Federal NT 9mm Brass

[George369]

I have quite a bit of 9mm Federal NT (non toxic) brass that I would like to know if it is OK to reload.The reason I ask is that the flash hole in the primer pocket is larger in diameter than the flash holes in ordinary 9mm brass.Anybody use this brass for reloading? Does the larger flash hole drive pressure up? Any other possible problems with this?

[dverna]

George,

Call Federal or send Federal an email. A larger flash hole is "normally" not a good thing. You are doing the smart thing to ask.

Don

[Lizard333]

I have reloaded it I didn't have any issues. I don't load my 9mm up real hot.

[dverna]

I bought 4000 9mm brass on Gunbroker for $100 shipped. Seems hardly worth taking a chance.

It would be interested to see what Federal has to say about reloading it. If I had a bunch, I would investigate but likely keep it separate. Maybe use it only in the Sub-2000 Kel-Tec for plinking.

Can't ever have too much brass!

Don

[williamwaco]

Don't expect Federal ( or any one else ) to tell you it is OK to reload their fired cases.

Do some research and see if yuo can find out if the NT primers are less powerful than the old ones. That would be a reasonable explanation for the larger hole.

NOTE. I AM NOT SAYING THAT IS THE REASON FOR THE LARGER FLASH HOLE. I AM JUST SUGGESTING AN AVENUE FOR RESEARCH.

I agree with dverna. 9mm brass is almost worthless. Never more than two to three cents per round. In the past year, I have gleaned over 5,000 rounds of it for free at my local range just picking up one handful at a time.

If in doubt, throw it out.

[Shiloh]

Don't expect Federal ( or any one else ) to tell you it is OK to reload their fired cases.
If in doubt, throw it out.

Gotta be a liability issue. Same as firing reloaded ammo in a commercial firearm.
Most will tell you that firing reloaded ammo will void the warranty.

Shiloh

[bowenrd]

I have reloaded many Winclean 45 Auto brass with the large flash hole and can tell no difference in performance one way or the other.

[grullaguy]

Hee hee, so that is what NT stands for.
I have been reloading it for a while now and had not noticed the enlarged flash holes.

Of course, I just just reload just fast enough to rack the slide. No problems here either.

Post note:

( I just went downstairs and checked some FC NT brass and some Federal brass just stamped FC. The primer holes are the same size. )

[evan price]

A lot of the NT brass also has crimped primers. 9mm is cheap and common enough I don't mess with swaging 9mm primer pockets. Into the scrap bucket it goes.
The larger flash hole was because the non-toxic primers had a hotter brisience than regular primers and they had a problem with the primer backing out of the case when fired. They tried crimping them and they tried enlarging the flash hole to let pressure drop quicker. That's one reason why 45's went to small primers. Less primer pressure with NT primers.

Not a problem to reload, if you want to bother messing with them. I don't.

[klutz347]

I got a couple 100 WinClean in .45 ACP a few years ago.

Emailed Winchester about them and they said that there was no concerns about reloading them with the enlarged flash hole.

Reloaded them as normal and no problems.

[George369]

Thanks everone for the excellent information.

George

[sig2009]

George,

Call Federal or send Federal an email. A larger flash hole is "normally" not a good thing. You are doing the smart thing to ask.

Don

In the current issue of Handloader Magazine the have an article about this. The larger hole is used because of the lead free primers and the larger hole is usually used in 45 acp brass that has uses the small pistol primer. Tests that were done also go on to say there is "NO" reason to adjust powder charge.

[dudel]

I switched all my 45 ACP to small primer (Win NT) brass. (I wanted to reduce primer stocking requirements and not have to change the primer feed on the 550b.) Win NT flash hole is indeed larger (the Speer SP brass was slightly larger than the LP brass; but smaller than Win NT brass - go figure).

I've worked up my loads CCI SPP using Bullseye and WST, and found that for equal propellant they (the SP rounds) were slightly faster over the chrono (about 15-25 fps). No obvious pressure signs. The loads were on the mild to medium side. I noticed a bit better accuracy with them in my guns. Of course, YMMV.

Don

[Cherokee]

I load them and shoot them, no difference I can tell.

[Twmaster]

I load them and shoot them, no difference I can tell.

Same here. I've used Win NT and Federal NT cases. I toss them in with the WCC cases and just remove the crimp while prepping the WCC military cases.

I cannot notice any difference shooting them. :smile: