, plus FC, and I've used PMC with good results. Even if you have to toss out 1/3 of it, and reload the rest 5 times, that's a fair amount of shooting.

 

[DeplorabusUnum]

I would toss the "stepped" brass and of course the makarov. I think you will find the makarov shorter than 9mm 9x19 brass.

Agree with ejjeff. 9mm Makarov (9x18) is slightly different size case and bullet (360" bullet, .713" case length). The stepped ID brass shows up on forums once in a while, and the consensus it to toss them (powder capacity is smaller leading to higher pressures with "normal" brass loads.). 9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger, 9x19, 9mm NATO are all the same cartridge and brass used interchangeably.

Agree with everything above. The four brands you listed are the four I use the most plus PMC and Aquilla. No problem with those. Have fun!

 

[rockquarry]

Mixed brass will work, but if you're interested in best accuracy, don't mix. Some brass has thicker case walls and you'll feel that when seating bullets as it requires more effort.

 

[Nevada Ed]

If it were me, I'd use the win/rem for standard loads, save the Starline for
the warmer loads and I have never loaded blazer, so no advise, on them.

W231 will do light target loads from 950 to 1180fps or so in the 4"
and the 124 RN will be able to do around 950 up to 1140fps with a full load.....
depending on the fit and pistol spec's.

My 9mm pistols liked 4.2 grs of w231 for a accurate target load with the
115 at 1.12" & the 124 gr ball plated bullet at 1.14" OAL.

Enjoy.

 

[bigjeepman]

Thank you for the replies ... all good, sound advice. I tried to use my favorite brass, Starline, or another I have used a lot ... Winchester. Problem is that in this market and in this area, I have yet to see any available. So I will use this mixed brass until availability improves in the future.

For those interested, here is a picture of the head stamp on the stepped brass I showed earlier. I have no idea what this head stamp says ...

 

[len917]

Thank you for the replies ... all good, sound advice. I tried to use my favorite brass, Starline, or another I have used a lot ... Winchester. Problem is that in this market and in this area, I have yet to see any available. So I will use this mixed brass until availability improves in the future.

For those interested, here is a picture of the head stamp on the stepped brass I showed earlier. I have no idea what this head stamp says ...

Blazer, Speer and IMI also very good brass I've had good luck with them. Best is to keep the brands separated

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Well, now...

If the Makarov brass is in good condition and you have more than 50(?) cases, why throw it away...? I'd trade you 2 for 1 with 9mm clean deprimed and sized cases.

Winchester, Blazer, etc. Pick a brand.

Cheers!

 

[bigjeepman]

If the Makarov brass is in good condition and you have more than 50(?) cases, why throw it away...? I'd trade you 2 for 1 with 9mm clean deprimed and sized cases.

Winchester, Blazer, etc. Pick a brand.

Cheers!

I finished sorting the brass last night. I ended up with only 4 Makarov pieces but found around 20 pieces of the stepped brass. I also separated out about 30-40 other pieces that I didn't want to reload. All of these came from the first bag of 500 I bought from a guy. The second bag of 1,000 I bought from another guy looked much better with more Win and Blazer than anything else.

Though I have always started with new brass, these "shortages" have caused me to rethink past practices. Again, I appreciate all comments as they were very helpful.

 

[SMSgt]

I may have missed it in previous posts, but the stepped brass has a tendency to separate at the step. Toss.

 

[glenwolde]

It's also not a bad idea to stand them all up and look for short ones. That'll sort out the 9x18 Makarovs. A lot of us that shoot 9x18 convert 9mm Luger cases so you can't necessarily trust the headstamp alone. I try to recover all of my converted cases but they do get away sometimes. I've read a few reloaders comments that they run into these converted cases every once in a while.

 

[SMSgt]

It's also not a bad idea to stand them all up and look for short ones. That'll sort out the 9x18 Makarovs. A lot of us that shoot 9x18 convert 9mm Luger cases so you can't necessarily trust the headstamp alone. I try to recover all of my converted cases but they do get away sometimes. I've read a few reloaders comments that they run into these converted cases every once in a while.

My CZ-82 launches empty cases into low earth orbit. Very hard to find all of my converted cases at some places.

 

[mikerjf]

I always stand mine up to cull out the 380's that get in there. Never thought about Makarov!

 

[glenwolde]

My CZ-82 launches empty cases into low earth orbit. Very hard to find all of my converted cases at some places.

I only convert nickel 9mm Lugar cases to Makarov. Helps me keep them straight.

 

[glenwolde]

My CZ-82 launches empty cases into low earth orbit. Very hard to find all of my converted cases at some places.

You maybe could try a heavier recoil spring. Sometimes that can reduce the ejection velocity and get them to land a bit closer.

 

[SMSgt]

You maybe could try a heavier recoil spring. Sometimes that can reduce the ejection velocity and get them to land a bit closer.

I did that. They used go into a lunar orbit.

 

[bigjeepman]

So after sorting and then sorting again, sizing/depriming, clean primer pockets, and belling 1500 (the number I started out with) pieces of 9mm range brass and 500 pieces of .45 acp range brass, I somehow received 1000 9mm Starline brass and 500 .380 Starline brass today delivered by UPS. I put my order in less than one week ago with both showing "backordered" when I placed the order. I received the email showing confirmation of order the next day and the next day my order was showing "processing."

Not sure how I fell into that good fortune but I'll take it. I have a good supply of brass in all my calibers but the 9mm is new to me as I bought a new M&P 2.0 Compact about 10 days ago. I will save the range brass as I am sure it will be useful at some point.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Oh...

So after sorting and then sorting again, sizing/depriming, clean primer pockets, and belling 1500 (the number I started out with) pieces of 9mm range brass and 500 pieces of .45 acp range brass, I somehow received 1000 9mm Starline brass and 500 .380 Starline brass today delivered by UPS. I put my order in less than one week ago with both showing "backordered" when I placed the order. I received the email showing confirmation of order the next day and the next day my order was showing "processing."

Not sure how I fell into that good fortune but I'll take it. I have a good supply of brass in all my calibers but the 9mm is new to me as I bought a new M&P 2.0 Compact about 10 days ago. I will save the range brass as I am sure it will be useful at some point.

Oh, what a lucky man...

He was!

 

[scott1970]

AMERC brand 9mm brass is garbage, and that's where it goes when I find some in my stash.

 

[rosewood]

I would save the new brass for hot loads and the used brass for target. For plinking, I don't worry about sorting headstamps (besides culling those bad ones mentioned above). If I am developing an accuracy load, then I match headstamps.

Rosewood

 

[bigjeepman]

I would save the new brass for hot loads and the used brass for target. For plinking, I don't worry about sorting headstamps (besides culling those bad ones mentioned above). If I am developing an accuracy load, then I match headstamps.

Rosewood

That's what I will do except for the "hot" part as I have been at the "comfortably accurate" load stage for many years. I have around 300 of the sorted range brass primed and ready to load. I think they will be plenty good for shooting plates and clays.

 

[Ron IL]

I have two I discard for sure. One as previously mentioned is AMERC. The other one is 'wms'. I think it is a military brand. It may bend your deprimer stem and can't get the primer out or if you do, then the new primer either won't go in or it goes in and falls out. It is automatically trashed.

 

[Nevada Ed]

A "Hot load" is just a term...........

98% of this style of load depends on the weight of the pistol, the powder type used and maybe the type of recoil spring in the weapon as well as
the ability of the shooter.

Shooting a 38 oz. 3.5" is a lot different than a 21 oz. 3" pistol with the same load.

A full +P load in a 3" Kahr, fired out of my C9 3.5" pistol feel like a standard factor load and a target load out of my heavy 5" Milt. spec weapon.

I beleive this is why there are so many fluxuations in a 115gr FMJ by all the companies.
The different fps, lets you pick a box of ammo that feels right in your certain weapon........
since most of use don't want to shoot Underwood ammo all day long.

 

[ChillyDog]

I've found stepped brass too. Maxxtech has a step in it and I'm not sure if it can be reloaded but I haven't tried, I toss it in the scrap bucket. Some others to keep an eye out for is Freedommution had a brand American steel, which was a brass coating over a steel case. Find those with a magnet. Makarov is like said above is 9 x 18. 9mm luger is 9 x 19. My advice is to check, check and recheck. Read and educate yourself. inspect your brass and start low. Enjoy reloading.

 

[gregintenn]

If you find any AMERC brass, don't just throw it away, crush it first with a vise so no other poor fella can stumble across it someday and try to load it.
I don't know where that junk comes from as I've never seen any loaded ammo marked as such, but if I did, I'd be afraid to shoot it.

 

[rosewood]

I guess I should have better chose my words. Instead of "hot" loads I should have said max loads or near max.

 

[bigjeepman]

I guess I should have better chose my words. Instead of "hot" loads I should have said max loads or near max.

No problem at all ... that is what I thought you meant. My reply of "comfortably accurate" meant most of my pistol loads are middle of the road or slightly higher with few exceptions.

 

[S&WIowegan]

AMERC is junk...

..junk and junk. I don't know where it comes from but it's terrible stuff. I don't see as much of it any more so maybe they're out of business.

Most brass (foreign or domestic) is good. I don't use stepped brass but don't see it much. I think the step is to support the bullet from going deeper.