otis_bartleh

Great idea, I may not get much for em, but I'll feel better about that than throwing them away! So... They are assorted headstamps, WIN, WIN NT, NATO, SPEER, PMC, R-P, FC, BLAZER, GFL, etc. MOST were fired out of a Glock, can tell from the firing pin mark, but there were some others in there with the same mark. The partial "ring" I am seeing is almost indistinguishable in size, I can barely get the mic to register a difference on it vs right in front of it, barely the small "5" after the thousanth of an inch. They were about .384-.384(5) at the base, and all still fit in a chamber drop with no problem. I can barely even feel it with my fingernail. Honestly, I think most these are fine, but think I'll just recycle them anyway. This is the can for the questionables, so as soon as I saw the "ring", they went in this bucket for further inspection later. On further inspection of some last night, most looked good, but I did find a few that were showing signs of having been hot loads, so those were chucked. As there wasn't an overwhelming majority immediately saying "yup, those are fine" to the ones in the pics I posted, that was pretty much my answer right there, since I was already on the fence about them. I care much more about safety than saving some brass. It makes me nervous for some when I see posts from people saying they only inspect by rattling shells checking for splits and keep on loading till it splits, I could never be that care-free reloading ammunition! Thanks again to everyone for the input...

This partial ring isn't as pronounced as the "Glock Bulge" pics I've seen, and the "bulge" appears to be different than what I am seeing on these cases in question. I thought that was a .40 issue more-so than 9mm? Too add, the brass that only I have fired, through a stock Glock barrel, does not have this little partial ring or a bulge either. Strange? I'll have to do more checking on that I guess. I do like to understand all aspects of what I do. But yeah, plan tonight is to check headstamps and run some through the sizing die to see what they look like after, and will report back. Again, thank you guys for the assistance and quick responses. This is a great community that has been of a huge reference for me, even though I haven't posted much.

I absolutely agree with that, any case that worries me gets tossed right away. But that's also the reason for the post, I'm not worried about these, but they didn't pass my "perfect" test, so I put them aside for a rainy day to see if I should be worried... Since I temporarily ran out of clean "perfect" cases, I figure today is that day. haha Right on, yeah, I'll check headstamps tonight when I get home... Oh, forgot, these cases don't have that mark all the way around the case either, just about 1/4 to not even 1/2 way around...

Honestly not sure what they were fired from, a lot of my brass was from the public range shooters. I saved a lot of brass before I started reloading, but once I did start, I took all brass people were willing to give up... Figured I'd take it and inspect it at home

It's probably assorted brass, multiple headstamps, I'll confirm and update when I get home as to that and the ledge diameter, I haven't checked that.

Cool, I'll run them through the sizer tonight. I'm checking all these with a pick ('paperclip test'), and all I was checking last night had no ledge on the inside, just the outer. So if they run through the sizer and still have this mark on the bottom, would you still load them? The mark there is so minute on some of them you can barely see it, but this isn't something I want to walk the fine line on, I prefer safety.

I have a whole bunch of cases that I found have a 'ledge' around the base of the case after cleaning, and I have not been using them, just putting them aside. They do pass the 'paper clip' test on the inside of the case, but wasn't sure if they're ok or not... That coffee can is about 1/2 to 3/4 full at this point, so it's time I do something with it. Range brass... They are tumbled, but I have not sized/deprimed them yet. I hope this isn't a stupid question, but definitely don't want case head separation, and try to be as careful / picky as I can be. I also don't want to throw away pounds of brass if it's good. I reload for a G19 and G17... Thanks in advance.

I feel for ya man, keep your family in your thoughts and share stories of loved ones with loved ones. I'm sure he was a great man. You'll pull through this tough time. Our thoughts are with you...

Well, I got some Precision Delta's in, and they all measured up right. Loaded some up and went to the range, much better! Now to start my entire process over, but with good bullets... Thanks for all the advice, looks like I won't be buying any more X-treme's...

I'm about to place an order Monday, Precision Delta's seem to be a good price and are listed as .355 on their site. What do you guys think about these, and have any suggestions on a good place to buy Zero's, and are they better than PD's, and why, or is that more a per gun thing?

Thanks for the bullet info, since I'm about to place an order, it's a perfect time to change and try a different bullet. Talking with one of the shooters at my range, he gave me a couple lead bullets to push through the barrel to get the land markings on the bullet, and by measuring the marks, I'd be able to tell the exact size of my barrel and better tell if it might like a slightly larger bullet. Makes sense to me, just haven't had time to try that in the past few days... Anyone tried this method? Right, I've been mainly loading hotter recently since I had similar results loading lighter, and the powder is burning cleaner now than it was before... But I have made improvements to my reloading process and am more fluid on the press... I am going to start a new load workup since I'll be using fmj's instead of plated, and am going to start low. I, like you mentioned, do always use a chrono first, then group, as I like to keep the grouping and chrono'ing a separate stage. I'm getting to be best friends with the clubs chrono!

Cool thanks, yeah, my goal on adjusting the crimper was to just get the flare out, as that is mostly what I have read... And hey, I love my Glock! It used to shoot tight groups...

haha, I like this idea. I actually skipped last weekends match because of this...

Cool, thanks for the response, that did help me understand a bit more... Definitely already set on trying the PD's, I just like to know all aspects about what I do, not just that they didn't work, but why. And regarding the crimp, cool, I kind of thought it was fine. I do random tests for setback using both methods you mentioned above, and haven't gotten setback on any tested, as well as the measurement being in spec. I wish I had some still, but when I get the PD FMJ's in, I'll try those and report back... Again, my sincere thank yous to you all for the help and suggestions. I was kind of stumped and at a fork in the road with possible solutions, and now have an avenue to go down...

Going to order some PD's fmj's tomorrow and try those. Hopefully that'll help, but.... I really have to ask, if the measurement of MG and Zero's often come up under .355, why would those be any better than X-Treme plated bullets? And I know and shoot with a lot of really good shooters than have been using X-Treme's for years and love them. I know not each gun is the same, but the bullets were measuring really consistent, so if the size is normal, I'd like to understand more the difference of why one is better than the other. I know there are a lot of threads "plated v. fmj", but honestly, never got many facts out of any of them, just personal opinions. Also, to touch on crimp again, should I try crimping slightly harder? I remember pulling a Miwall bullet a while ago and seeing it about cut through the plating, yet, those rounds are more accurate than mine.