9mm Brass

B

baddarryl

New member
Hi all. I have about 4 24 oz large coffee cans filled with brass. First off how much brass do you guys store? It seems to me that I have more than I’ll ever need. Then do you guys sort your range brass? I have started to just sort by case and am wondering if this is really necessary. There is a mix of range brass and my own. The last batch I shot up did fine I think and I didn’t sort it. This brass is just for plinking and really doesn’t need to be anymore accurate than say for IDPA. etc.

I have only been reloading a little while and after measuring the weight of the cases I figured I need at least load like cases for pistol. What say you? Thanks
 
i have a few buckets of it, lol. and about a 55 gallon drum of .223 brass. but i pick up anything i can. i dont sort by stamp unless im looking for longer range consistancy. short range pistol stuff i dont care as long as it goes bang
 
Smokescreens said:
i have a few buckets of it, lol. and about a 55 gallon drum of .223 brass. but i pick up anything i can. i dont sort by stamp unless im looking for longer range consistancy. short range pistol stuff i dont care as long as it goes bang
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Kinda what I am thinking myself. I will often over complicate things.
 
In regards to handgun ammo and reloads for shooting at paper , tin cans and dirt clods ...
For 9mm Luger I buy 1500 once fired brass in bags from the indoor range , I try to sort cases by manufacturer into 50 & 100 count boxes. No matter how hard you try there is always about 200 odds and ends...a few of this and a few of that that wind up in a few boxes .
The truth is , I'm talking about 50 years of doing this , the mixed brass reloads shoot just as well as the segregated brass . The mixed brass ammo at under 25 yards just does not show a difference that my skill level can appreciate .
If I were shooting for blood or money I would shoot matching brass ...more for a psychological edge than anything else .
For range ammo I just use mixed headstamp and inspect carefully for damaged rims , cracks and things like that . 9mm Luger pistols are hard on brass ... a lot harder than a 38 special is .
Gary
 
Do go though it and sort for Berdan primed brass. I sort by headstamp, the idea being better uniformity. More important in some rounds than in others.

9mm Luger, not so much difference noticeable fired from usual handguns.
 
Go through it with a strong magnet first, to get out the brass and copper-washed steel cases. They are hard on your sizing die. If you think you'll want high precision bullseye brass, sort those out next. I find Starline has about half the volume variation of most of the big-name brands and doesn't cost any more in bulk, so it's a good choice for that category. But whether you shoot well enough to tell any difference is something I have to leave for you to decide. The easiest way is to use sandbags on a bench. If you can't discern a performance difference in that circumstance, you never will.
 
I sort my brass for every caliber except 44 Mag; and often for different reasons.

In the case of 9mm Luger, I sort because of their small size. I figure with the small internal case volume, small differences in brass could mean large differences in performance - most concerningly, pressure.

I don't load much 9mm, so this is a work in progress. I loaded 200 defense level rounds a couple weeks ago (yes, because of the madness going on), and that was the first 9mm I've loaded in a couple years. I have a jewelry scale (1 milligram resolution) that I use to weigh brass. No, I don't weigh every piece. But I do weigh 10 of each headstamp or so to get an average. Heavier ones I must assume are stronger; however, they would have less internal volume space, so all else being equal, would raise pressures - probably higher than the difference in their strength. Does that make sense? All this babble is an attempt to make my case that you should headstamp sort for 9mm. The hotter you load, and/or the more you crave consistency, the more you need to sort your brass.

In the case of 9mm, I sort R-P, Federal (I don't know where I got all the Federal LOL - must be range pick-up from IDPA competitions), and Winchester. Then there's "everything else." I use "everything else" as mixed brass for general range fodder.

As for quantity, I store my brass in the ubiquitous 48oz Folgers coffee cans. I have about 2 1/2 of these cans full of 9mm. And a couple thousand rounds loaded. I guess that must be enough because I have made no attempt to get any more.
 
Pistol shooting, 25 yards and less, mixed brass is fine. At the 50 yard line as in Bullseye Pistol competition, new or once fired of all the same head stamp is required.
 
I have about 4 24 oz large coffee cans filled with brass.
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That's a pretty good amount, more than I have.

9mm is my primary target caliber, so I sort by headstamp and inspect for primer crimp and overall condition.

I never weigh cases or measure case length.
 
For super accuracy yes, but other wise no.

I don't sort my brass by head stamp. Never have. That would be different if I was shooting for long distance accuracy. If that were the case I have a powder trickle device too.

I do look at the 45 acp brass to sort out and toss those with small primer pockets.

For plinking and short range target shooting any brass will do. I have so much 9mm brass that some times I leave the empties at the range.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
With 9mms, I have about 10,000 cases bagged up and sealed. Almost all of them are sorted by headstamp.
I kept a few for a rainy or Covid day. I haven't broke into them yet because I'm casting bullets right now.
Not that desperate yet but getting there. I'm saving those bags (800 each) for when things really get bad for me.
I'm still working so I haven't got to that point yet. We make food packaging so we haven't been shut down.
Yes, to me it is worth sorting by headstamp if for nothing more than to get the stepped cases, stainless steel cases, Amerc, and all the other problem childs out, so if I have to sort for them, I sort for all the headstamps and segregate them.
Then when I need to grab a bag and reload, I don't have to worry about 10 different brands that all feel different on the handle.
In the first 10 cases I pretty much know what to expect for pressure on the handle of my press and can easily pick out split cases I missed or .380s or anything else that doesn't feel right.
Ok, I know THR is down, but now I can't upload a pic of my bagged brass.
Dang!
 
I separate by headstamp and reload accordingly. The majority is Winchester and Remington so I reload with lead target loads, my petload for the Winchester and the Remingtons for my brother. Then there are Speers with Gold Dots. Federal brass is another petload with bullet
 
I sort all my handgun brass by head stamp...and I don't use ANY range pick up brass as I have no way of knowing how many times it's been reloaded nor the pressures it's been subjected to.

For load work up, I use only once fired brass and sort by head stamp and length.

YMMv Rod
 
For plinking ammo, you can just polish up what you have, sort out the crimped primers, aluminum cases and steel and load. But I kinda like Win 9mm cases without a crimp and Federal ones too. But Remington cases work fine too. If you sort you can sell your odd brass right now on ebay I bet.
 
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