Have to trim 9mm often?

P

Prof Young

New member
Loaders:
It seems like a rare thing to find 9mm used brass that needs to be trimmed. I just did about 350 cases, cleaned, sized, de-primed and measured. Only one needed trimming. That seems to be the norm. I shoot used brass from several different sources so I really don't know how many times they've been used. Is my experience the norm for 9mm brass?
Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
Prof,

My guess is you will find few folks here that trim pistol brass unless it is for specialized use. I have been reloading pistol only for about four years, the same brass, at about 400-500 each month and never have.

Most of the posts and threads I have read here shows that it is rarely trimmed.

But, if it is important to you, don't let anyone dissuade you from it.

Regards,
Tony
 
If you keep track of a lot of 9mm brass used in a semi-auto handgun, you'll likely find that it actually shrinks over time. The case length will actually diminish slightly, rather that growing.


When I come across cases that need trimming, they're generally low grade brands (like A-Merc, PMC, etc) that get tossed in the scrap bin, anyway.
Even if it isn't an 'off-brand' ... it still gets tossed in the crap bin. It isn't worth my time to set up the trimmer for 9mm, to do 2 or 3 cases, when I have another 6,000 prepped and ready to load. Scrap bin...
 
Py,

Most reloaders usually say it is a waste of time to trim straight walled pistol cases. I have done over a hundred thousand pistol reloads in the past ten years with about forty thousand of those being 9mm. I have never had a problem with any reloaded case being too long from not being trimmed.

Good luck -oldandslow
 
Okay. This helps.

Loaders:
Thanks for the insight and info.
Guess I can lose that step in my 9mm reload process. No need to measure.
Thanks.
 
Hey Prof. A lot of the reloading process can be just personal choice. Ask a question on a forum and you'll get mainly "I do it this way..." answers and a a few facts thrown in. It's your ammo and your guns so if you feel more comfortable measuring and occasionally trimming a case, then there is no reason not to. Be careful of the "everybody is doing it" thinking and just use common sense. If you measured a random 100 cases and only one was too long, common sense would tell me that mebbe measuring isn't totally necessary. In most cases, case length for handgun ammo is not a critical dimension, so, if you wanna, OK, if you don't wanna, OK ;)

Go slow, double check everything, and most important, have fun...
 
There is a big difference in case preparation for pistol vs rifle. Unfortunately, you will find that almost everyone neglects to mention which one they reload for when giving advice. This applies to magazine articles as well. As a new reloader people often look to forums and magazine articles for advice. Not knowing better, they take advice from a rifle reloader and apply it to pistol reloading.

And don't get me started on primer pockets. It's my firm belief that there is a lot of voodoo advice given. Much of this is comes from advice that was true 30-50 years ago (e.g., black powder), but no longer pertains to modern reloading. A lot of it is caused by false information being relayed over and over again via the Internet. Just think, advice that "everyone" gives can originate from a single source and you wouldn't know it.

Anyone who has ever been into stereo equipment and has read audiophile articles will know exactly what I mean.
 
I have never trimmed a 9mm in 35+ years reloading. Never had the need to trim. I don't trim straight wall pistol cartridges. Am I missing something?
 
Like mentioned if it suits you run with it.

I trim my cases when they are new and will check them periodically. If I find a few that are long, I will set up to the average lenght of the handfull I checked and run them all through. My revolver cases get the mouth squared more than trimmed, but they are all trimmed to length when new after sizing.

It is just what I do and have gotten accustomed to doing. It does make a different with a roll crimped load, and since I hunt with my revolvers I want everything as good as I can make it.
 
I don't understand the folks who say the NEVER MEASURE pistol cases. 9mm? I agree, never needed it. but if you want consistent roll crimping on 357/38 and I assume 44 and the like, then you either have to measure and then either trim or adjust your crimp die for every single round. maybe my brass stretching is exaggerated by the fact that most gets run through a lever action, but it is a constant concern. 9mm, 40, 45, 380 and such doesn't get rolled into a large crimp groove, so they are of little concern unless they are so long to the point it won't chamber, but I have never had that be the case.

9mm is, in my experience, the absolute easiest caliber to reload. no measuring, no chamfering, no primer crimps on most, most loads cannot double charge(if it does, it's very obvious come bullet seating) and requires very little belling and doesn't require a mouth crimp. everyone should start with 9mm.
 
With revolver cases I've found insignificant variance in matching cases loaded in batches with same number of loadings. I also also crimp by "feel" so if I do occasionally stumble on a longer than normal case once in a while I just don't push the press lever all the way for a mechaincal stop.

If I was shooting long range target matches I might go the extra mile, but tin cans and stationary clay pigeons at 50-75' don't seem to mind.
 
Jim243 said:
You actually measure 9 mm cases???

Why?
Jim
Click to expand...
They headspace on the case mouth. The length is critical.

Having said that, it is vanishingly rare to find case lengths so far out of specification that they give trouble. However, TimSr's attention to his personal defense ammunition has merit, I think.

Lost Sheep
 
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