Sorting brass for a 9MM . . . Any real need to do so

[TCLouis]

Title says it all.

Going to start shooting bullets and Boolits and is it worth the effort to sort by brand?

Worried about pressure variation as much as accuracy in the lil bitty case.

Plan to use AA#5, #7 and Blue Dot for powder.

124 RN and 115 grain HP bullets and have yet to order mold for boolits, but likely about 120 grain there unless I just use the 356402 i have now.

[sagamore-one]

I do sort my 9mm brass as some is MUCH thicker walled than other. In the late 1980's I purchased several cases of Lake City Match 9mm that has the thickest brass I have ever seen. When loading .358 cast 120 gr boolits it will not always chamber properly in Bar Sto barreled guns.

[Petrol & Powder]

I don't sort 9mm brass by make. I do sort it to remove steel cases, aluminum cases, berdan primed cases, etc.
I've never had a problem. Some of those casings come out of Glocks, some come out of a fluted chamber (H&K P7) and a half dozen other pistols. I don't load for max pressure and some of those casings have been loaded many times. (I don't bother counting). I tend to lose them before I wear them out.

[Garyshome]

I sort by manufacturer, I found case length varies greatly, which leads to trouble with the crimp.

[Ed_Shot]

I sort 9MM by head stamp and cull brass shorter than .747. 9MM brass as short as .740 is not uncommon...that's a problem for me.

[bedbugbilly]

I'm lazy . . . I don't sort mine at all other than to inspect it for flaws and cull out bad ones. I buy "range brass" so it's all different head stamps. I just do general plinking though and no competitive shooting. I've never really had an issue with using mixed - I load on a Lee classic 4 hole turret and each round that comes off the press goes in to a cartridge gauge to check though.

[bobthenailer]

IMO sort by brand and use that brand only for a particular load , use the other brands for other loads , that way you can look at the brand & know what load is in the case.
if you are trying for very accurate match loads and have a gun and shooter ablity to use the increased accuracy level ? use the same lot # or at least same brand sorted by length .

The 9mm is probley the worse round for widely varying case deminsions since its loaded by so many mfg over the world . since 9mm range brass is so avalible for free i only keep R&P , Federal . & Winchester brand range brass the rest usually goes in the scrap bucket.

[williamwaco]

I'm lazy . . . I don't sort mine at all other than to inspect it for flaws and cull out bad ones. I buy "range brass" so it's all different head stamps. I just do general plinking though and no competitive shooting. I've never really had an issue with using mixed - I load on a Lee classic 4 hole turret and each round that comes off the press goes in to a cartridge gauge to check though.


Ditto.

If it is thick enough to be dangerous, it will chamber and the slide will not close.

Unless:

If you are going to load hell-fire-missles, disregard the above and you are "on-your-on".

[scattershot]

As long as it's in good shape and not cracked, full of dirt, etc. I'll reload it. Never separated brass by headstamp.

[MrWolf]

Just inspect but don't sort but I only shoot for fun.

[tomme boy]

9mm is all over the place as has been mentioned. If you want better accuracy then try to find the longest brass you can. It really helps on this cartridge to sort.

[upnorthwis]

Watch out for the Berdan primed hulls. I accidently loaded one. Only way I found out was by finding a loose primer in box. Searched out the round missing a primer. Decapping pin punched its own hole. Brass was so soft that I didn't notice any difference in the force required with the arm on a Dillon 550B.

[OptimusPanda]

About the only reason I look at my 9mm head stamps is to separate out the .380s and the odd 9x18 or 38 super. Never had a problem using mixed brass other than having to stop the press to remove a crimp on the primer pocket once in a while.

[seaboltm]

I just tumble and load. No sorting of any type. I do get the occasional 380 case, but you can feel the difference in the sizer. Easy to spot. I stay below max charges in order to account for case differences.

[beex215]

only cbc cases are tight as heck and the boolits never seat fully for me. it still fires though.

[dubber123]

I guess it depends on how accurate your pistol is. If you have a 4" at 25 yard combat piece, I wouldn't worry too much. If you have a 2" or less gun, I know it makes a difference.

[Bullshop Junior]

I used to think it was important, but I don't mess with it anymore in cartridges like that.

[TCLouis]

Not sure about the guns ability right now.

It seemed to put the 356402s pretty close together at 50 during function fire testing.

I always try to load the most accurate ammo possible so that there are not two different variables in the "precise placement of boolits".

Oh well, I may as well keep going, I am over half way through sorting 6 gallons of brass . . . and yes I am finding some 380s in there even though I just went through it looking for 380 brass recently.

I was as concerned with pressure issues as much as anything with the small case capacity and variable brass thickness.

[osteodoc08]

If it makes you feel better. Have at it. Otherwise, no real need for in for plinking ammo

ive got thousands of loaded 9,40,45 downstairs in buckets with assorted HS.

[Motor]

I separate out military and nickle cases. That's just about it.

[texasbilly]

I don't separate brass, HOWEVER, as I wrote in an earlier thread, I do watch for that foreign brass which have a built in step-down for seating bullets. Those I simply cull.

[gpidaho]

I sort 9mm by length not headstamp GP

[Petrol & Powder]

There was a time long ago.....when I sorted 9mm casings by make. I would load them and re-use the factory cardboard boxes to store them. When the cardboard boxes fell apart I started using the plastic flip top 50 round ammo boxes from Dillon. Easier to count how many rounds I had on hand I would say to myself. Then I stopped sorting brass by make. Eventually I just dumped completed rounds into ammo cans. During this evolution my group sizes got smaller. Practice turned out to be more effective at improving accuracy than sorting by the make of the casing.

[mozeppa]

I sort 9MM by head stamp and cull brass shorter than .747. 9MM brass as short as .740 is not uncommon...that's a problem for me.

this ^ is why i sort.

short is a BIG problem as it moves the primer further away from the firing pin resulting in failure to fire.
ammoload brand has a case inside a case which increases wall thickness AND decreases volume IN the case which increases pressure.
some brass has cavities that are rounded inside ...or bowl shaped, some are squared off.

there are some that say..."i never sort....practice gets smaller groups." i say...you can't practice all the time.

and some say...."i never sort 9mm ...its just for plinking."
why so much care for higher calibers....(which mostly still for plinking.) ...and no real "care" for loading 9's?

if i am going to make ammo that is superior in every way to factory ammo for my 44 magnum, then why shouldn't my 9mm ammo be just as superior?....and made with just as much care?

i do things one way only...the best i can do.

regardless of caliber.










also from careful study of over 130 different cases....there are about 8 different size flash holes.
anything i've mentioned may or may not actually affect the average plinker...but in striving for the most accurate consistency
from shot to shot, EVERY variable has an effect.

I currently load 12,000 FC brand brass ....FC with the dot on each side. (yes i'm that anal....but they all fire.)

[Petrol & Powder]

Yea....I've got better things to do with my time.

[EdS]

It may have been mentioned, but some bullets need to seat deeper in the brass in order to fit the magazine. If the case walls are too thick at the base of the seated bullet, it may not chamber fully. You may wind up with a round stuck partially in the chamber requiring a rod to remove. It's happened to me... -Ed

[robertbank]

There was a time long ago.....when I sorted 9mm casings by make. I would load them and re-use the factory cardboard boxes to store them. When the cardboard boxes fell apart I started using the plastic flip top 50 round ammo boxes from Dillon. Easier to count how many rounds I had on hand I would say to myself. Then I stopped sorting brass by make. Eventually I just dumped completed rounds into ammo cans. During this evolution my group sizes got smaller. Practice turned out to be more effective at improving accuracy than sorting by the make of the casing.

This! Funny how practice improves the groups.

Bob

[captaint]

I have read and heard that the longer 9mm cases are better for accuracy. Makes sense. That said, I don't measure mine. I do sometimes (usually) sort by mfg. I don't really do any serious 9mm work. Just for enjoyment. And in a 1911, it really is fun...
Mike

[TaylorS]

I don't sort much of anything by head stamp unless I'm working a load up then I'll make 50 or w/e with brass of the same headstamp then those 50 cases stay with that particular load until I wear em out. I do check length while doing case prep to make sure I don't need to trim anything

[dtknowles]

I sort all my brass by headstamp. I do have some ammo loaded with mixed headstamp but that is for ammo that I did not have very many pieces of brass or for plinking loads where I was not going to pick up the brass.

For my 9mm's I saved WIN brass and sold off the other headstamps so my loaded ammo is mostly WIN brass for cast loads and WIN nickel brass for JHP's and FMJ's

Tim

[mold maker]

I sort 9s and 40s, but only to pick out the junk brass to use swaging, and the military brass, because of primer crimp.

[trapper9260]

I only check how long the brass is and then go from there and then just load them.I do not see any different in the makes.If I have some that is short I will use them in a wheelgun with a lower load .

[troyboy]

I sort by headstamp. I have found that loading progressive this eliminates problems.

[GL49]

I sort by headstamp. I have found that loading progressive this eliminates problems.
Ditto. Good point, I sort for that reason also.

[mozeppa]

Ditto. Good point, I sort for that reason also.

another good point .

S&B tend to hang my 650 press... others not so much
r-p seems to allow the bullet to fall deeper into the case.

but my biggest reason is that if the case length is all over the map ...then ....crimp is all over the map too.

i'm pulling down 1500 9mm that i did early this year.

so far the short cases only take a small rap with the inertia hammer to pull it down. (if fired...not much pressure.)

however ...the longer ones have a more pronounced crimp and require 8, 9 or 10 hard blows with the hammer.
some of these i got to fire.....*** kickers!

my time...and i like things to be uniform...sue me.

[Bzcraig]

I have sorted by manufacturer but I also don't believe it makes any difference, just a bit OCD maybe.

[fecmech]

I was as concerned with pressure issues as much as anything with the small case capacity and variable brass thickness.
In your original post you mentioned loading Blue Dot. If pressure is your worry, BD is your powder(and IMO a very good cast powder in the 9). You can't get enough BD in a 9MM case to overload it. Alliant BD loads run less than 30KPSI and fill the case.

[Ed_Shot]

In your original post you mentioned loading Blue Dot. If pressure is your worry, BD is your powder(and IMO a very good cast powder in the 9). You can't get enough BD in a 9MM case to overload it. Alliant BD loads run less than 30KPSI and fill the case.

+1 Your Lyman 356402 over Blue Dot 6.0 gr @ 1050 fps should give you excellent results. My Lyman data lists a MAX load of 8.0 gr of Blue Dot for that boolit and I don't know how you'd get that much (or why you'd want to get that much) Blue Dot in a 9MM case.